Mud City Press

New and Remodeled Structures

All of the existing buildings will be appraised for energy system efficiency, renewable energy applications, passive design remodeling, and environmental landscaping. The new structures will have these features designed into them; they will also use and demonstrate the most advanced green building techniques and materials. Roof space will be utilized in a way to maximize photovoltaic panel installation.

Lane County Commons Schematic

Lane County Commons Aerial Schematic

  1. The Regional Agricultural Center Office Building will be built just south of the current Extension Service office location. The two-story building will have a 15,000 sq. ft. footprint (30,000 sq. ft. of floor space) and will provide offices for the OSU Extension Service, the Lane County Farmers Market, the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Soil and Water Conservation District, Oregon Department of Agriculture–Weeds and Insect Divisions, the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition, WIC, LCHAY, the School Garden Program, the Nutritional Education Program, and the Forestry Department. The rent paid by these government services and non-profit organizations will be matched to a 20-year construction cost repayment schedule. Because the Extension Service will be playing a significant role in the operation of the Lane County Commons, the building will be designed with special emphasis on the classes and workshops that they will provide. The building will include a large auditorium (capacity 200), classrooms, two meeting rooms, twelve office spaces, and an attached greenhouse that will function as both a research facility and a passive source of heat during the cooler months of the year. The current Extension Service office building will be deconstructed to maximize recycling possibilities.
  2. The Wheeler Pavilion (approximately 14,500 sq. ft.) will be upgraded with solar hot water heating, PV panels, a new HVAC system, and ecological landscaping. The immediate grounds will become an example of permaculture design, including a bamboo grove for sheltered gathering spaces and water catchment devices to create a decorative pond and stream that will also provide passive cooling for the building.
  3. The Auditorium (approximately 12,000 sq. ft.) will be insulated and remodeled for maximum passive heating and cooling. A second interior floor will be added to take advantage of the unused space, and the exterior will be landscaped for passive cooling advantages. The adjoining Administration Building will undergo minor upgrades to increase energy use efficiency and functionality for increased campus operations.
  4. The Fairgrounds Museum will continue to function as a Lane County historical informaton site.
  5. A Multi-staged Parking Structure will be added to the east parking lot. Parking has always been a two-sided coin at the Lane County Fairgrounds. More than three hundred days of the year, the vast parking lot is all but empty. On seven to thirteen weekends of the year, the parking lot is more than half full. On five or six weekends of the year, it is full, and during the six days of the county fair it is full to overflowing, so much so that the green space south of the Amazon Creek is used for parking. To some large extent, parking needs at the fairgrounds are determined by the County Fair. Six days out of 365 mandate the usage of almost a quarter of the site as overflow parking, making it space that cannot be landscaped or used in any permanent way. This area remains essentially an unattractive vacant lot ninety-eight percent of the time. Landscaping a significant portion of the green space south of the Amazon Creek and eliminating a considerable amount of the central parking lot's asphalted area are key elements to the Fairgrounds Repair Project vision. This would create a major parking problem for the County Fair and a moderate parking problem for the five or six most popular events at the Events Center. The parking problems could be mitigated by building the before mentioned multi-tiered parking structure in the parking lot east of the Events Center, creating addition parking on the south edge of the campus, and by running the west extension of the EMX down Thirteenth Street with a stop at Monroe Street.
  6. A Sorting Station will be built in the Lane County Events Center loading zone east of the building. This site will serve as a recycling and dry-waste sorting facility for the entire campus. Two smaller, satellite recycling and dry-waste sorting stations will situated in strategic locations on the campus.
  7. The Lane County Events Center (approximately 121,000 sq. ft.) will remain one of the most used and financially viable buildings on the site. Aside from landscaping changes for passive heating and cooling, there will be little remodeling to this structure. The HVAC system will be evaluated for increased ventilation efficiency and changes will be made to the Atrium to alleviate excessive heat buildup in the summer months. PV panels and solar hot water heating will be external additions.
