The next step in the process for rebuilding Eugene’s City Hall is to select a professional design team that will lead the design process in coordination with City staff. Two architect teams have been chosen as finalists, and City Manager Jon Ruiz is asking interested community members to weigh in on that choice.
A public session will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 6-8:30 PM in the Bascom/Tykeson Room of the downtown Eugene Public Library at 100 W. 10th Ave. Both of the finalist teams will present their qualifications, experience and approach to the project.
“Rebuilding our City Hall is a legacy project for the community, one that residents will take a lot of pride in for many years to come,” Ruiz said. “The selection of a design team is a significant milestone and I want community members to have a chance to hear from the two design firms and provide feedback on their presentations.”
The two finalist teams are THA Architecture and Rowell Brokaw Architects. THA is based in Portland and is partnering with Eugene firm 2fORM Architecture. Rowell Brokaw is based in Eugene and is teaming up with The Miller Hull Partnership from Seattle.
The teams are not presenting proposed building designs. The current process is not selecting a building design but is choosing a professional team that will initiate and coordinate the design process and incorporate the City Council’s direction under the guidance of City staff.
The City Council has established project values to guide the work. The presentations from the design teams will include their approach to the Council project values of Stewardship, Identity, Participation, Simplicity and Eugene at 200. The values describe the desire to build a City Hall that is welcoming, sustainable, reflects Eugene’s identity, meets the needs of the community now and considers the needs of the future.
Each team will make a half-hour presentation, followed by time for questions. One team will present at 6 p.m. and the other team at 7:30. Following the presentations, attendees will have an opportunity to share their feedback and questions. It will be best if community members are able to attend both presentations in order to provide comments about the two.
In addition, the City Manager has appointed a panel of community members who will attend the session, ask questions of the teams, and provide feedback to him regarding the presentations.
The Community Panel members are:
Carmen Urbina, 4j School District
Rob Bennett, business person
Andrew Fisher, Historic Preservation Board
Frances Bronet, UO Dean of College of
Architecture and Allied Arts
Donna Dubois, Camas Ridge Elementary School teacher
Dan Herbert, retired architect
Jennifer Yeh, Jefferson Neighborhood Chair
Joe Moore, Public Art Committee member
Dennis Casady, property manager
Susan Sygall, Mobility International USA Executive Director