The conversation about a new Eugene City Hall keeps getting more complicated. At a City Council work session Wednesday councilors expressed interest in revisiting the EWEB building. Moving city hall there was rejected several years ago because of cost.
Now, the old city hall has been torn down and the council has rejected an 18.2 million dollar construction bid for a new one. They’ve asked staff to bring costs down for a new bid request. Councilor Claire Syrett wondered if the EWEB Building could fit their needs.
Syrett: “It’s right there on the river, looking as beautiful as ever and I think it would be well within our budget and give us a beautiful building. I’m very concerned about the cost of our new building even with these potential reductions, in that we’re going to have a diminished city hall at the end of it.”
EWEB recently announced its plans to sell the building. A Lane County judge could rule next month on whether the city and county can do a land swap that would allow the butterfly parking lot to be another option for a new city hall site. There’s a Joint Elected officials meeting on the subject next Wednesday.
