For More Information Contact:
Lance Robertson, 984-4716 or 729-7690 (cell)
Eugene Water & Electric Board

Aug. 6, 2008

Utility begins construction of new operations center

The Eugene Water & Electric Board will celebrate the start of construction at its new Roosevelt Operations Center with a special groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Aug. 8.

The event begins at noon at the 52-acre site, located at the southeast corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Beltline Road. Featured speakers include EWEB President John Simpson, Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy and EWEB General Manager Randy Berggren.

After brief remarks by the speakers, shovels will be distributed, and ground will be officially broken on the new operations facility.

The new $83.5 million development will include a main electric and water operations center, a warehouse, a vehicle shop, covered vehicle storage and a materials storage yard. The facility will open in the fall of 2010. EWEB customer service and administrative employees will remain in the existing headquarters building along the Willamette River near downtown Eugene.

“This new facility will fulfill a long-standing need to provide our customers with reliable, efficient and high-quality electric and water service well into the 21st century,” said Berggren. “A number of features incorporated into this facility also support EWEB’s strong commitment to conservation and sustainability.”

Designed for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by PIVOT Architecture of Eugene, the operations center will include several sustainable design features, such as enhanced building insulation, a bioswale to treat storm water, on-site wastewater treatment, solar water heating, a solar (photovoltaic) power array, and significant wetlands preservation and enhancement. LEED is an independent certification program operated by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Lease Crutcher Lewis is the project’s general contractor. Lewis has been a Northwest general contractor since 1886 and has offices in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Toronto. The firm’s current local projects include the University of Oregon’s new College of Education and the UO’s planned baseball stadium. For more information, visit www.lewisbuilds.com.

EWEB is Oregon’s largest citizen-owned public utility. Created as a municipal utility in 1911, EWEB serves more than 86,000 electric customers and provides water to nearly 200,000 people and businesses in the Eugene area. Read more about the project.

Note to editors and reporters: Access to the Aug. 8 ceremony is available off Roosevelt Boulevard, just east of Beltline Road. The ceremony should last about a half hour. Speakers and others will be available for individual interviews following the ceremony.