It’s been just four months since the purchase of the building and large lot at 1464 W 6 th Street was closed. The first round of renovations and painting is almost complete and the opening date for the new Eugene Community Service Center is scheduled for Monday, December 7, 2009.

The current location of the Eugene Community Service Center at 1095 7 th Street will be closed beginning Friday, December 4. Then, over the weekend, staff and volunteers will move furnishings, equipment and materials three blocks west to the new site.

Demand for services in Eugene increased 24% in the last year. The West 7 th site, a modest motel built in 1945, proved too expensive to repair and maintain, let alone to expand to meet the increased demand. The CCS Board of Directors agreed last spring that the better investment would be to purchase a larger building with fewer repair needs.

The acquisition of the 6 th Street site is supported by the City of Eugene with a $91,800 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award. The remaining funds to purchase the buildings and lot will be raised from efforts of a Comprehensive Fundraising Campaign that is underway, targeting a goal of $1.5 million. (see notice on upcoming Phone-a-thon in this issue)

Architect Jerry McDonnell of McDonnell and Associates and Contractor Doug Lee of Lee Construction have designed and are completing the renovation of the former Executive Auto Sales show room, offices and garages, creating large, handicapped accessible restrooms, new data and utility rooms, and a reception area large enough to accommodate the growing group of people who come to CCS seeking food, clothing, housing and other emergency assistance. The existing offices and large work bays have been redesigned to create additional program offices and confidentiality sensitive client interview spaces, and a spacious and well-lit food distribution area with substantial room for food storage. The office areas will get a facelift with a generous donation of office furniture and equipment from the local business Marche X.

During the early weeks of summer, volunteer coordinator Barbara Lee organized a small party of volunteers to complete targeted demolition of the unsafe second floor in preparation for the remodeling work. Tim Jones, Gary Smith, and Will Thompson donated a week of labor, saving the agency several thousand dollars in demolition costs.

Remodeling of the space began in earnest in the late summer months. Plumbing and electrical wiring in the new restrooms were installed and new concrete floors poured. Carpeting in what will be the reception and waiting areas was removed and the concrete floors underneath were stained. New walls and window openings were built in what will be a reception and interview office for the collection of new client information.

In the last weeks before the opening of the new facility, Builder’s Electric installed new energy efficient lighting. Netcorps, a non-profit agency dedicated to helping other non-profit agencies build technology capacity, is hardwiring for computer network systems, camera surveillance systems, and telephone service.

Volunteers Gary Smith and Ryan Hylond joined Facilities Supervisor Rick Krumlauf in mid October to begin the considerable task of interior painting in anticipation of theDecember opening.

Posted November 1, 2009