A ground level photograph of the city hall would show a palisade of decorative vertical beams giving the effect of a stockade. The suggestion of a “Fortress Eugene” manned by faceless bureaucrats turning their backs on the citizens is irresistible. The whole building supports the image.
Within the palisade, city offices are arranged around the outside and face inward to a center courtyard. The single floor is elevated about one-half story above sidewalk level and there is a parking lot beneath. In rainy Eugene this covered space is reserved for city officials, not citizens doing business at the city hall.
To complete the fortress image, most of the outer rim of the full block structure sits slightly back from the sidewalk. This leaves a gap above the sunken parking garage that forms a sort of dry moat around the building. |
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