News Releases
News from
Planning & Development Department
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2011
City Grants $8 Million for LCC Downtown Campus
As the sound of heavy machinery echoes through downtown, the City of Eugene made the official transfer of $8 million to Lane Community College (LCC) for construction of the new downtown campus. City Manager Jon Ruiz and LCC President Mary Spilde signed the Intergovernmental Agreement to finalize the Downtown Urban Renewal grant earlier this week.
The funding is part of the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan that was approved last year by the City Council acting as the Urban Renewal Agency (URA) Board. In addition to the grant, the URA also donated the land at 10th Avenue and Olive valued at $1.6 million. The City of Eugene also approved the transfer of a Recovery Zone Bond allocation to LCC in order to help the college access a $7,839,000 lower cost bond that will go toward the housing portion of the project.
The new Downtown Campus will include a 90,000 square foot, $35 million education building and a $20 million, 75,000 square foot student housing facility. The five-story student housing plan will accommodate 256 students. The LEED Platinum building is intended to both demonstrate and teach sustainable building strategies. It will house approximately 30 state-of-the-art classrooms and lecture halls that will increase the number of students served downtown.
The Downtown Campus adds to the momentum of downtown revitalization as one of four major construction projects currently underway. Construction on the site began in April. Today, the pit that formerly housed the Sears store has been almost completely filled in. The housing portion is expected be complete by August 2012, with students moving in during September 2012, while the education building is being finished. The first classes in the new education building are expected to begin in January 2013.
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Contact: Amanda Nobel Flannery, City of Eugene Loan Analyst, 541-682-5535
Media contact: Joan Aschim, PIO, aschimj@lanecc.edu or 541-463-5591
