Architects make pitch for Eugene City Hall job

Showing photos of their best work, the architects vying to design Eugenes next City Hall made pitches on Wednesday evening to residents and the man who would hire them, City Manager Jon Ruiz.

A standing-room crowd of more than 50 people attended the presentations in the Bascom Tykeson Room of the Public Library by Rowell Brokaw Architects of Eugene and THA Architecture of Portland.

The architects did not present potential designs for a new City Hall. That wont happen until sometime after Ruiz hires one of their firms.

Instead, the architects discussed how they would meet the City Councils five values that are meant to guide the project: identity, participation, stewardship, simplicity and Eugene at age 200 50 years from now.

Architect John Rowell promoted his firms hometown roots.

We know what it means to be local, he said, standing in front of a slide with a map contrasting the two-minute walk from his downtown office to City Hall, compared to a two-hour drive from Portland to Eugene. We wake up in this city each day.

The City Council has decided to construct a smaller City Hall on its present site, the block bounded by East Eighth and Seventh avenues and Pearl and High streets, using as much of the existing building and parking as is practical.

THA architect Corey Martin, using a fast-moving Powerpoint presentation, said his firm is aware of the problems in the now-shuttered City Hall, including its fortress-like appearance.

The main problem with the building is that it does not activate the street, he said.

While they would be the lead architects on the project, both Rowell Brokaw and THA have partnered with other architecture firms to design City Hall.

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Architects make pitch for Eugene City Hall job