(rshsdepot) Selma, NC

["James Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

-From the Raleigh, NC News-Observer

Plan to revive train station gains steam in town turning to its past

SELMA, N.C. (AP) -- After a small investment helped convert this Johnston
County town's core from vacant buildings into a antiques mecca, officials
are again turning to the past to improve the future.

Four years ago, Selma's leaders invested $25,000 to pay rent for antiques
dealers willing to set up shop downtown. Today, the former textile village
welcomes hundreds of visitors a week to its busy downtown antiques district.

This week, the town council approved a $2.7 million project to restore the
circa 1924 brick depot. Federal and state agencies will provide 90 percent
of the money; Selma agreed to pay the balance. Council members hope the
renovation will beautify the area and draw visitors from around the state.

"We're tickled to death," said Mayor Joseph A. Moore Jr.

Amtrak's Carolinian passenger train still stops in Selma twice a day, but
the boarded-up depot has been off limits to passengers for several years.
They board and depart from a paved road next to the tracks.

"Even considering the dilapidated condition of our station, over 6,000
people boarded the train in Selma last year," Town Manager Bruce Radford
said. "We hope with a new station that ridership will continue to increase."

The depot remains a stately building despite peeling white paint and missing
roof tiles. On Friday, as a light drizzle fell outside, a turtle dived into
the murky depths of the flooded basement.

Inside the building, the middle of the faded red floor has been torn out.
Outside, the sun and rain have rubbed the edges off a wooden canopy and the
sky is visible through several holes.

The depot will be rebuilt "from the ground up," the mechanical systems
updated and the platforms renovated, Radford said. The project should take
just over one year to complete.

Raylene Jessup chose to open her antiques store in Selma three years ago in
part because she knew of the plans to restore the train station. Jessup
hopes the restored depot will help bring families looking for a day trip in
the Triangle.

Families now come despite the shabby station, but a proper welcome into town
could attract even more, she said.

"I think it will make for such a nice outing," Jessup said.

The state Department of Transportation supports train depot restoration
projects in part to help spur redevelopment in railroad towns, said Craig
Newton, a senior project engineer with DOT's rail division.

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