Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet: R

 

Romania Building, Franklin Boulevard side (my photo)

This is the next in my Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet series of blog posts, the focus of each being a landmark building here in Eugene. Many of these will be familiar to most who live here but there are likely to be a few buildings that are less so. My selection criteria for each will be threefold:

1. The building must be of architectural interest, local importance, or historically significant.
2. The building must be extant so you or I can visit it in person.
3. Each building’s name will begin with a particular letter of the alphabet, and I must select one (and only one) for each of the twenty-six letters. This is easier said than done for some letters, whereas for other characters there is a surfeit of worthy candidates (so I’ll be discriminating and explain my choice in those instances).

This entry’s selection begins with the letter R, for which my choice is the Romania Building.
 
Romania Building
The Romania Building at 2020 Franklin Boulevard is perhaps Eugene’s best-known (if not best-preserved) example of 1950s-style “Googie” architecture. Its elliptical plan, sweeping “potato chip” roof, and once expansive glass walls are characteristic of the futuristic Googie designs—many of which employed gravity-defying cantilevers, bold geometric shapes, and vibrant colors—that exuberantly celebrated the car-centric culture of the era. Located as it was and is at the east end of Franklin Boulevard, the building functioned as a gateway and symbol of the city’s rapidly expanding transportation infrastructure and commercial development upon its opening in 1960. Though its original dynamism is a thing of the past, current plans promise new life for the forlorn structure.
 
The firm of Balzhiser, Seder, and Rhodes designed the showroom, initially for the Lew Williams Chevrolet dealership. The late Grant Seder served as the building’s principal designer. Grant intended its curved form to be reminiscent of the energy of automobiles in motion, rather than as Eugene’s own faddish take on the Googie style. The design team considered various structural solutions (including a tension structure suspended from a perimeter compression ring), ultimately settling upon a relatively conventional and economical system that nevertheless managed to realize the striking aesthetic they wished for.

Photo from the National Register of Historic Places (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalregister/6035198053/in/photostream/Lew Williams Chevrolet Dealership | Eugene, Lane County, OR … | Flickr)

Lew Williams sold the business to Joe Romania in 1969 (Joe was general manager of the dealership under Lew). What grew to become the Romania group of car dealerships was a force on the local scene when I first arrived in Eugene in 1980, and it remained so up until the time the Romania family sold the land and buildings its Chevrolet dealership occupied to the University of Oregon in 2005. Since purchasing the strategically important location, the university repurposed the 4.0-acre site for storage and parking use, with the former showroom serving for a while as studio space for its Product Design program.

 

Romania Building, east end (my photo)

As of 2011, the showroom has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the listing, the display pavilion “served to attract customers driving along Franklin Boulevard with its modern, futuristic, and aerodynamic design.” Notably, the dealership was the first to be situated outside of Eugene’s downtown core, which no longer can boast any such businesses.
 
An interesting tidbit I wasn’t familiar with is that the showroom was an addition to a former Coca Cola bottling plant, as opposed to the facility entirely being purpose-built as an automobile dealership. As the NHRP listing details, Lew Williams converted the bottling plant into the dealership’s service center, later adding a paint shop, body shop, and collision repair center office in quick succession to the building. So adaptive reuse is part of the dealership’s history, and as I will address next, will be part of its future as well.
 
The UO solicited proposals from developers in 2019 for exploration of a potential public/private ground lease arrangement that would include, among many other features, the preservation of the historical integrity and Googie style of the former dealership showroom commensurate with its placement on the NRHP. The goal was to strike a balance between honoring its past and embracing future opportunities for growth.
 
The university selected the proposal presented by Project^, a Portland-based developer whose Eugene portfolio includes the nearby Skybox, Courtside, and K14 student apartment buildings. The proposal for the Romania site by Project^ aims to retain the iconic features of the Romania Building while revitalizing the surrounding area. As a development partner, the UO would lease the land to Project^. The university’s continued involvement would underscore its commitment to enhancing the campus and its neighboring communities. In this scenario, the Romania Building holds immense potential as a catalyst for the property’s transformative change. By preserving its architectural heritage and integrating it into a modern urban development, we would be able to celebrate the Romania Building’s past while embracing the future.
 

Redevelopment proposal by Project^.

I believe the Project^ proposal for the Romania site is proceeding (someone correct me if I’m mistaken, and it is instead stillborn). The rendering shown here hints at its large scope, which will entail a mixed-use development, the centerpiece of which will be the former automobile display pavilion, returned to its former glory, perhaps functioning as a restaurant. If the entire plan is realized, the project will be the type of neighborhood node improvement called for by the City of Eugene’s Walnut Station Specific Area Plan.
 
Safeguarding the Romania Building’s historical significance while embracing an opportunity for sustainable growth and development makes sense, so I’m hopeful the University of Oregon’s partnership with Project^ will move forward along the lines of the vision presented. This community hasn’t been the best when it comes to preserving its architectural heritage. With luck, the Romania Building will be fully restored and again be the captivating presence along Franklin Boulevard it once was.