============================================================ Health Options Digest September 28, 2002 Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield ============================================================ * EDITOR'S LETTER * NEWS SUMMARY * LAWSUIT 1.rg - Hospital's antitrust trial starts Oct. 7 2.sn - PeaceHealth antitrust lawsuit trial scheduled * PEACEHEALTH'S PLANS 3.rg - Consider tax benefits * BELTLINE/I-5 4.rg - Belt Line at I-5 listed as priority 5.sn - City, ODOT reach compromise on I-5/Beltline interchange issue 6.rg - Parties meet, vote for interchange overhaul proposal * NODAL DEVELOPMENT & TRANSIT 7.ew - Fork in the Freeway 8.rg - Making room for transit 9.rg - Talk to detail good jobs, smart growth * OTHER NEWS 10.sn - Gateway areas south side not to be overshadowed by PeaceHealth project 11.rg - Springfield seals deal for sports center 12.sn - Mid-town sports complex coming together * KEY, CREDITS, MORE INFO ===================== EDITOR'S LETTER ==================== What are the hidden costs of providing quality health care? Stakeholders recently recommended a $122-million option for the Beltline/I-5 interchange and Beltline/Gateway intersection -- more than twice the $53 million budgeted for the project in the recently adopted TransPlan. Moreover, stakeholders haven't yet considered the impacts of a new PeaceHealth hospital on the intersection: PeaceHealth's "traffic impact analysis" was release only as the stakeholders were completing their work. While transportation improvements to the Beltline/I-5 will obviously serve existing businesses and residences, the improvements are mainly needed to serve expected new development, such as a new hospital. The cost of these improvements is just one of the indirect costs the community will pay if a new hospital is sited in the Gateway area. Did the community agree to pay such costs? Was there a community discussion of the costs and benefits to the community of different hospital sisting options? Before plans go much further, the community should form a "Hospital Siting Commission" to examine the needs of the community and to evaluate the costs and benefits of different possible sites for a new hospital. That's what the doctor ordered for the health of the community! Rob Zako, Editor 343-5201 rzako@efn.org ====================== NEWS SUMMARY ====================== A federal judge has scheduled McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's antitrust lawsuit against PeaceHealth for a four-week jury trial in U.S. District Court in Portland starting Oct. 7, 2002 (#1, #2). A reader wrote that Springfield will collect more in property taxes from a new PeaceHealth hospital than it would if the property were developed in accordance with current planning (#3). [This letter also appeared the week before in the Springfield News and appears to be based on information in "PeaceHealth Progress," a publication of PeaceHealth.] State transportation managers and local officials agreed Monday to include the Belt Line Road-Interstate 5 freeway interchange as a top priority when lobbying for federal funding (#4). City Councilor Christine Lundberg, city staff, Gateway business owners and the Oregon Department of Transportation have negotiated a compromise solution to the I-5/Beltline interchange problem (#5, #6). An award-winning Portland planning firm has proposed a more wetland and transit friendly alternative to the West Eugene Parkway (#7). The Register-Guard editorializes that the state Transportation Commission ought to take a look at the design firm's plan, if only to evaluate whether it's economical and practical (#8). The Eugene-Springfield area remains subject to intense sprawl pressures -- including the proliferation of big-box discount retail stores, ailing downtowns in Eugene and Springfield, and PeaceHealth's plan for a large regional hospital on the periphery of northwest Springfield, according to a controversial national expert (#9). As PeaceHealth moves forward with plans to build an 800,000-square-foot hospital in the north Gateway area, development on the south side of Gateway is quietly unfolding, as well (#10). A six-way deal was signed Thursday to build a 160,000-square-foot sports complex at Main and 32nd streets and to sell a previously planned sports site in the Gateway area to Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers (#11, #12). ========================= LAWSUIT ======================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 1.rg - HOSPITAL'S ANTITRUST TRIAL STARTS OCT. 7 ------------------------------------------------------------ The Register-Guard, 9/26/02, Page 3D A federal judge has scheduled McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's antitrust lawsuit against PeaceHealth for a four-week jury trial in U.S. District Court in Portland starting Oct. 7, 2003. U.S. District Judge Ancer Haggerty set the trial date Tuesday in a telephone conference with lawyers for the two hospitals. McKenzie-Willamette, a 114-bed independent community hospital in Springfield, filed the suit last January against PeaceHealth, which operates five hospitals in the Northwest, including its flagship, the 432-bed Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. McKenzie-Willamette alleges that PeaceHealth used its dominant market power to compete unfairly for exclusive health insurance contracts. PeaceHealth officials deny the charges. McKenzie-Willamette is seeking $35 million in economic and punitive damages, sums that would triple under antitrust law. Federal judges Ann Aiken and Thomas Coffin tried unsuccessfully to broker a deal to end the suit in series of closed-door negotiating sessions in May, June and July. