Re-Envisioning the Lane County Fairgrounds
By Dan Armstrong and Eric Myers with Ronald Logan, Rob Bolman, and Joshua SmithThe following is an excerpt from the fairgrounds repair proposal. To read the full 24-page proposal, download the pdf.
The Future of the Fairgrounds
The Lane County Fairgrounds covers fifty-five acres in the center of Eugene, Oregon. The site was first purchased in 1909 from Samantha Huddleston for ten dollars and in the following year hosted its first county fair. This location has now been the scene of rodeo events, 4-H exhibitions, logging conventions, home shows, holiday markets, and countless other community gatherings for three generations of Oregonians. The site continues to host the Lane County Fair and many other regular weekend events; however, revenue sources have not covered operation costs for several years and the fairgrounds has relied on County funds from the Federal Timber Subsidy to make it from one year to the next. Those funds were curtailed after the 2008 fiscal year. The Lane County Fairgrounds is currently operating at a loss and without a safety net. Moreover, the conditions of the grounds are in such a sad state that attracting convention business for the Events Center has become compromised. The future of this historic site is in jeopardy and has been for quite some time.
The Lane County Commissioners oversee operations of the fairgrounds. On March 12, 2008, the Commissioners convened a public meeting at the fairgrounds in an effort to answer the question: What should we do with the Lane County Fairgrounds? Two options were suggested by the commissioners that night. The first was to sell the property and build a new county fair facility on the outskirts of Eugene. This would cost an estimated $150 million and is an expense far too great for the County at this time. The second option was to spend an estimated $13.5 million for maintenance and repair of the site and see if operations couldn’t limp along until something better could be arranged. In these difficult financial times, even funding those maintenance costs would be difficult to justify and all repairs would have to be prioritized by absolute need and be done one by one as finances allowed. In other words, the commissioners offered two options and neither was workable.
The Lane County Fairgrounds is in dire straits. Instead of simply letting the situation continue unresolved, it is time to go outside the box with something entirely new. This is essentially what the County Commissioners were asking from the 100 or so interested citizens who attended the March 12th meeting—“A vision for the next fifty or one hundred years,” as Commissioner Fleenor described it that evening. This proposal is just that, a vision for the next 100 years.
Executive Summary
The purpose of this proposal is to give Lane County and the City of Eugene a way to save the Lane County Fairgrounds. The proposal describes a plan to transform the fairgrounds into a state-of-the-art, zero waste and zero net carbon, zero net energy community and agricultural resource center—a plan that will make the fairgrounds profitable, sustainable, and attractive. Should this vision be realized the Lane County Fairgrounds would become a one of a kind community asset, a gem in the crown of Oregon’s greenest city, and a destination site for visitors from all over the United States.
Overview
The world currently faces unprecedented challenges due to long-term resource mismanagement and environmental degradation. Our unrestrained use of fossil fuels, our methods of agriculture, our methods of building, our mismanagement of waste streams, and our way of life are simply not sustainable. Without wholesale revision of our culture and our relationship with the community of all living things, we jeopardize the health of the planet and the future of humankind.
Individual solutions to all the problems that we confront are available. Alternative techniques for the creation of energy, sustainable methods of cultivation, more efficient utilization of waste, green methods of construction, and new visions for the design of our socio-economic living space are being advanced and increasingly practiced every day. While these practices are yet the exception to the prevailing culture, they are our future. Individually these alternative practices are important, but combined in a holistic way they are powerful and fully sustainable. The Lane County Fairgrounds Repair Project endeavors to create a working demonstration of such a whole system design through the integration of cutting-edge green techniques and practices on the fairgrounds’ site in the center of Eugene, Oregon.
Mission Statement
The repaired Lane County Fairgrounds will be a community resource and agricultural center designed to optimize the full potential of the site. The fifty-five acre campus will be networked into the city in such a way that it acts both as a transit node for LTD and a distribution hub for food grown in Lane County. The central economic premise of the site will be fostering local enterprise, incubating green jobs, and promoting Lane County agriculture, specifically food production. The overall operational goal for the site will be to achieve zero waste, zero net carbon, and zero net energy, and in this way be a working demonstration and educational model for the culture of the future.
Fairgrounds Repair Design Objectives
Relocalize Community Economics: The Fairgrounds Repair Project’s economic strategy will emphasize local enterprise, the creation of green jobs, and the promotion and support of increased food production in Lane County. Funding for the rebuilding and restoration of the grounds will be sourced from private donations, state and federal green job and technology grants, county and/or city bond initiatives, and community-wide partnerships. Operation of the site will be supported by building rentals, business leases, farmers market revenues, workshop and class fees, waste stream income, and lodging fees.
Achieve Minimal Waste: A unified waste and recycling system will be incorporated into all fairgrounds activities. Everything that enters the fairgrounds’ site will either be recycled, composted into nutrient rich soil amendments, used as a source of energy production, or leave the site exactly as it entered.
Achieve Near Zero Net Carbon and Zero Net Energy: Every action will be taken to increase the efficiency of all existing buildings and energy systems at the site. Photovoltaic panels, solar water heating, wind power, and other renewable or high efficiency energy technologies will be added to each structure as applicable.
Utilize Ecological Landscaping and Permaculture Design: The entire campus will be restored and landscaped in a manner that demonstrates the principles of ecology and permaculture design. The grounds will be transformed into a neighborhood park, a living native plant library, and an educational arboretum.
Act as an Agricultural Resource Center and Food Hub: As part of the relocalized economic plan, the repaired fairgrounds will be a critical first step in the rebuilding of our local food system, something that can both stimulate the economy and increase regional food security. The existing OSU Extension Service office building will be replaced by a Regional Agricultural Center with offices for the USDA, the OSU Extension Service, the Department of Forestry, the Lane County Farmers’ Market, and other related government or non-profit organizations. An indoor year-round farmers’ market, a minimum processing, food storage and distribution warehouse, and two grain silos will also be added to the site to create a full-purpose food hub and emergency food reserve in the center of Eugene.
Act as a Transit Node: Jefferson Street provides direct truck and automobile access from Highway 105 to the fairgrounds. A major LTD bus line stops at the main entrance on Thirteenth Street, and a key bike path passes along the site’s southern boundary. By adding an EMX route to Thirteenth Street, the fairgrounds could be easily accessed without an automobile from both ends of the metro area.
Act as a Community Resource Center: The entire campus will be designed to maximize city-wide community involvement, neighborhood resource access, and educational opportunities. Energy applications, waste strategies, agricultural practices, environmental landscaping, and sustainable living will be presented as working applications, demonstrations, and workshops. Classes taught in conjunction with the Extension Service will include master gardening, composting, permaculture design, food preparation and preservation, nutrition, farmer mentoring, livestock management, and climate masters programs.
Become a Regional and National Destination Site: As a unique site, demonstrating all variety of sustainable practices and activities, the fairgrounds will draw visitors from all over the region and the United States.
The above is an excerpt from the fairgrounds repair proposal. To read the full 24-page proposal, download the pdf.