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Reclaiming a city's history Photo by Jim Craven City Administrator Paul Wyntergreen stands in the heart of downtown Jacksonville, where an urban renewal district is proposed for the historic city. On the road to renewal Jacksonville plans would resurrect `ghost town' By MELISSA MARTIN How tax-increment financing works Jacksonville would pay for the $1.1 million downtown improvements partly by forming an urban renewal district, said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. Tax-increment financing in such districts work by freezing assessed values for a 20-year period. Taxes on property values above the frozen level are used for projects in the urban renewal district. To pay for the projects, the city also would use state and federal grants, parking fees, parks fees paid by developers, and room, meal and event taxes. The district could be in place as early as Jan. 1, Wyntergreen said. ACKSONVILLE -- The city wants to recreate some lost history in downtown Jacksonville, while sprucing up the town and making it easier for people to see the sights on foot. The city's Core Enhancement Plan outlines 49 projects costing almost $1.1 million and financed partly through an urban renewal district. People can comment on the plan during a public hearing at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, in Old City Hall. The proposed projects include a pedestrian plaza with a wishing well at the corner of Oregon and Main; an archway over Highway 234; a visitors' center near the Britt Gardens; and an outdoor rail yard museum at the city parking lots. The plan also calls for a marker at the city's gateway at the corner of California and 5th streets; hiring a police officer to direct traffic at Oregon and California streets during peak hours; and replace metal streetlights with period fixtures that look like gas lamps. "This plan is about how to get people out of their cars and walking, cleaning up storm drainage problems, improving the aesthetics, about lighting and how to deal with street furniture such as waste baskets and spittoons," said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. But the owner of a gas station that the plan identifies as an "eyesore" in need of renovation said recreating Jacksonville's history is not as easy as it seems. "In 1950, Jacksonville was a ghost town," said Steve Rasmussen, owner of Rasmussen's Super Serv on the corner of California and 4th streets. His grandfather, Ernie Rasmussen, opened Rasmussen's as a gas station in 1950. In 1989, the gas tanks were removed and Steve Rasmussen, 42, turned it into a repair shop. "This city got a grant to hire somebody from Portland to come in and see what they can do to fix up our town," Rasmussen said. ``But I can't afford to pay for the changes they want me to make." Lango Jacksonville resident Marshall Lango is concerned about the historical accuracy of the plan. At a Planning Commission meeting last week, he used old photographs to show how several proposed projects are inaccurate. The arch the city proposes to recreate, for example, was not permanent, but rather made of pine boughs and hoisted one week a year by a fraternal organization called The Redmen, Lango said. Restoring Jacksonville to its 1880s look would be difficult, considering that three major fires destroyed much of the town in 1873, 1874 and 1883, Lango said. He is the property manager for Robertson Collins, a Singapore businessman who owns five buildings in the historic core. Collins' name shows up in the plan on "Collins Square," a grassy area he owns at 3rd and California used for community events. The plan identifies it a perfect spot for a new city park, but its owner has drafted blueprints in hopes of building a replica of the Wells Fargo building that stood there in 1850, Lango said. "Cornelius Beekman's first business was there. Wells Fargo was there and an express service, Cram and Rodgers, ran mail and delivery out of there," Lango said. City leaders welcome the comments, but say they wish they'd been offered earlier. Planning Commissioner Bill Leep said the plan represents hundreds of hours and five community meetings with Shapiro & Associates Inc. of Portland over a six-month period. Part of the trouble with trying to recreate history is in interpretation, he said. "History is difficult to pull forward," Leep said. "It's like a family tree. You research and think you've covered everything and then someone pops up at a family reunion with missing information." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA