Modern yet timeless...

Our's is a common sense approach to design that realizes the uniqueness of each human environment within the whole. One’s vision of place becomes an innovative translation of form that is both timelessly elegant in its presence and effectively sustainable by its manifestation.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Robinwood Station Masterplan - Public Forum TONIGHT

Gerber+Boes Collaborative is assisting the City of West Linn, Oregon and the Friends of Robinwood Station to develop a Master Plan for the Robinwood Station Community Center.  There is a Open Forum Public Meeting occuring TONIGHT.  Residents, Business & Property Owners are invited to participate and share their vision of a new Civic Community Center.

West Linn Tidings...



Emmanuel Presbyterian Church
19200 Willamette Drive
West Linn, OR  97068
7:00 - 9:00pm
 
Project Overview
Does West Linn need a Robinwood Neighborhood Community Center? Ultimately, the impetus of this Master Plan is predicated on the notion that it does.  Phase 1 of this study was commissioned to evaluate the existing community center to determine the probability and scope of future City investment in the temporary facility.  In 2010, residents from the Community, with the support of local Neighborhood Associations came before the City Council with  a request  to repurpose a decommissioned fire station for use as a venue for various Community-related activities.  Advocates were successful in their request to the extent that an organization of citizen volunteers was granted the authority to improve and manage the facility under certain Permitted conditions of temporary use. The purpose was to demonstrate, within a finite amount of time, the need for a community center.   As the clock winds down on the final of two temporary use periods for the existing building, it is imperative to review the history of operations and determine  whether a compelling demonstration has been made for both the City and its taxpayers, that a permanent community center in the Robinwood Neighborhood  is considered necessary even to the extent that its creation and ongoing operations might be subsidized by the City of West Linn. 
Originally constructed in 1964 by the unincorporated village of Robinwood, the small fire station at 3706 Cedar Oak Drive served as home to the area's volunteer fire department.  With the incorporation of Robinwood into West Linn, the station became a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Facility. After TVF&R decommissioned the old Cedar Oak Fire Station, it was used mainly by the City for storage of records and equipment.  Occasionally meetings and events were held there, but for the most part it remained empty.  Under-utilized and virtually abandoned, the building quickly descended into a state of disrepair.  When Friends of Robinwood Station (F.O.R.S.) was founded in 2010, they organized a team of Community volunteers to clean, repair, and improve the facility and its grounds. 
The Temporary Use Permit is a discretionary consent awarded by the City Council for the extent of 1 year. During that time, the facility could operate in the capacity of a community center in with minimal changes and improvements.  The WL CDC restricts use of this consent to two  periods or twenty-four months total.   The first permit was awarded, however , with the condition that certain minimum accessibility and fire, life safety standards imposed by the local building department must be in place prior to the authorization Occupancy.  While those conditions were being met, FORS organized officially as a 501(c)3 Oregon Non-Profit, forged a  Memorandum of Use (MOU) agreement with the City of West Linn outlining the conditions and limitations of operations, and drafted a set of operational documents for facility users. The agreement with the City imposed restrictions similar to other COWL facilities, including limited hours of operation, varying with certain days of the week, no consumption of alcohol on the premises, and strict compliance with noise ordinances.
Permits will expire at the end of June 2013.  Information assembled in this Analysis should be made available to the sitting Council for their consideration. The Pre-Application conference in 2010 provided specific guidelines for adequate remediation of deficiencies with the existing building(s) and property.  Those will be reviewed in more detail in subsequent Phases of this Study, suffice it to say they will require considerable time and investment. The Planning process is expected to take no less than six months, leaving very little time to complete this study, then design and contract the necessary improvements.  As the schedule suggests, maintaining the timeframe is critical if operations at the Center are to continue beyond June of 2013.  The Robinwood Community Center, "Robinwood Station," will soon enter the closing stage of its two year long experiment with FORS, RNA, and COWL to establish the case that "Yes!"  The City of West Linn  does indeed  need a Community Center in Robinwood. If that case has now been established, make the determination to proceed, implement the recommendations necessary for success,  and then plan for growth.
 
Please join us.