News

EWEB Board Unanimously Approves Master Plan

2010-06-02T16:48:32Z

Following more than a year of public input and design development, the EWEB Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Riverfront Master Plan at a meeting on Tuesday, June 1. Since May 2009, the design team led by Rowell Brokaw Architects has worked with the public and a nine-member Community Advisory Team to develop a plan that captures the community’s vision for the downtown riverfront. More than 1,000 people participated in this effort to plan a new future for the 27-acre site, and the resulting design establishes a unique place where people can experience an active, thriving, downtown neighborhood and a beautiful stretch of the Willamette at the same time.

Much of the riverfront property will be vacant when EWEB moves its operations to the Roosevelt Operations Center in November 2010, which makes the completion of this plan timely. The master plan creates 8 acres of new public open space along the riverfront, improves public access, requires sustainable design strategies, allows for the adaptive reuse of existing structures, and proposes numerous ways to teach about our river, our history and our city. With the Community Advisory Team’s counsel, a series of design guidelines and an ecological assessment were both completed to before finalizing the pedestrian-oriented plan. Thank you to all the members of the community who have participated in this effort! A final PDF of the master plan document will be available by June 15. A draft of the document is now available (but please excuse any typos).

Where the City Meets the River | Thank You

2010-05-13T23:18:24Z

Thank you to all the community members who braved the glorious sunshine and festive music to join us at last night's Open House. The registration table reported that just under 200 people participated in site tours and stopped by to view the final design proposal...which means that more than 1,000 people have directly participated in this project since our work began. Thank you again to every member of the community who has given time or energy to this project during the past two years. Rowell Brokaw Architects, EWEB, and the full design team deeply appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment to the work.

Images of a few of the presentation boards produced for the Open House are below. A single PDF of all eight posters is available under Project Documents.

How has recent public input influenced the master plan?

2010-05-03T20:52:35Z

The design team has continued to make refinements to the master plan since the March 3 public event. At that event, approximately 300 community members offered their thoughts and suggestions. So how has recent community input influenced the design? The attached PDF provides a written overview of how the plan has incorporated public input, new knowledge, and direction from the Community Advisory Team since March 3. We hope you'll join us on May 12 to review a draft of the full proposal. (Pre-register by submitting your name and email in the column on the left.)

Join us for the Riverfront Open House on May 12!

2010-05-03T17:36:48Z

Please join us at EWEB on May 12 from 5:00-7:00pm to celebrate the completion of the EWEB Riverfront Master Plan. The program for this event is still being developed, but site tours are planned and materials explaining the master plan will be available. We would like to thank everyone who has participated in this project, so please make plans to join us (and invite your friends!).

Please RSVP by emailing eweb@rowellbrokaw.com or submitting your name and email in the "REGISTER HERE" column on the right side of this page. Thank you!

Riverfront Ecology and Design - Report Now Available

2010-04-22T18:11:13Z

This 70-page report includes an executive summary and key recommendations to enhance the ecological and human experiential values of the master plan. The report is written from a landscape ecology perspective and includes a summary assessment of the master plan in terms of five qualities related to the ecological value of a landscape: ecosystem function, habitat size, habitat quality, habitat connectivity, and management of ecological dynamism. Also included are recommended plant communities, innovative precedents, an overview of site history, context and floodplain complexity, and design and management strategies for the site. Written by Bart Johnson, Aryana Ferguson and Justin Simms with contributions from Bruce Newhouse and Rowell Brokaw Architects.

Refining the Single Design Option: Summary of Public Input

2010-04-14T17:57:29Z

On March 3, we asked almost 300 people what they thought of the single design option for the EWEB Riverfront Master Plan. Here's what you said!

An overview of the single design option's framework and a summary of the public comments provided on March 3, 2010 are now available. Download: Public Event #3 Summary / Single Design Option Overview

Please plan to join us at the May 12 Open House to see how this input and continued direction from the Community Advisory Team has influenced the refinement of the master plan proposal. Thank you again for your participation and interest!

The Cultural Landscape: Riverfront Open Space Program

2010-03-12T22:59:33Z

At the March 3 event, participants discussed elements of our social, ecological, civic and industrial history to be included the 9.2-acre "Cultural Landscape" proposed along the downtown riverfront. To review a diagram of the Open Space program, click here.

Single Design Concept + Thank You

2010-03-12T22:50:04Z

Thank you to the nearly 300 people who attended the March 3 public event at the Eugene Hilton! We appreciate your time, your input, and your continued interest in the EWEB Riverfront Master Plan.

To view the single design concept, click here. We look forward to seeing you again on May 12 from 5:00-7:00pm for the Open House Celebration at EWEB.

EWEB Riverfront Masterplan - Design Concept

2010-01-19T06:24:26Z

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Registration & Preview of Design Boards, 6:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Presentation & Group Discussion, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Eugene Hilton, 66 East 6th Avenue

Elements of the Preliminary Design Options

2009-11-19T23:49:45Z

"How did the design team arrive at the three Design Options? What's the difference?"

Two great questions we've been asked during this past week. Each of the Design Options presented was developed based on the master plan's seven Guiding Principles, preliminary Project Assumptions, the Riverfront Criteria outlined in the 2004 Downtown Plan, feedback from the Community Advisory Team, and project research and stakeholder interviews completed by Rowell Brokaw Architects during the summer and fall of 2009.

At the public event on November 10, the attached overview of the Design Options was also distributed to all attendees. Though incomplete in its summary of each option, we hope this helps to clarify some of the basic variations between the three proposals. The presentation from November 10 also includes a diagrammatic description of how each option evolved.

Based on feedback to these preliminary frameworks, a revised "rough draft" design will be developed for the next public event (March 3, 2010).