The Downtown Mary Spilde Center of Lane Community College will be serving as the interim chambers for Eugene City Council beginning December 2020.
City officials and LCC officials believe consolidation will aid in the functionality of city services and help maintain the mutually beneficial relationship between LCC and the city of Eugene.
“This helps consolidate the city services we have into this area on 10th and Olive,” said Laura Hammond, Community Relations Manager for Eugene. She believes this move will positively affect the operation of city services. Within a four-block radius of the Mary Spilde Center is the Lane Transit District, The Atrium, and the Downtown Public Library.
The first three floors of the Mary Spilde Center will have spaces reserved for the mayor, city council, and 4J School District offices. Spaces will remain as classrooms when it is safe to host classes. An approximate $50 million had gone toward creating the Mary Spilde Center, renting out these otherwise unused spaces provides financial relief for LCC, according to city and school officials.
“We won’t be the majority of the building, but we will be part of the building.” Hammond ensures city services will not overtake the educational purposes of the building, instead, she feels this will open doors for educational opportunities. “Mixing the uses [of the space] may help build great relationships. We have internship programs where we look to recruit young people to give them a sense of how municipal government works.”
“[Moving into the MSC] continues our strong partnership with LCC. It supports an important educational mission in our community, and it’s supporting the core area of our downtown.”
“One of the city’s goals is focused on sustainability,” Hammond mentioned the Platinum certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a certification the MSC was built to achieve.
Eugene City Council is looking for input from the community, their contact information is available here.