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/26/3d.cr.digest.0926.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 2.sn - PEACEHEALTH ANTITRUST LAWSUIT TRIAL SCHEDULED ------------------------------------------------------------ Springfield News, 9/28/02 Judge Ancer Haggerty, United States District Court, District of Oregon, has ordered a four-week jury trial in McKenzie-Willamette Hospital's antitrust lawsuit against PeaceHealth Oregon Region to begin in Portland, Oct. 7 at 9 a.m. Judge Haggerty ordered the new trial date in a telephone hearing conducted Tuesday. Other deadlines set by Judge Haggerty: * Witness depositions are to be completed by January 31, 2003. * Expert depositions are to be completed by March 14, 2003. * Oral argument on summary judgement motions was set for June 16, 2003. Roy Orr, President/CEO of McKenzie-Willamette Hospital, said he looks forward to the trial and is confident the hospital will win its case. McKenzie-Willamette filed suit against PeaceHealth Jan. 28. The lawsuit includes seven separate claims. In a recent decision, Judge Haggerty denied PeaceHealth's motion to dismiss the "tying claim" which alleges PeaceHealth ties certain services, conditions or requirements to an insurance company's ability to do business with them. McKenzie-Willamette believes the Washington-based hospital is unlawfully attempting to control competition for hospital patients in Lane County by using its market dominance to coerce insurance companies into signing exclusive contracts with PeaceHealth. For more information about the lawsuit, see http://www.mckweb.com http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/09/28/local/news6.txt =================== PEACEHEALTH'S PLANS ================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 3.rg - CONSIDER TAX BENEFITS ------------------------------------------------------------ John H. Brown, Eugene Letter to The Register-Guard, 9/27/02 Some confusion remains around the issue of property taxes that will be generated by PeaceHealth's new RiverBend campus in Springfield. A couple of important points should be made: 1) PeaceHealth is currently one of the largest property taxpayers in Lane County. That's because not all property owned by PeaceHealth is automatically tax-exempt. With RiverBend, PeaceHealth will be one of the county's largest taxpayers even though the hospital itself is a nonprofit organization and therefore tax-exempt. An example is PeaceHealth's undeveloped site on Crescent Avenue, which was taxed at its full value for all the years PeaceHealth held it in anticipation of using it for their expansion. They pay taxes on over $20 million in value on two structures alone at 12th Avenue and Hilyard Street in Eugene. 2) Local government will collect far more in property taxes in a shorter period of time from the RiverBend development than it would under current zoning for medium density residential development. Property tax revenues from the RiverBend development will be substantially higher than if conventional development had occurred. From a tax revenue standpoint, the public comes out far ahead under the proposed RiverBend development than would have been the case had PeaceHealth not chosen to locate at the RiverBend site. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/27/ed.letters.0927.html ====================== BELTLINE/I-5 ====================== ------------------------------------------------------------ 4.rg - BELT LINE AT I-5 LISTED AS PRIORITY ------------------------------------------------------------ By David Steves The Register-Guard, 9/24/02, Page 1C Salem -- State transportation managers and local officials agreed Monday to include the Belt Line Road-Interstate 5 freeway interchange as a top priority when lobbying for federal funding. The project on I-5's north approach to Eugene and Springfield needs as much as $35 million for its next two phases of design and construction. The accord by local government officials, civic leaders and state Department of Transportation managers is far from the final word on the project, along with five others that made Monday's regional priority list. The list will be forwarded to the state Transportation Commission, which will sort out similar lists from other regions. A final list will then be assembled to form the basis for lobbying Oregon's congressional delegation for help securing federal money to pay part of the cost of the highway projects. In addition to the Belt Line and I-5 interchange, the regional panel agreed to include a project in Seaside, a bypass along Highway 99 West between Newberg and Dundee, the I-5 interchange at Woodburn, and realignment of Highway 20 over the Coast Range from Pioneer Mountain to Eddyville. A second Lane County project proposed for federal funding didn't make the list: reconstructing the I-5 at Coburg interchange. Panel member Lyle Hatfield, a Springfield city councilor, said it should be easier to persuade Congress