Report from Eugene
New Courthouse Shifting City's Downtown Focus

The new $70 million federal courthouse that broke ground in Eugene recently will introduce an award-winning architectural structure into the city and also attempt to enliven the riverfront.

by Sheila Bacon

City leaders hope construction of the new $70 million federal courthouse in Eugene will spur additional development along the Willamette River. Image courtesy of MORPHOSIS

When the new $70 million federal courthouse is completed in Eugene in the summer of 2006, city leaders hope it will mark the beginning of more new development along the Willamette River.

The new structure is being built on the eight-acre Agripac cannery site - once the location of a thriving vegetable canning operation but more recently a deteriorating eyesore since the cannery closed in 2001. The new courthouse will front the shore of the Willamette River and will be one of the first things people crossing the Ferry Street Bridge will see as they enter Eugene.

"This new building is a huge step back to the river," Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey said recently at a ceremony preceding the courthouse's groundbreaking.

City leaders have long tried to prompt development along the river. Currently, civic buildings are clustered near the heart of Eugene's downtown district, an area that is essentially cut off from the river by a maze of busy streets and intersections. The new courthouse will be built closer to the river and will be accompanied by more than $6 million in federally funded infrastructure improvements that will make it easier to connect the downtown core to the waterfront.

The building "represents a new generation of federal courthouses," said Richard Broderick, project manager with the General Services Administration, the project's owner. The structure will attempt to be welcoming and accessible yet still embody the aspects of a secure government building.

"It needs to be open to the public, but at the same time be incredibly secure," Broderick added. "It must be elegant but imposing; monumental yet accessible. It's an incredible challenge to do it all."

Morphosis of Santa Monica, Calif., is the lead designer and DLR Group of Portland, Ore., is the architect of record. J.E. Dunn-Northwest, also of Portland, is the job's construction manager/general contractor.

Security on Four Sides

The 270,000-sq.-ft. courthouse will consist of austere office space on the two lower floors, with more curvilinear, free-flowing courtroom and pavilion space on the upper tier. The basement will provide 80 secure parking spaces for the building occupants. The exterior of the building will feature metal cladding and glass curtain wall.

Visitors will enter the courthouse at a secure lobby. From there, the 10-ft.-high ceiling rises to 70 ft. as one enters the atrium.

The site's design addresses security issues without creating the look or feel of a fortress, Broderick said. The entire site is elevated several feet above ground on a landscaped podium, providing security on all four sides of the courthouse. A monumental stairway leads inside the building.

J.E. Dunn crews have been working with the owner and the architect during the design phase since May 2003, said Fred Shipman, president of J.E. Dunn-Northwest. The two-year job will employ more than 40 subcontractors, he said.

Many of the subcontractors will come from the Eugene area, and 160 workers will be onsite at the peak of construction, Shipman added.

4 Artists to Showcase Work

The courthouse will be occupied by district, magistrate and bankruptcy courts; clerk of the court; pretrial services; probation; marshal service; U.S. attorney; U.S. trustees; congressional offices; and the GSA.

The existing federal courthouse at 211 E. Seventh Ave. will "remain in the federal inventory," said Jon Kvistad, regional administrator for the GSA Northwest/Arctic Region. The primary tenant at the existing courthouse will be the U.S. Forest Service.

Four artists have been selected to showcase their work at the courthouse - one national and three regional. National artist Matthew Ritchie's multimedia work will be dominant on the third-floor level and roof; Cris Burch is designing a free-standing glass sculpture for the main entry to the courthouse; Sean Healy is designing a mixed-media display for the glass doors to the jury assembly area; and Chris Timken is producing a photography-based, wall-mountable piece for a public area.

Project details

Cost: $70 million; $89 million total project cost
Completion: Summer 2006
CM/GC: J.E. Dunn-Northwest
Architects: Morphosis and DLR Group
What's inside: Six courtrooms - two each for district, magistrate and bankruptcy

Around Town:
Other Eugene Projects Under Way

Chamber Construction crews are currently renovating the exterior of Cascade Manor retirement center in Eugene and will soon be building 50 new independent living apartments on the property. The $12 million job should be complete early this fall, said Don Brockmann, Chambers' project superintendent.

