City hopes to replace decaying firehouse.

Byline: REBECCA NOLAN The Register-Guard

A thick crack runs the length of the balcony overlooking Pearl Street at the Eugene Fire Department's downtown station at Eugene City Hall.

Overhead, a horizontal support beam sags noticeably. A thin, webby crack spans its width.

"That beam has dropped three or four inches since I was stationed here," said Deputy Chief Matt Shuler, who oversees the department's technical services.

Similar beams hang directly above the firefighters' sleeping quarters, and a nearby pipe occasionally leaks diesel fuel onto the carpeting, District Chief Dave Coleman said.

The list of problems at the downtown station goes on and on: the sinking equipment bay floor, barely adequate ventilation, overcrowded living quarters, toilets that back up, nonexistent training and storage facilities, an oven that dates back before City Hall was built in 1964.

Perhaps the biggest concern of all is the building's vulnerability to a major impact such as that caused by a moderate or strong earthquake or a massive explosion.

On May 21, Eugene voters will have a chance to move the firefighters out of their cramped and crumbling downtown quarters and into a spacious, modern facility that better accommodates equipment and personnel.

If voters approve Ballot Measure 20-57, the city will issue $8.68 million of general obligation bonds to pay for a new fire station as well as a fire-training structure slated for the department's campus at West Second Avenue and Chambers Street.

According to the city's calculations, the estimated property tax rate to repay the bonds is 11 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of a home valued at $143,000 would pay about $16 a year.

A 1995 study of Eugene's public buildings concluded that City Hall would not be able to withstand a moderate to serious earthquake. The building could collapse, crushing vital emergency equipment and trapping firefighters inside.

"Our largest crew on the east side would have to rescue themselves first," Shuler said.

Ray Weldon, a professor of geologic science at the University of Oregon, said there is a 20 percent to 30 percent chance of an earthquake causing significant damage to buildings in Eugene within the next 100 years.

City Hall's design - concrete slabs supported by beams and columns - makes it particularly vulnerable should such a temblor hit the area.

"It is an issue," Weldon said. "You generally don't want your emergency services to be damaged, because obviously they have to respond to emergencies elsewhere."

Earthquakes are not the department's only concern.

Since the 1980s, women have joined the department in increasing numbers, Shuler said. The station has been retrofitted with a separate bathroom, but women sent down- town must sleep in the same quarters as the men. No women are currently assigned to the station.

In addition, the awkward positioning of the station's equipment bay forces firefighters to stop traffic at the busy intersection of Pearl Street and West Seventh Avenue to back in the trucks and engines. The repeated wrenching of the joint on the articulated ladder truck has shortened its life expectancy, Shuler said. It would cost about $1 million to replace.

The new 23,500-square-foot facility would occupy a full quarter-block and would have two bay doors, allowing crews to drive trucks in head-first.

In putting together its proposal, the city considered 31 potential sites and has settled on a short list of about seven, Shuler said. The city is focusing on two general zones: West 13th Avenue between Pearl and Charnelton streets, and the area bordered by Olive and Charnelton streets and West Sixth and Seventh avenues.

Either area would provide quicker response to a 30-block area south of the Lane County Fairgrounds, which currently does not enjoy the nationally accepted four-minute response time.

The city has not revealed a specific site because it does not want the May vote to be a referendum on the project's location, Shuler said. The city also hopes to avoid price hikes, he said.

But members of the Mill Street Bridge Committee, the only group to voice opposition to the proposal, find the city's secrecy disconcerting.

"They're asking people to raise taxes for a fire station, but they haven't identified a site," said Thomas Lester, the group's director. "It makes you wonder how they came up with their figures."

The group wants to maintain the integrity of Eugene's downtown and vehemently opposes the proposed development of the riverfront near East Eighth Avenue and Franklin Boulevard.

While the committee has no philosophical problem with the idea of a new fire station, Lester said he is concerned that the city will use the fire station's location to further support the federal government's plans to build a new courthouse on the waterfront.

The city also would spend about $990,000 on a live-fire training structure at its West Second Avenue and Chambers Street campus. The structure would allow firefighters to battle real flames in a controlled environment.

Pressure has been mounting for the department to end its "Burn to Learn" program in which crews burn down donated structures to hone their skills. Concerns about air pollution and runoff into the sewer system have forced agencies to start looking elsewhere for training.

Approval of the ballot measure would require a double-majority vote - more than half the eligible registered voters must cast ballots for an approval to be valid.

In this election, the fire department is competing with the new public library and schools for limited local resources.

"I understand the voters have some difficult decisions to make," Shuler said. "Regardless of the outcome of the vote, we will continue to be here if the ballot measure doesn't pass."

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INSIDE Ballots go out today / 14A Reedsport mayoral candidates / 2C COMING SATURDAY Eugene library operating levy House District 7 Republicans BRIAN DAVIES / The Register-Guard The turnout room at the downtown Eugene fire station is among the crowded places in the decaying 40-year-old building.