to approve projects such as the Belt Line interchange because they improve safety, reduce congestion and speed up the movement of freight on interstate highways. During a recent trip to Washington, D.C., to lobby for transportation funding, Hatfield said he was constantly hit with the same question: "What's the federal interest in this?" For federal highway projects, he said the answer is clear cut: "It's your interstate." The Belt Line project already has been approved for $18 million in state transportation funding, Hatfield noted. Officials are seeking an additional $15 million in federal money to help pay for "flyover" ramps estimated to cost $22 million, and $5 million to $15 million to help pay for right of way acquisitions, said Nick Arness, a transportation official for the city of Springfield. PeaceHealth, which is building a new regional medical center near the interchange to replace Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, has pledged $7 million for right of way acquisition, officials said. Although the panel agreed on its five priority projects, geographical rivalries were never far from the surface. The group agreed that it would be tough to rank projects in order of importance, something Hatfield called a "monumental" challenge, given that it would require the group to put a project from one part of the region ahead of a project in another part of the region. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/24/1c.cr.beltline.0924.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 5.sn - CITY, ODOT REACH COMPROMISE ON I-5/BELTLINE INTERCHANGE ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ By Kara Cogswell Springfield News, 9/25/02 City Councilor Christine Lundberg, city staff, Gateway business owners and the Oregon Department of Transportation have negotiated a compromise solution to the I-5/Beltline interchange problem. At a Monday night City Council work session, City Transportation Manager Nick Arnis presented the results of that compromise, which includes the creation of a one-way couplet at the interchange. Councilors also discussed plans to extend Pioneer Parkway north of Harlow Road. At the work session, the council reviewed a proposed agreement delegating project responsibilities between the city and the county. The agreement, which says that the county will act on the city's behalf in assessing and acquiring right-of-way property, will be voted on by the council for approval at an upcoming meeting. The interchange compromise uses the third option of the three interchange layouts originally considered. This option would create a one-way couplet section, with Hutton Road and Kruse Way serving northbound traffic. Full turning movements would be allowed at the Beltline and Gateway intersection. The plan will displace a few businesses, including the Chevron and Union 76-Circle K gas stations at the intersection of Kruse and Hutton. But compared to the other options being considered, both of which would have kept two-way traffic, this plan has less of an impact on business, Arnis said. The one-way couplet section would minimize right-of-way impact on property owners, he said. Mayor Sid Leiken and other councilors agreed that the compromise seemed to be the best solution to the interchange problem. Option three is the best choice, Leiken said, because the other two options would have had a much more significant impact on businesses in the area. Option 2, for example would have displaced six businesses, including the Best Western Motel and the Outback Steakhouse. "From the city's, and individual businesses' perspectives, that was unacceptable," he said. Councilor Fred Simmons, said, however, that the new interchange might not help the flow of traffic if the intersection becomes busier as a result of Pioneer Parkway and PeaceHealth construction. "We fouled up when we built that intersection, and we've been living with it ever since," he said. "This is probably better, but it's not a construction that's going to last." The stakeholders group was expected to make its recommendation on the environmental assessment for the interchange project to the Gateway Decision Team Tuesday. The Gateway Decision Team is comprised of Councilor Lundberg, Eugene City Councilor David Kelly and Lane County Commission Bill Dwyer. The decision team will then submit the assessment to the Federal Highway Administration for approval, Arnis said. Construction on the interchange probably won't begin until late 2009 or 2010, he said. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/09/25/local/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 6.rg - PARTIES MEET, VOTE FOR INTERCHANGE OVERHAUL PROPOSAL ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 9/28/02, Page 1B Talk about politics making strange bedfellows -- how often does a neighborhood group vote with the state Department of Transportation? It happened this week when transportation officials, business people and citizens met on a redesign of the Gateway Street-Belt Line Road intersection to coordinate with a $122 million overhaul of the Interstate 5-Belt Line interchange planned in 2005. The recommendation: Gateway would be one-way, southbound only, from the intersection south to Kruse Way, and northbound Gateway traffic would be diverted east at Kruse to Hutton Street, then north to