Riverfront Park Plaza

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Public engagement on this project has ended. Project updates will continue to be posted to this page.

Plaza design was completed in Summer 2023. Construction is expected to begin in Spring of 2024 with the plaza opening in Summer 2025. When the riverfront property is fully developed, the one-acre park plaza will be nestled between multi-family housing buildings and a restaurant.

Plaza design was completed in Summer 2023. Construction is expected to begin in Spring of 2024 with the plaza opening in Summer 2025. When the riverfront property is fully developed, the one-acre park plaza will be nestled between multi-family housing buildings and a restaurant.

Tell Your Millrace Story!

An interpretive art piece based on Millrace history is being created for the future Downtown Riverfront Plaza. It will tell stories about time spent in, on, or along the Millrace and other waterways in Eugene.

The Millrace was a stream originally dug as a water engine to power early industry such as saw and flour mills. It later became a popular recreation spot for canoeing and ice skating. The Millrace currently outfalls back into the Willamette River through large pipes running beneath the new Riverfront Park.

The interpretive art piece will feature embedded and engraved or bronze text. Reflecting a variety of different voices and languages, the words will be typeset expressively into patterns or ripples in or around the plaza water feature. This text will weave together quotations from newspaper clippings, songs, poetry and, ideally, your words too.

Do you have memories or experiences from the Millrace or other waterways in Eugene that you’d like to share? Your words will be a valuable addition to our collective histories within the new piece!

Thank you for sharing your story with us.
CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.
  • Share Fond childhood memories from 1969 on Facebook Share Fond childhood memories from 1969 on Twitter Share Fond childhood memories from 1969 on Linkedin Email Fond childhood memories from 1969 link

    Fond childhood memories from 1969

    by Danneaux, over 1 year ago
    One of my fondest childhood memories came from my family renting a canoe and paddling the millrace back in 1969. There were arched tunnels under the streets and it was fun to poke at the green slime and algae beneath them as we slid by on the mildest of currents. It was so enjoyable to see the back sides of buildings -- businesses, fraternities and sororities and we knew from the kegs there'd been fun the night before. Geese, ducks, and small muskrats watched us and it seemed like another world, far removed from the busyness of 11th street so... Continue reading
  • Share Family Memory on Facebook Share Family Memory on Twitter Share Family Memory on Linkedin Email Family Memory link

    Family Memory

    by VAF, over 1 year ago

    As a single mom, I needed to find inexpensive, engaging activities located in the city. Kayaking on the millrace was just the ticket! Being on the water, with its unique perspectives, was both safe and exciting. My children loved it, as did I!

  • Share Wooly-bearCaterpillars on Willow Boughs on Facebook Share Wooly-bearCaterpillars on Willow Boughs on Twitter Share Wooly-bearCaterpillars on Willow Boughs on Linkedin Email Wooly-bearCaterpillars on Willow Boughs link

    Wooly-bearCaterpillars on Willow Boughs

    by Ann Fuller, over 1 year ago
    I recall a warm summer afternoon in a canoe paddling the lazy Millrace. In slow motion, the canoe drifted against the shore and into a soft green willow-branch world where each willow branch was host to many soft plump wooly-bear caterpillars.
  • Share Wanting to hear Kalapuyan perspective on Facebook Share Wanting to hear Kalapuyan perspective on Twitter Share Wanting to hear Kalapuyan perspective on Linkedin Email Wanting to hear Kalapuyan perspective link

    Wanting to hear Kalapuyan perspective

    by SeedMan, over 1 year ago
    Paragraph 3, sentence 2 states, "....variety of different voices and languages...."

    I would like to see the native people's voice included in this piece. They were here first, after all.

  • Share Millrace on Facebook Share Millrace on Twitter Share Millrace on Linkedin Email Millrace link

    Millrace

    by baomike, over 1 year ago

    The millrace should not have been blocked.


    As for tales nothing much, Dining at the Millrace (restaurant with canoe rental below),

    and my father pushing floats in the parades they had on the millrace.

    The U of O trying to use millrace water to provide cooling on campus (chilled water) and the time it took to get the sediment out of the pipes.


  • Share It's a shame that we couldn't somehow include a reopening of the millrace, as compared to the underground pipes. on Facebook Share It's a shame that we couldn't somehow include a reopening of the millrace, as compared to the underground pipes. on Twitter Share It's a shame that we couldn't somehow include a reopening of the millrace, as compared to the underground pipes. on Linkedin Email It's a shame that we couldn't somehow include a reopening of the millrace, as compared to the underground pipes. link

    It's a shame that we couldn't somehow include a reopening of the millrace, as compared to the underground pipes.

    by Gary D., over 1 year ago
    Something! Anybody with ties to the U of O or who has been in Eugene for an extended time, has memories of the millrace.
  • Share Millrace/Amazon slough - 32 years later and no progress made on Facebook Share Millrace/Amazon slough - 32 years later and no progress made on Twitter Share Millrace/Amazon slough - 32 years later and no progress made on Linkedin Email Millrace/Amazon slough - 32 years later and no progress made link

    Millrace/Amazon slough - 32 years later and no progress made

    by Born and Raised Eugenian, over 1 year ago
    In June of 1990 the Hult Center had a full scale city model that showed how the City could leverage the existing waterways that run throughout the city. I loved the idea of embracing our Pioneer/Lumber heritage with the Millrace and getting moving water back through campus/riverfront again. Doing something similar with the Amazon Slough would help move water through what is otherwise a stagnant and almost hidden waterway. Putting walking or biking trails along the millrace and slough would provide people more access to businesses and more exercise options for midtown/downtown workers all bringing a better sense of community... Continue reading
  • Share Embedded in riverbank blackberries on Facebook Share Embedded in riverbank blackberries on Twitter Share Embedded in riverbank blackberries on Linkedin Email Embedded in riverbank blackberries link

    Embedded in riverbank blackberries

    by Barbara Mossberg, over 1 year ago
    My sister came to visit and I took her to my favorite place, the boat rental on the Millrace. Neither of us knew how to boat but we felt it was safe. We kept heading into the banks and got entangled in blackberries. We laughed so hard we were crying. It was the most fun we have ever had, and it was right next to campus. I have dreamed of restoring this so that we can boat all around the city, with picnic baskets in our boats. This is a unique opportunity and would define Eugene as giving more river... Continue reading