  8. The Exhibit Halls along the north bank of the Amazon Creek, east of the Events Center and west of the Ice Rink, are in the worse shape of any structures on the site. These building will be deconstructed and the material recycled. This would take place in stages. One option is to make the Exhibit Halls open air and use them for a temporary covered area for the farmers' market as it is tested for financial return. With time, and as money allows and the site evolves, a Garden Village Walking Mall and Lodge with a 65,000 sq. ft. footprint will be built at this location. The new structure will be a three-story building with a natural mud adobe exterior and hanging gardens, designed to showcase various aspects of the emerging "eco-city" paradigm. There will be a first floor boardwalk along the south side of the building. This boardwalk will face the Amazon Creek and will feature storefronts and a café, looking out across the riparian corridor into the eco-orchard. The north face of the building will include a partially covered piazza and walking arcade lined on either side by craft shops or small cottage industries. The second and third floors of this building will be lodging, including 80-100 rooms for visitors to the campus or convention gatherings.
  9. The Maintenance Shop will remain the campus repair and service shop.
  10. The Ice Rink (approximately 59,000 sq. ft.) will be converted into a roller rink or remain an ice rink. The interior will be redesigned to function as an indoor concert hall as well as a roller or ice rink. The current small fast-food cafe will be converted to a full-service restaurant and lounge with a menu that features dishes prepared from locally grown products and regional micro-brews. If the structure remains an ice rink, consideration will be give to converting 3,000 square feet of the interior area west of the rink into refrigerated food storage space as an additional revenue stream for the rink.
  11. The Horse Barns will be converted into a Produce Aggregation and Minimum Processing Depot. This area would be used for cleaning, sorting, sizing, and boxing incoming fresh produce, prior to its being moved to the distribution warehouse.
  12. The existing Livestock Pavilion will be remodeled into a Food Storage and Distribution Warehouse. The Livestock Pavilion is a 45,400 sq. ft. building shell with a small office, male and female bathrooms, 40,000 sq. ft. of the interior space with a dirt floor, and bleacher seating. It also has a 16,000 sq. ft covered rear landing. It is currently used less than 90 days of the year and is operating at a deficit and screaming for year-round use. Remodeling this space for short-term produce storage and distribution is a relatively inexpensive project. It will need a full concrete floor (inside and outside), loading docks, several large refrigerated spaces, and a commercial kitchen. Delivery traffic will be routed from Interstate 105 and Jefferson Street into the east fairgrounds entry and the south or rear of the facility. Produce pickup traffic would enter the facility from 13th Street for access to the north or front of the facility. The warehouse can be a publicly owned service facility or leased to a private operator and can generate income through space rental. (The addition of solar hot water heating and a large array of PV panels will be a large expense that can pay itself off with energy savings over time or through sponsorships.)
  13. A Long-term Grain Storage Facility, featuring two mid-size grain silos, will be added to the site just north of the storage and distribution warehouse. These silos would give Lane County a substantial food reserve in the event of an emergency. Other than small on-farm silos and Grain Millers' operation in Eugene, there are very few food quality dry-storage facilities in the south Willamette Valley. This would be considered a public facility sponsored by the city and/or the county.
  14. The Indoor Year-round Farmers Market will be located just west of the Regional Agricultural Center and positioned to facilitate easy movement of items between the market and the distribution warehouse. The building will have a 16,000 sq. ft. ground floor and a 6,000 sq. ft. second story with a combined space for 80 vendor stalls and a variety of anchor businesses—such as a fish market, a meat market, a wine bar, a dairy outlet, a bakery, a beanery, a juice bar, a farmers' diner, and perhaps another restaurant or café. Marketplace amenities will include a consignment office, a meeting room, bathroom and shower facilities, a small certified commercial kitchen, a walk-in refrigerator, skylights, and large sliding glass doors that can be opened during times of clement weather to create an open-air feel. Complementing the indoor portion of the market will be an adjacent exterior walking plaza with the capacity to accommodate 20-40 vendor stalls for use during the busy harvest season or when the weather allows. The overall layout would also include street-level loading docks, easy access to electricity and water, and a park-like setting provided by the Economic Arboretum and Topological Amphitheater. Like the financing of the Regional Agricultural Center, the farmers' market construction cost will be paid off over 20 years by anchor business leases, vendor stall rentals, and a small percentage of gross sales. See Farmers' Market Enhancement Strategies.
  15. A Topological Aphitheater will be built into the landscape design of the Economic Arboretum-Park that wraps around the south and east side of the Year-Round Farmers' Market. The amphitheater will be used for small concerts, theater productions, and community presentations. The presence of this amphitheater will enhance the cultural atmosphere and vitality of the Year-Round Market by adding an option for outdoor entertainment whenever the weather allows.