2020 Projects in the Pipeline

Full Gallery Space at Venue 252, January 29, 2020 for the Projects in the Pipeline meeting.

From an attendance perspective, the biggest event on the CSI-Willamette Valley Chapter calendar every year is the annual “Projects in the Pipeline” meeting. The 2020 edition last Wednesday evening was no exception as approximately 90 attendees packed the Gallery Space at Venue 252 in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood. They came to hear presentations by representatives of four organizations who are poised to be especially active on the construction front this year: The City of Eugene, Eugene School District 4J, Williams/Dame & Atkins Development, and the University of Oregon. 

City of Eugene 

Representing the City of Eugene was Allie Camp, Development Investment Liaison for the City’s Community Development Division. Allie enumerated the numerous projects the City has on tap, which include the following: 

• Downtown Riverfront Park: Design work for the 3-acre park and 1-acre plaza on the site of the former EWEB maintenance yard is presently nearing completion. 
• Parks and Open Space lighting projects: New lighting is on tap for Alton Baker Park, South Bank Park, and West Bank path.
• Steam Plant: Read my thoughts about the future of the former Steam Plant here. 
• Town Square and City Hall: I’ve shared news about the Town Square project previously. The City selected FFA as the architect for the new City Hall project.
• Railroad Quiet Zone: Safety improvements and upgrades at train crossings have been in the works for a while and are now primed to occur this year.
  
• Pavement preservation projects: A total of 19 paving projects are scheduled to occur this year: 8 reconstructs and 11 overlays, with associated bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements.

Eugene School District 4J

District 4J’s Capital Improvement Program Manager, Carole Knapel, provided a status update for the various projects funded by the voter-supported 2018 bond measure:

• North Eugene High School: The $90 million project will result in a new home for North Eugene High School. It will be built where the building shared by Silver Lea/Corridor Elementary School and the Japanese-immersion school, Yujin Gakuen, presently sits. The District is relocating Yujin Gakuen to a portion of nearby Kelly Middle School, while Corridor will occupy a renovated wing of the current North Eugene High School, which will remain for this and other uses to be determined. Bidding for the contract to renovate NEHS to accommodate the relocated Corridor Elementary School will occur next month, with construction scheduled for this coming summer. The renovations at Kelly Middle School will likewise be bid in March with the work executed during the summer break. Rowell Brokaw Architects and Opsis Architecture are designing the new North Eugene High School, and selection of the construction manager/general contractor is in progress. Read more about the project here.
• Edison Elementary School: Now in design development, the $28 million project for a new Edison Elementary School will replace the historic but seriously deficient existing facility. My firm—Robertson/Sherwood/Architects—has teamed with Mahlum Architects to design the new building. John Hyland Construction is the construction manager/general contractor. Preliminary utility work, asbestos abatement, and demolition will begin this summer. Edison’s students will occupy the Willard Swing School while Hyland constructs the new building.
• Camas Ridge Elementary School: The third of the new building projects funded by the 2018 bond issue, the $26 million new Camas Ridge Elementary School, is not yet in design. 4J will issue the design services RFP this fall, and the CM/GC solicitation will follow next winter. 
• Gilham Elementary School Expansion: $6.5 million – Design RFP Spring 2020; CM/GC RFP early Sumer 2020 (new classroom neighborhood, new flex spaces, kindergarten classrooms remodel, new fencing, new ancillary gymnasium

Eugene Riverfront Development 
Jim Atkins, principal with Williams/Dame &Atkins Development (WDA), provided a detailed accounting of his firm’s plans for the much-anticipated Eugene Riverfront development. The proposed mix of uses will include market-rate housing, affordable housing, commercial businesses, restaurants, hotel, and open space. WDA plans to partner with affordable housing provider for development of no fewer than 75 affordable housing units (rent affordable for households at or below 60% of the area median income). Additionally, WDA will construct/operate a new public open space under the viaduct.

WDA and the City of Eugene will split the cost of installing the new neighborhood’s infrastructure. The development promises to create short and long-term jobs and generate new tax revenues that will benefit everyone in Eugene.

WDA will build the project in phases, in Jim’s words “organically and at the right pace,” with ultimate completion years from now. A key to the project’s success will be attracting people to live downtown. Jim believes the site’s unparalleled setting and the right mix of amenities will sell themselves, and he’s probably right. If all goes to plan, key elements of the development will be completed in time for the World Track and Field Championships in August 2021. 

University of Oregon 
The current construction boom on the University of Oregon campus is literally transforming the campus in remarkable ways. Darin Dehle, Director of Design & Construction for the university, provided a lengthy and detailed list of the various projects currently in progress, including those nearing completion, under construction, or in the planning stages: 

Projects scheduled completion in 2020:

• Klamath Third Floor Renovation – Renovated area approximately 25,000 sf; budget $22.9 million. Completion Fall 2020; the initial phase is already occupied. 
• Knight Campus for Accelerated Scientific Development – As I wrote when the project was unveiled, the Knight Campus will dramatically reshape the stretch of Franklin Boulevard it will front and herald the future transformation of the university’s presence along that heavily-traveled corridor. New building area approximately 173,600 sf); budget $213.5 million. Completion scheduled for July 2020 with initial occupancy in June.
• Millrace Drive Parking Garage (part of the Knight Campus project) – New 196,455 sf building; project budget is $22.5 million and project completion will occur in June 2020.
• University Health & Counseling Center Addition and Renovation – New 24,700 sf addition and 15,000 sf of renovated area. Project budget is $18.8 million, with completion projected to occur in April of this year. The addition was occupied last September. 
• Matthew Knight Arena Addition (coaches’ offices) – Under construction; target completion September 2020.

Projects going into construction during 2020: 

• PLC, Museum of Art reroofing
• Friendly Hall Elevator Installation
• Baker Downtown Center Freight Elevator
• Klamath Hall Standby Power upgrade
• Friendly Hall interior modifications
• Zebrafish Facility Expansion (CM/GC)
• Huestis Hall Renovation (CM/GC)
• Oregon Acoustic Research Labs (design-build)
• Housing Transformation Project (subcontractor bidding)

Systems Upgrade & Improvement Projects: 

• Potential mechanical projects: Baker Downtown Center, Pacific Hall North Wing
• Exterior repairs: Condon Hall Window Replacement
• Potential electrical projects: Willamette Hall Generator Replacement, various automatic transfer switches
• Chilled water storage tank
• Electrical infrastructure redundancy upgrades

Potential 2020 Projects: 

• Huestis Hall Renovation
• Knight Campus Phase 2

10-Year Capital Plan:

• Continued look at deferred maintenance
• Heritage projects: Deady Hall and Villard Hall (historic upgrade, systems replacements and improvements)
• Condon Hall renovation
• Hendricks Hall renovation

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People mostly attend the Projects in the Pipeline meeting to learn about what’s happening in the local design & construction sector and the prospects for grabbing a piece of the action. If the reports from our speakers were any indication, 2020 promises there will be plenty to go around.