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Council Approves A New Eugene City Hall Building, Again

Rachael McDonald

The Eugene City Council re-affirmed Wednesday it wants to tear down the old city hall and construct a new $15-million building on the same site. The vote was 6 to 2.

The city held a ceremony a few weeks ago marking the start of demolition of the 50-year old city hall building at 8th and Pearl. But the event was marred by protestors who want to keep the old structure, and questions came up about the decision making process. Council President Chris Pryor says the council wanted to clarify its plans.

Pryor: "Clearly a city hall discussion is a big, big decision. It's a hundred year decision, and those kind of decisions will provoke enormous passion and feeling in a community, which is a wonderful thing. And when you have those kind of passions and feelings involved, you often want to go back and just make sure that the decisions, even if you've made them before, still hold up, and you still believe in them."

Councilors George Brown and Betty Taylor voted against building a new City Hall. The plan is in phases: The first is for a 25-thousand square foot structure for council chambers and offices for the mayor, councilors and city manager. The next phases are still to be discussed.

2WAY.mp3
KLCC's Rachael McDonald speaks with Angela Kellner about the City Council's decision Wednesday on All Things Considered.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.
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