Eugene shows off new City Hall, modern upgrades
The Eugene City Council is scheduled to host its first meeting in its new riverfront City Hall building on June 24, with the property officially opening to the public in early July.
But city staff gave a sneak peek of the renovated building this week, hosting a tour and showing off improvements like tech upgrades to the council chambers, more accessible parking, narrower slopes, new public restrooms, roof repairs, and structural and seismic upgrades.
The council chose last year to buy and repurpose the former Eugene Water & Electric Board headquarters at 500 E. Fourth Ave. as the new City hall.
City councilors explained this choice as a way to further their vision for the riverfront and avoid the cost overruns of building a City Hall from scratch. Eugene is paying EWEB $12 million for the property, and Facilities Director Jeff Perry said renovation added $8 million. By contrast, in February 2020, councilors referenced $28 million as a previous estimate for building a new City Hall from scratch, which was most likely an underestimate even then.
The new hall includes two buildings. The northern building includes the council chambers and the southern building houses the city offices.
Eugene City Council chambers
As people enter the new council chambers, they will now go through a security gate similar to what’s at the Hult Center and Cuthbert Amphitheater, where people are screened for banned items such as weapons, drugs, signs and food.
Tech upgrades to the new council chambers include a hearing loop and a system for councilors to vote electronically. The new chambers increase the capacity compared to the Lane Community College meeting space from 80 to 95 and has an overflow room that seats up to 50 more.
Going forward, the city plans to open the council’s Monday evening work sessions to public in-person attendance. The Wednesday afternoon work sessions will still be held remotely. The city also plans to offer the council chambers for meetings of city committees such as the budget committee, planning commission and human rights commission.
City of Eugene offices
The southern building will house the offices currently located in the Lane Community College downtown space and the top floor of the library. This includes most of the offices under the city’s Central Services Department such as the offices of the mayor, city councilors, city manager, employee resources, Equity and Community Engagement, and Finance and Information Services. It will also retain an EWEB customer service center, totaling approximately 175 employees.
Some central services, including Facility Management, the Prosecutor’s Office and Municipal Court, will remain in their current offices around the city, as will the city’s other five departments, Fire/EMS, Library/Recreation/Culture, Planning/Development, Police and Public Works.
The first floor will be open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and will include a gallery of community art, a receptionist and a few public offices.
Getting to the new Eugene City Hall
By car
The city said parking at City Hall’s parking lot will be paid Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. This parking lot can be reached from E. Fourth Avenue and Mill Street.
By bike
The Ruth Bascom Bike Path runs by the new City Hall, which can be reached through Campbell Park to the northwest, Alton Baker Park to the northeast and the Downtown Riverfront Park to the South. To the west, the last segment of E. Fourth Avenue has a protected bike lane.
By bus
The city said it is working with Lane Transit District to improve bus access to the new City Hall and the stores and apartments being built in the riverfront area. In the meantime, the nearest bus stop is LTD Stop ID 01244 at the corner of High Street and E. Fourth Avenue.
During City Hall’s projected open office hours, this stop is served hourly by Route 1. On weekday evenings (when City Council meetings are held) Route 67 serves this stop, which runs every half hour earlier in the evening and hourly later in the evening.
To reach City Hall in time for a 5:30 p.m. meeting, a resident would leave Eugene Station Bay P at 5 p.m. and reach the stop at 5:04 p.m. To reach City Hall for a 7:30 p.m. meeting, a resident would leave Eugene Station Bay P at 6:30 p.m. and reach the stop at 6:34 p.m.
Leaving City Hall, Route 67 makes a loop around much of Eugene northeast of the Willamette River. People returning to Eugene Station should instead catch bus 66, where the nearest stop is at the corner of E. Third Avenue and High Street. After a City Council meeting that ends at 9 p.m., people taking bus 66 would be picked up at 9:09 p.m. and people taking bus 67 would be picked up at 9:33 p.m.