Other improvements include an upgraded HVAC system and new windows.

The improvements to the exterior are being completed in 14 phases. While the work is being performed from the building's exterior, it does affect the interior of the residents' rooms, requiring tenants to move into temporary space on the property during construction.

Each phase involves work on six rooms and displaces the residents for about five weeks, Brockmann said.

Crews expect to start construction on the new apartments next month. The 70,000-sq.-ft. project includes two new buildings, which will be attached to the existing retirement community by an elevator and walkway.

Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects of Portland is the project architect.

New Police, Fire Facilities

The Eugene Fire Station in downtown Eugene will be twice the size of the department's current location in the City Hall building. Image courtesy of WBGS Architecture and Planning

Two city jobs include a new building for the Police Property and Forensic Evidence Unit and a new downtown Eugene Fire Station.

The police forensics facility is a 17,000-sq.-ft. concrete tilt-up located in an industrial area west of downtown. The top floor of the two-story facility houses a police crime lab area, while property storage and evidence facilities are located on the power floor. An attached one-story facility is used as a receiving area for large pieces of evidence such as stolen bicycles and cars.

The $2.8 million facility broke ground in October and finished last month. The forensics department will relocate to the new facility from its location in the basement of City Hall.

Eugene's McKenzie Commercial is the general contractor and Berry Architects of Eugene is the architect.

The new $4.9 million fire station located at 1320 Willamette St. recently broke ground and will be completed in March. Chambers Construction of Eugene is the general contractor and WBGS Architects and Planners of Eugene is the architect.

The 28,000-sq.-ft. facility will create a downtown fire station that is twice the size of the department's current location in the City Hall building, said Mike Penwell, design and construction manager for the City of Eugene's facilities department.

Pile driving started in January and foundation work began in March.

The exterior of the building represents the traditional firehouse design with a brick façade and decorative precast concrete elements. Inside, the building is more contemporary, featuring a high-efficiency HVAC system, indirect lighting and gas fired radiant heat in the bays.

The city is using the U.S Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Design goals as design and building guidelines, although it is not seeking LEED certification.

Inside, the facility will feature four double-depth bays, two single-depth bays and 10 bedrooms. There will also be office space for the fire marshal's division as well as a large classroom.

Both new civic facilities represent the city's desire to relocate police and fire office outside of the crowded and seismically outdated City Hall building, Penwell said. City leaders are currently studying ways to create a new civic center in downtown Eugene.

The Future of Eugene

Eugene is taking a "big picture" approach in its attempt to replace the existing City Hall building.

The existing structure is crowded and inefficient, said Mike Penwell, the design and construction manager for the city's facilities department. It is also seismically outdated.

But before embarking on a single-minded plan to replace or renovate the structure, the city wants to make sure it builds the most efficient and user-friendly facility possible.

In January, Mayor Jim Torrey formed the ad-hoc Civic Facilities Visioning Committee to develop a coordinated vision of a civic center for Eugene and to recommend to the City Council how that vision could be implemented. The committee included representatives from Lane County, the 4J School District and other agencies that have a need for downtown public space. This committee's recommendations are expected to be finalized this month.

The city hopes a new City Hall space would consolidate city functions in one building, Penwell said. Currently, city offices are scattered throughout downtown.

In an attempt to come up with possible designs for a new civic center, the city cosponsored a Civic Center Design Charrette in January in conjunction with the Southwest Oregon Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. This gathering of more than 70 design professionals and citizens produced a number of alternative visions for Eugene's civic facilities.

In general, the group, which is continuing to meet, supported a civic center on the existing City Hall site and encouraged mixed use. It also encouraged sustainable design and construction, and partnerships with nonprofit services and other government agencies.

The city tentatively hopes to build a new Community Safety Building to house the police department by 2006. It would like to replace City Hall by 2010.