a new signal at Belt Line. The plan eliminates a Chevron service station and the former Tuscany's restaurant, but the vote in support was 12-4, with Gateway-area business people among the majority. The four who were opposed included two Department of Transportation officials, one from the Federal Highway Administration and Jan Wilson of Friends of Eugene, a land-use advocacy group. "Very weird," Wilson said, referring to her voting bloc. But not illogical. The transportation department officials had problems with the intersection design while Wilson voted against it because she's against the entire project -- at least at the current price tag. "I'm not sure where they're thinking they're going to get the money," she said, "but nobody seems concerned about that." All sides must come to terms by Oct. 8, when five officials are scheduled to vote on whether to approve the interchange project. Springfield City Councilor Christine Lundberg -- one of the five -- said Friday that the meeting will be postponed unless consensus has been reached. Springfield reporter Matt Cooper can be reached at 338-2317 or by e-mail at mcooper@guardnet.com http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/28/1b.cr.spcitybeat.0928.html =============== NODAL DEVELOPMENT & TRANSIT ============== ------------------------------------------------------------ 7.ew - FORK IN THE FREEWAY: PLANNERS PROPOSE WETLAND AND TRANSIT-FRIENDLY ALTERNATIVE TO WEP ------------------------------------------------------------ By Alan Pittman Eugene Weekly, 9/19/02 An award-winning Portland planning firm has proposed a more wetland and transit friendly alternative to the West Eugene Parkway. The alternative would construct an exclusive busway along the eastern half of the proposed WEP right of way connecting a string of seven high-density, transit-oriented developments. Improvements to the existing Roosevelt Boulevard and a new section of road to the north would largely save threatened wetlands while serving car traffic. "We're looking at comparable costs, maybe even less costs," says George Crandall of Crandall Arambula PC. Crandall and Arambula have won 25 awards for their planning work with public agencies in Oregon and have been involved in many of the projects that have made Portland and Oregon national planning models. The WEP "represents an outdated approach that doesn't adequately address today's needs," Crandall says. The alternative plan confirms criticism of the WEP by local environmentalists and good planning advocates, says Mary O'Brien of Citizens for Public Accountability. "This shows it was right," she says, "there is no need" for the wide highway through wetlands. Mark Wigg, the Oregon Department of Transportation's WEP project manager, is non-committal about the alternative proposal. Wigg says ODOT will analyze the alternative based on its goals of "through movement of a certain number of vehicles per day." In the WEP environmental impact statement (EIS), highway planners call for increasing traffic through West Eugene by up to 17,000 cars per day to promote and accommodate an explosion of urban sprawl in far west Eugene and in the Veneta area. Land speculators hoping to cash in on that sprawl helped bankroll the record $120,000 campaign that won narrow voter approval of the WEP last fall. Crandall Arambula conducted the study at the request of O'Brien and others. But the firm declined to accept payment. "We want to be completely independent," Crandall says. "The study clearly shows that you cannot retrofit communities, wetlands and endangered species around a massive piece of concrete," says Rob Zako, a citizen transportation activist. "A real solution for west Eugene doesn't require paving over wetlands and habitat to build a new highway." Crandall Arambula found that the WEP EIS "seriously understates" the wetlands impact of the new highway. The EIS says about 50 acres of rare wetlands will be destroyed. But the firm found that including land surrounding the project, the WEP would affect at least 600 wetland acres. "It would be difficult to mitigate that impact" to the "wonderful" wetlands asset in Eugene, Crandall says, calling for a new EIS. The West Eugene Wetlands are one of "the last tiny dots" of wetland habitat remaining in the Willamette Valley, says O'Brien, pointing to a color-coded map. The valley was once one-third wetlands, she says, but now 99.5 percent of that rare habitat has been destroyed. The firm's study faulted the WEP for failing to support state and local goals for Bus Rapid Transit and efficient nodal development in the area. Crandall also faulted planners for failing to consider the impact of dumping large volumes of traffic from the WEP into downtown Eugene and surrounding neighborhoods. The BRT and node system currently proposed for west Eugene is likely to fail because of likely business opposition to creating exclusive busways on West 11th, and the fact that most of the area is already consumed by car-oriented sprawl, according to the study. The alternative proposal would increase transit ridership with dedicated busways that strengthen nodal development, according to the firm. The proposed nodal area is largely vacant and would be an easier place for creating dense new transit-oriented development. The alternative BRT route would also serve the city's