Will OSU-Cascades block the “intersection of fun?” Should
it be located at the crossroads of “sadness and loneliness?”
That metaphorical exchange made for good sound bite
repartee as Oregon Public Broadcasting brought its “Think Out Loud” radio road
show to Bend on July 15.
The program followed by only a few weeks OSU’s start of
construction on the university’s preferred site on Bend’s west side evcen as
opponents, organized loosely as Truth in Site have carried their argument to the State Court of Appeals after being
rebuffed by a city hearings officer and the state Land Use Board of Appeals.
In the OPB program OSU Cascades vice president Becky
Johnson said the current 2+2 program has worked well for “place bound” students
who for family or other reasons stay close to home. Now students who graduate
OSU-Cascades usually spend their first two years at Central Oregon Community
College or another school before transferring in their junior year.
However,
Johnson pointed out that 60% of Bend LaPine district high school students leave
the area to four year colleges. The objective in a 4-year campus would be to
retain more of those students and also attract those from out of state and even
Germany or China.
Johnson
emphasized that the OSU-Cascades would not try to compete with larger
universities with football programs and fraternities. Instead it would appeal
to a demographic more interested in perhaps skiing at Mt. Bachelor, enjoyed the
region’s outdoor recreation and maybe doing an internship at a local technology
company.
Bend city manager Eric King noted that Central Oregon is
the largest region in the state without a 4-year college and the quest to fill
that need began in the 1980s.
Currently Bend is drawing technology companies from the
Bay Area who will have jobs for computer science graduates. As such there is an
opportunity to create an “economic garden” that will be nurtured by
newly-educated graduates who in a growing employment sector, King said.
Speaking for the opposition retired civil engineer Mike
Walker questioned reports by consultants that say the site is feasible.
Although saying he supports a 4-year college in the region, Walker said the
problem is “implementing the dream.”
Remediation costs of the property may exceed the
acquisition costs, Walker maintained.
Another site opponent pointed to parking and traffic
impacts that have been key issues in previous appeals. She also raised the
issue of the site potentially being on top of
“Tumalo earthquake fault” and proximity to a hazardous waste site with
“smoldering tires.”
Instead of it’s current site on 10 acres in the area of
NW Chandler and NW Century Drive, Truth in Site has said one better location could
be the city-owned Juniper Ridge project in northeast Bend.
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| Site preparation is underway at the new campus |
Identifying himself as the “self-appointed PR and
marketing person” for opponents, Calvin Mann said the current site would result
in “plopping themselves at the intersection of fun,” where Century Drive leads
to Mt. Bachelor and other recreational areas.
“The quality of life of all of Bend depends on the
quality of life on the west side,” Mann said, resulting in audible groans from
some in the audience.
Mann’s comment elicited from narrator Dave Miller whether
Mann would prefer a university “...go to the intersection of sadness and
loneliness.”
OSU-Cascades announced recently that it had weighed the
risk of starting construction at the first phase 10-acre campus site even as an
appeal is pending with the State Court of Appeals. Most substantive issues have
been resolved in previous appeals, the university has said, and other issues
such as parking and traffic could be addressed if the court so directs.
“We would not be going forward if we did not feel
confident that we could have this open for freshmen in the Fall of 2016,”
Johnson said.
The state LUBA also considered and decided in favor of
the city of Bend and the college that a master plan that included a nearby
46-acre parcel was not required. The city has a option on that site but has yet
to acquire it.
