Précis
Village Green Conference Center/Moonstone Cloistered Gardens
Cottage Grove Urban Renewal Ballot Initiative
(Proposed as a 2010 Cottage Grove Ballot Measure)
(Proposed as a 2010 Cottage Grove Ballot Measure)
Contributed by Jim Kness, The Blind Seer of Cottage Grove
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I. Our city should be the site of an exemplary regional conference center; The Village Green/Moonstone Gardens should be redesigned and upgraded in such a way as to accomplish this purpose.
II. The Village Green/Moonstone Gardens has a civic ambiance and architectural style that needs to be preserved and restored instead of being torn down. An architectural design charrette should be hosted by the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce as soon as possible to enable this urban renewal iniative. Time is of the essence; economic development and cultural improvement should be proactively enabled by the CG Area Chamber of Commerce, CG Economic Development Director, CG City Council Manager, and CG City Planner.
III. I believe that in order to obtain sufficient funding for a Village Green Urban Renewal District there should be a tourist destination tribal casino facility built on the Gateway Boulevard side of I-5. The Tribal Casino and Conference Center needs to be connected by a pedestrian bridge (with electric shuttle auxiliary conveyance)over I-5 that could serve as an architecturally significant landmark for Cottage Grove. A major truck stop facility (for selling locally produced bio-fuel products) could also be located on the Gateway boulevard side of I-5. The Tribal Casino/Conference Center needs to be designed in a synergistic relationship with the major truck stop facility and fast-food purveyors of Gateway Boulevard.
IV. I believe that the District boundaries for this major Cottage Grove Urban Renewal Ballot Initative should be drawn as shown on the maps that accompany this précis.
V. I believe that an architectural design charrette for a Grand Ronde Tribal Casino should be undertaken concurrently with the Village Green design charrette as previously mentioned. The present fast food purveyors fronting on Gateway Boulevard are part of a civic ambiance that could be esthetically augmented in conjunction with a tribal casino/truck stop architectural design concept. The City of Cottage Grove could acquire property within this urban renewal district by right of eminent domain if need be, or with a "Buy and Lease-Back" agreement with existing property owners. This kind of 50 year lease hold would remain in force even if the property title deeds were to be ceded to the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon for the purpose of building a tribal casino within the city limits of Cottage Grove
VI. The Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce needs to host a joint architectural design charrette for the Village Green Conference Center/Grand Ronde tribal casino with financing in mind for accomplishing maximum civic benefit. The financing of the VGCC/ GRTC economic development concept could be accomplished with a combination of Urban Renewal revenue sharing bonds, serial levy bonds, and tribal casino debenture coupons.
VII. Here are some architectural design criteria that I believe should be written into both of the conference center/ tribal casino design charettes:
A. A cloistered wall needs to be built along the edge of the I-5 right-of-way for the purpose of suppressing "freeway noise". The cloister wall should be specified as an element of landscape architectural design consistent with the philosophy of Moonstone Gardens and the needs of Cottage Grove and its citizens.
B. The present Wal-Mart site next to the Village Green should be acquired by right of eminent domain and should be included as part of the Moonstone Gardens/Village Green Conference Center architectural master plan. Wal-Mart as a corporate entity could be compensated for CG condemnation with an amicable relocation to Creswell.
C. A four or five-story parking structure to serve the patrons of a tribal casino facility could be built on the site of the present Vintage Inn, KFC, McDonald's, gas station, etc. All of these present fast-food purveyors would retain their present business locations at sidewalk level under the roof of the tribal casino parking structure. The actual tribal casino facility could be of the penthouse (e.g. on rooftop of parking structure) pavilion style, resembling the architectural style of the Village Green.
D. A quasi-arcology structure consisting of several geodesic Rotegrity Domes could provide bridge access over the I-5 right-of-way between the Grand Ronde Tribal Casino Facilities and the Village Green Conference Center. The Rotegrity Dome frameworks could also be used as a "world renowned aeroponic garden floral exhibit."
Charrette: –noun- a final, intensive effort to finish a project, esp. an architectural design project, before a deadline.
Origin: 1965–70; < F: cart, OF, equiv. to char chariot, wagon (see car1) +-ette -ette, from the idea of speed of wheels
Precis:–noun- a concise summary.
Origin:
1750–60; < F, n. use of adj., lit., cut short. See precise
—Synonyms
1. digest, condensation, abstract.
definitions from dictionary.com
Contributed by Jim Kness, The Blind Seer of Cottage Grove
Anyone May Copy And Distribute This
Rose, I think you should state that this is in no way to be considered an official proposal for the site.
ReplyDeleteIt does state at the bottom that it was submitted by Jim Kness ( does he really refer to himself as the blind seer?), but maybe a disclaimer a the top of his proposal would make it clear that this is just one man's idea.
Thanks for providing some nicely moderated forums for discussion!
Stacy DeHart