already proposed Royal Avenue node, neighborhoods to the north and provide for an exclusive busway to the airport, according to the firm. This isn't the first time Crandall Arambula has studied an alternative to a city freeway. ODOT once planned a Mt. Hood Freeway on the west side of Portland, but the plans were changed in the face of citizen opposition and the freeway money was instead spent on an alternative that controlled sprawl and promoted transit. "That was the beginning of the light rail system," Crandall says. http://www.eugeneweekly.com/archive/09_19_02/news.html#news1 ------------------------------------------------------------ 8.rg - MAKING ROOM FOR TRANSIT: DESIGNERS' PARKWAY IDEAS LATE, BUT INTERESTING ------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial The Register-Guard, 9/23/02 It's impossible to evaluate an urban design firm's alternate plan for the West Eugene Parkway. Just for starters, no one knows how much the plan would cost. But even for those exhausted by the protracted fights over the parkway, the designers' ideas offer food for thought -- particularly in the realm of mass transit. Eugene's voters approved the parkway last November, echoing the approval they gave at the polls 15 years earlier. Plan amendments for the 5.8-mile roadway have been approved by the Eugene City Council, the Springfield City Council, the Lane County Board of Commissioners and the Lane Transit District board. The state Department of Transportation has committed $17.3 million for the first phase of the project. That's a long string of green lights. Yet after the Crandall Arambula PC design firm offered its analysis last week, surprisingly few officials rushed forward to say that it's time to stop debating the parkway and get the darned thing built. Even Eugene City Councilor Pat Farr, who strongly believes his west Eugene constituents need a new roadway to improve traffic flow, seemed willing to discuss ideas for improving the existing plan. Crandall Arambula studied the parkway at the invitation of some of the people who have fought hardest to stop the project, and are fighting it still through appeals of the local governments' approvals. The firm refused payment for its work, realizing that the credibility of its conclusions would be undermined if it accepted a fee from parkway opponents. And indeed, some opponents may have been disappointed by one of the central findings in Crandall Arambula's analysis: West Eugene does in fact need a new east-west traffic link; the problems the parkway is intended to solve are real. The designers recommend using Roosevelt Boulevard as the eastern half of the parkway, and routing the western portion on a newly constructed roadway farther to the north than is currently planned. The new alignment would trim the northern edge of a wetlands area, rather than bisecting it. Crandall Arambula did not develop a cost estimate for its plan, which would be the first step toward evaluating its practicality. The most intriguing part of the firm's concept, however, has to do with buses, not cars. The designers envision using the right-of-way already purchased for the eastern segments of the West Eugene Parkway as a Bus Rapid Transit route. Surrounding areas, currently zoned for industry, could be developed as transit-oriented mixes of housing, commercial space and places of employment. This would be a more pure form of the "nodal" development that local governments are attempting to pursue in their planning efforts. LTD's board was the only local government body whose members were unanimous in approving the plan amendments for the parkway. LTD's leaders understand that it would be difficult to create a Bus Rapid Transit route in west Eugene, given the area's current transportation system. The dedicated lanes needed for a system of fast buses could not be installed along West 11th Avenue, in particular, unless some of the street's heavy automobile traffic could be diverted onto another route. The parkway came to be seen as essential to the future of rapid transit in the Eugene-Springfield area. Crandall Arambula has offered another way to achieve that goal, with a new roadway serving the goals of the parkway and a new transit alignment that would keep rapid transit buses off busy city streets. The state Transportation Commission ought to take a look at the design firm's plan, if only to evaluate whether it's economical and practical. The voters have said they want to build a new road to solve transportation problems in west Eugene, but it's never too late to ensure that the problems are solved in the best possible way. http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/23/ed.edit.parkway.0923.