This story is part of KLCC's "Down by the River" series. To read the entire series, click here.
Stand in Eugene’s new Riverfront District today, and it can be difficult to spot signs of its long past.
“We had quite an industrial area. In the middle was the mill race that began four miles that way at the river,” said Randy Gudeika, who goes by the moniker The Walking Historian, during a tour of the area. “They used water wheels to capture the power from the mill race, and that was how they powered the industrial area from the 1870s up until 1928 when they switched to regular electricity.”
That switch to electricity came with the building of a steam plant and then the headquarters of the Eugene Water & Electric Board. EWEB’s headquarters and operations yard would stand in this spot for decades until the utility decided to move, leaving Eugene with a unique opportunity: a 27-acre plot in its downtown.
“This property was essentially a hole in the donut that was left behind after EWEB decided to move to a different site in west Eugene,” said Jim Atkins, a principal and partner with Portland-based developer Atkins Dame, which was chosen by the city for the project.
“And beginning in the late 1990s, the city and EWEB began planning on how they would redevelop this as a multi-family, mixed use neighborhood.”
Atkins Dame has finished two market-rate apartment buildings in the parcel so far.
“Last year, we opened Heartwood, which is 95 homes. We're celebrating the opening of Portal, which are 130 homes, (ranging) from studio apartments to family friendly three bedroom apartments,” said Atkins.
But 200-plus new market rate apartments aren’t the only thing coming to the area. The mixed-use plan includes some space for retail and restaurants, affordable housing and an amenity that was completed this summer, Riverfront Park Plaza.
“I've had very few goose bump moments at the City, but I was standing right over there the first day the park opened, and some kids came up with their mom on bikes, and the moms were like, ‘Oh my God, it's open,’” said Denny Braud, executive director of the City of Eugene Planning and Development.
“Where we're standing right now would have been inside an eight-foot razor-wire fence, basically impervious surface as far as the eye could see,” said Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson, standing next to the playground. “No accessibility to the public, though it was publicly owned with our public utility. But that was the beginning of, I think, in the early 80s, people really dreaming about reconnecting the city with the river.”
Knudson said a chance to develop 27 acres of city center is something that happens once in many generations. But the space required a notable amount of work because of its past: first as a home for industry, then as an operations yard for EWEB.
The area was considered a brownfield, a term that describes an area with promise for development, but not until contamination has been abated.
“Today, where we're at, all of the site has been declared clean by (The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality),” said Atkins, the developer.
Before getting that DEQ declaration, work had to be done to ensure that any soil contaminated by metals or petroleum byproducts wouldn’t harm the new residents or get into the river.
Contaminated soil was either sealed under impervious surfaces like streets and building foundations, or hauled to a landfill.
“This is a really unique [site], and we're a couple of solid steps into, I think, a really good story about how the City of Eugene is taking care of land and creating more opportunities for people,” said Knudson.
While such a development is uncommon for a city, it is happening in places across the world as industrial sites leave city centers.
In fact, the Riverfront District sits next to another spot where post-industrial land was updated for modern life.
In Part Two of "Down by the River," how that district inspired and informed the work being done in the Riverfront District.
