With Butterfly Lot Demolished, New Park Blocks Facility Advances

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Brian Bull

Downtown Eugene continues to transform, through a major construction project that’ll give a permanent home to the Lane County Farmer’s Market.  

At the corner of 8th and Oak, excavators and trucks haul away concrete, twisted rebar, and other remnants of the past. As Joshua Berman, Community Development Analyst with the City of Eugene explains, this is preparation for the Park Blocks Pavilion and Plaza.

A construction banner promotes the project-in-progress.
Credit Brian Bull / KLCC

“As you noticed, the Butterfly Lot is no longer standing. We have been working to demolish that structure. So currently we are in a demolition phase, and that is going to run all way until about August.” 

Berman says the project’s being done with $10.8 million in downtown urban renewal funds. It’s the latest big development next to the 5th Street Expansion.

“I think that a lot of these downtown projects are finally coming due, and it’s really helping our downtown grow and mature a little bit more.” 

The completion date is February 2022.

Copyright 2021, KLCC. 

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Brian Bull is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Oregon, and remains a contributor to the KLCC news department. He began working with KLCC in June 2016.   In his 27+ years as a public media journalist, he's worked at NPR, Twin Cities Public Television, South Dakota Public Broadcasting, Wisconsin Public Radio, and ideastream in Cleveland. His reporting has netted dozens of accolades, including four national Edward R. Murrow Awards (22 regional),  the Ohio Associated Press' Best Reporter Award, Best Radio Reporter from  the Native American Journalists Association, and the PRNDI/NEFE Award for Excellence in Consumer Finance Reporting.