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 9.rg - TALK TO DETAIL GOOD JOBS, SMART GROWTH ------------------------------------------------------------ By Christian Wihtol, Business Editor The Register-Guard, 9/24/02, Page 1B Lane County residents grappling with issues related to job creation and development sprawl have a chance on Thursday to discuss these topics with a controversial national expert. Greg LeRoy, director of Good Jobs First, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit center that promotes corporate accountability in economic development, will address the Jobs and Smart Growth Conference from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The event is at First United Methodist Church, 1376 Olive St., Eugene. The program, co-hosted by Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson and Eugene City Councilor Bonny Bettman, will use a roundtable format. LeRoy said he'll explain how good jobs and smart growth go hand in hand. "Sprawl is bad for job quality, and smart growth can be very good for it," LeRoy said. Compared with many states, Oregon already has strong rules -- including urban growth boundary requirements -- that limit sprawl, LeRoy said. Still, the Eugene-Springfield area remains subject to intense sprawl pressures -- including the proliferation of big-box discount retail stores, ailing downtowns in Eugene and Springfield, and PeaceHealth's plan for a large regional hospital on the periphery of northwest Springfield, LeRoy said. LeRoy said he won't try to spell out specific answers for Lane County. Rather, he said he'll outline general research findings and principles that can help guide smart growth. LeRoy favors development in core urban areas because that helps keep jobs, education and training accessible to core-area workers. When jobs, including retail and health-care employment, leap-frog into suburbia, lower-income people are increasingly left behind and are unable to easily reach places of employment, LeRoy said. Government needs to move away from subsidies such as corporate property tax breaks, which can harm school funding, and should instead foster work force development in public schools that will produce skilled labor, LeRoy argues in a June 2000 paper by Good Jobs First. LeRoy has more than 25 years of experience in organized labor and economic development. He's the author of "No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable." He's on an advisory committee to the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, an initiative that focuses on links between labor issues and development issues. The bulk of funding from Good Jobs First comes from foundation grants, plus the agency makes some money consulting, LeRoy said. For more information about Thursday's event, contact Sorensen at 682-4203, or Bettman, at 344-3150. For more information on Good Jobs First, go online to http://www.goodjobsfirst.org http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/24/1b.bz.sustain.0924.html ======================= OTHER NEWS ======================= ------------------------------------------------------------ 10.sn - GATEWAY AREAS SOUTH SIDE NOT TO BE OVERSHADOWED BY PEACEHEALTH PROJECT ------------------------------------------------------------ By Kara Cogswell Springfield News, 9/28/02 As PeaceHealth moves forward with plans to build an 800,000-square-foot hospital in the north Gateway area, development on the south side of Gateway is quietly unfolding, as well. The Gateway Office Park, located near the intersection of Gateway Street and Harlow Road is at the center of that development. In the past six years, SELCO Credit Union and the Pacific Continental Bank building have transformed the area from a vacant corner into a successful business center. One of the biggest selling points of the location is that it offers easy access to I-5 and lots of space for parking, said Mike Favret, a salesman at Grubb & Ellis. The property company has 6,300-square-feet of office space to lease in the newly opened American Automobile Association building behind Selco. "Our market is slow, but I think we'll find (a tenant) because it's a great property," he said. A pair of medical office buildings may fill the remaining parcels of the office park, the empty lots behind the credit union and the bank building. The lot behind the bank, owned by McKenzie Medical LLC, is being developed for the Oregon Medical Group, which will lease the property. Although currently in the pre-application stage with the city, a site review application for the building will be submitted this week, project architect Linn West said. Once a building permit is approved, project developer Wally Graff said he expects to begin building in late fall of this year. "We hope to have it occupied by this time next year," he said. The 24,000-square-foot, three-story building will house a multi-specialty medical practice with eight to 10 physicians, he said. The second lot, behind SELCO, is owned by McKenzie-Willamette Hospital. A pre-application submitted to the city shows plans to build a 35,000 square foot medical office and clinic for Urology Northwest. The medical practice currently has offices in Eugene and at 1611 J Street in Springfield. About 6,500-square-feet is still available to lease in the Pacific Continental Bank building, which currently has seven tenants. Larry Campbell, owner of Campbell Commercial Real Estate, said he hopes to develop the remaining space for one or two more businesses. The Gateway Office Park is a prime location for businesses, he said. "That site is one of our very best sites," he said. Monthly rent for space in the Pacific Continental Bank building is on average, $1.55 per square foot, slightly higher than the $1.31 per square foot monthly rent for the Grubb & Ellis property in the AAA building. http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/09/28/business/news2.txt ------------------------------------------------------------ 11.rg - SPRINGFIELD SEALS DEAL FOR SPORTS CENTER ------------------------------------------------------------ By Matt Cooper The Register-Guard, 9/27/02, Page 1A Springfield -- A six-way deal was signed Thursday to build a 160,000-square-foot sports complex at Main and 32nd streets and to sell a previously planned sports site in the Gateway area to Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers. The project -- 14 years in the making -- had been poised for success since early this year, when the City Council approved the concept. The deal was closed after all parties agreed to terms under which the current users will vacate the 22-acre parcel off Sports Way in northwest Springfield. Mayor Sid Leiken said he was thrilled not just by closing one chapter in an especially long saga, but also by the potential for the sports complex to help revitalize a stagnant part of the city and add to the Eugene-Springfield area's amenities. "This will become more than just something for Springfield," Leiken said. "It is accessible for people all over. It's going to be one of the great landmark achievements this community has seen." In the deal: * Chambers buys the Gateway site from the city for $3.2 million -- title companies were processing the sale Thursday afternoon, City Attorney Joe Leahy said. If Chambers' parcel is rezoned for campus-industrial use, she will pay the city another $2 million. Eighteen acres north of the site will be preserved as open space. * The city will use profits from the sale of the Gateway site to cover its $3.2 million cost to relocate the planned sports center. That cost includes $600,000 paid to developer Arlie & Co. to buy 20 acres south of the planned sports complex site at 32nd Street, and $770,000 paid to the Willamalane Park and Recreation District to develop three to five soccer-athletic fields on the 20 acres. Plans also could include a skate park, Leiken said. * Broad Base Programs, the nonprofit group formed to build and operate the $12 million sports complex, will build on 10 acres donated by Arlie at Main and 32nd streets. Arlie plans to build shops, restaurants and stores on five acres sitting between the sports complex and Main Street. * Kidsports, which operates two soccer fields at the Gateway site, will use the fields until Chambers needs the land. At 32nd Street, Kidsports will have two soccer-multipurpose fields planned for completion by fall 2003, and room to build a third. With the deal in hand, the remaining question is whether Chambers' Gateway site should be rezoned for campus-industrial use, which would allow regional distribution centers, research and development complexes and corporate headquarters. Critics have charged that such uses would add to traffic congestion in the vicinity of the Interstate 5/Belt Line Road interchange. They also have said the city's quest for the additional $2 million from Chambers, for rezoning the Gateway site, would mean an end to expectations that a public recreation facility would eventually be built on the site. But Leiken has said that the rezoning would add needed campus-industrial land to the metropolitan area. And he said Thursday that Springfield residents largely support changing the use of the property. "The majority of the folks who seem to have a problem with it have addresses that have Eugene ZIP codes," he said. "The folks I have spoken to in Springfield think it's a wonderful idea" because it could mean creation of more family-wage jobs. City Planning Manager Greg Mott said rezoning the Gateway site for an office park, for example, could generate less traffic than if the land were used for a sports center and neighboring commercial development. Public hearings are planned for mid-November on rezoning the Gateway site from commercial and parks-open space to campus-industrial, and on rezoning the 32nd Street site from a mix of industrial zonings to parks-open space, Mott said. State Sen. Bill Morrisette started promoting the sports complex project around the time of his election as mayor in 1988. The plans stalled repeatedly over the years because Broad Base couldn't secure financing. Then Arlie offered last October to donate the 10 acres at Main and 32nd to Broad Base, providing it with the collateral needed to obtain a $12 million loan. Roy Gray, Broad Base project director, has characterized the donation in the past as the key to the deal, saying, "When you have a piece of ground, you own it, you're way ahead of the game." Neither Gray nor Arlie officials could be reached for comment Thursday. In newspaper advertisements, Arlie President Suzanne Arlie has said the company tries to meet community needs and is "especially proud of this development because it will help Springfield realize its dream." SPORTS CENTER * What: A $12 million, 160,000-square-foot sports complex is planned for the southwest corner of Main and 32nd streets. It could serve up to 5,000 people daily and would feature an ice rink and six full-size basketball-volleyball courts. Land to the south would include three to five multipurpose-soccer fields. * What's next: The city has begun the process to rezone the site for the sports complex and to rezone a former sports site in the Gateway area for office use. Public hearings will follow in mid-November. Broad Base could begin construction in April, and four fields could be open by fall 2003. * For more information: Call the city manager's office at 726-3700. - City of Springfield http://www.registerguard.com/news/2002/09/27/1a.sportscenter.0927.html ------------------------------------------------------------ 12.sn - MID-TOWN SPORTS COMPLEX COMING TOGETHER ------------------------------------------------------------ By Kim Sullivan Springfield News, 9/28/02 Inching closer to a win-win situation for both business developers and sports enthusiasts, a deal was finalized Wednesday and Thursday that furthers the goal to build a $12 million, 160,000-square-foot sports complex at 32nd and Main Streets and sell the sports center's former site to Eugene businesswoman Carolyn Chambers. The project involves multiple players, including: the city of Springfield, Carolyn S. Chambers Trust, Arlie & Co., Kidsports, Broad Base Programs, Inc. and Willamalane Park and Recreation District. "This is much bigger than Springfield," Mayor Sid Leiken said Friday. "This will become a regional sports complex. People should be really excited about it." The sports center -- projected to be built over three years in three phases -- will provide a variety of athletic opportunities for both children and adults including an ice rink, gymnastics center, and six volleyball and basketball courts. Land to the south of the center, which is near Agnes Stewart Middle School, will include three to five multi-purpose soccer fields. Leiken said the city has begun the rezoning process for the sports complex, as well as the former sports site in the Gateway area. Public hearings are planned for mid-November on rezoning the Gateway site from commercial and parks-open space, to campus-industrial. A hearing will also be held on rezoning the 32nd Street site from a mix of industrial zoning, to parks-open space. If all goes as planned, construction will begin in spring 2003. The sports complex -- expected to be partially completed one year from now -- has a long and complicated history. The project began in the late 1980s with State Sen. Bill Morrisette when he was Springfield's mayor and was on and off for several years because Broad Base Programs, a nonprofit group formed to build and operate the complex, had difficulty securing financing. A turning point came almost a year ago when Arlie offered to donate 10 acres at the 32nd Street site to Broad Base. Leiken said he'd like the public to realize the generosity of Arlie's donation, with a market value of more than $600,000. People know Arlie's co-owner John Musumeci as a developer Leiken said, "but what they may not know is that John has a huge heart for kids." "They gave us that property because John truly cares about children," Leiken said. Arlie & Co. sold 20 of its 35 acres at the site to the city, but plans to rejuvenate the area by adding shops and restaurants on the remaining five acres near the sports complex. After members of Springfield City Council gave a thumbs up to the multidimensional plan in March, the project picked up speed. After weeks of discussions, parties agreed to the following terms Thursday afternoon: Kidsports, which operates soccer fields in the north Gateway area, agreed to vacate the 22-acre parcel of land off Sports Way as soon as Chambers needs the land. In the plan, Kidsports will transfer its Sports Way lease to the soccer-multipurpose fields at the new sports center off 32nd Street. Carolyn C. Chambers Trust purchases the Gateway site from the city for $3.2 million. If the land is rezoned for campus-industrial use, Chambers will pay the city of Springfield another $2 million and will preserve 18 acres north of the site as open space. The city of Springfield will use profits from the sale of the Gateway site to Chambers to cover the $3.2 million cost of relocating the planned sports center. The city transferred management of the 20 acres purchased from Arlie to Willamalane Park and Recreation District to develop soccer, rugby and flag-football fields, as well as other outdoor facilities, such as basketball courts and a skatepark. Leiken said he felt the city and the council members were "strategic" throughout the process. "It was very strategic on our part when the city brought in Willamalane," Leiken said. "Willamalane works with kids and when we talked with them about joining in, they were very enthused. This whole thing is good for everyone -- the city, the parks and the kids. It's good all the way around." http://www.springfieldnews.com/articles/2002/09/28/local/news2.txt =========================== KEY ========================== "Health Options Digest" is best read with an email program that recognizes links to web pages. It includes leads from and links to stories and opinions from the following publications: rg = The Register-Guard sn = Springfield News ew = Eugene Weekly cn = Comic News ode = Oregon Daily Emerald cce = City Club of Eugene Newsletter or = Oregonian For some stories, two links are given. Use the first link if the story is still current; use the second if another issue has since been published. ========================= CREDITS ======================== "Health Options Digest" is published once every week or so by the Coalition for Health Options In Central Eugene-Springfield (CHOICES) as a service to the community. 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