(rshsdepot) Communities reclaim passenger-rail stations and create new landmarks

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Back on track=20
Communities reclaim passenger-rail stations and create new landmarks

Christian Science Monitor=20

4/18/01
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As Amtrak train No. 171 pulls into Westerly, R.I., a most pleasing sight=20
comes into view: a good-as-new station that dates to 1912.=20

This is no time-machine fantasy. The once-derelict brick-and- concrete=20
facility has been restored to its original glory, a project celebrated with=20=
a=20
black-tie "Function at the Junction" two years ago.=20
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Westerly has something to crow about with this alluring Mediterranean-style=20
structure, but it's far from alone in seeing the potential in dilapidated an=
d=20
sometimes-deserted railroad stations.=20
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Take a far larger community like Tacoma, Wash., where Union Station remains=20
as visually impressive as it did in 1911, when it opened and was hailed as=20
the grandest building north of San Francisco.=20
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The station was vacated in 1983 when Amtrak moved its operation east of=20
downtown. A Save the Station effort, however, eventually led to a $50 millio=
n=20
face-lift and conversion into a federal courthouse. The rotunda, decorated=20
with the single largest exhibit of sculptured glass by acclaimed local artis=
t=20
Dale Chihuly, is a tourist attraction sometimes used for weddings and trade=20
shows. The station has sparked a wave of urban renewal.=20
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What Westerly and Tacoma have realized is the irreplaceable beauty and prime=
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location of these landmarks.=20
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"The train station was once the center of the community, and in a lot of=20
communities it represents some of the finest architecture that the city has=20
to offer," says Erich Strebe, director of planning and economic development=20
for the Great American Station Foundation.=20
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The foundation, formed in 1996 and based in Las Vegas, N.M., helps to=20
facilitate community revitalization through new construction or conversion=20
and restoration of rail passenger stations.=20
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"Train stations are something people can get their arms around," says Ellen=20
Taylor, director of station programs and planning for Amtrak, the National=20
Railroad Passenger Corp. "If I'm living in Paoli, Pa., I have a much more=20
realistic chance of trying to do something at my local station, even if it's=
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on a very small scale, than I do trying to make a change at the Philadelphia=
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International Airport."=20
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Some remodeling projects, of course, are huge public efforts. Take Washingto=
n=20
D.C.'s much-heralded makeover of Union Station, for example. Or in the=20
Midwest, where adaptive reuse has driven lavish restorations of big stations=
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in St. Louis, now primarily a marketplace, and in Kansas City, where a=20
science center is the main tenant.=20
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These are significant tourist attractions and landmarks. Yet such projects=20
are not uniformly successful.=20
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Stations that attempted to cross over into the world of retail have faced=20
problems. Indianapolis and Cincinnati both failed at attempts to go that=20
route in the 1980s, when a bunch of stations were converted into festival=20
marketplaces and shopping centers with no transportation use. "What they=20
found is that you have to keep putting money into these stations," says Hank=
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Dittmar, president and CEO of the Great American Station Foundation. "Retail=
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use gets tired. You have to do something new to keep getting people there.=20
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In Indianapolis, $50 million was spent to turn Union Station into a=20
marketplace, only to have its doors close in 1997. Today it's making a=20
comeback with a mix of tenants, including go-kart racing and a banquet=20
facility. A similar situation has occurred in Cincinnati, except the Art=20
Deco-style Union Terminal has reopened as the Cincinnati Museum Center.=20
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Stations are community assets=20
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Rehabbed stations, regardless of their size, can benefit from even a modest=20
amount of passenger service.=20
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"Transportation is an important part of keeping a steady flow of people=20
through the facilities," Mr. Dittmar says. But, he adds, it doesn't all have=
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to be train travel. Local transit service counts too.=20
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Just as in big cities, rehabbed stations in small towns can be just as=20
important as community assets, whether used for transportation or to house=20
museums, offices, restaurants, or shops.=20
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In Westerly, the objective is twofold: to create an anchor for downtown=20
redevelopment and showcase an increasingly attractive mode of transportation=
.=20
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Raymond Lamont, the editor of the Westerly Sun, says the station serves as a=
=20
gateway to the city of 25,000 people. "It's a beautiful, historic-looking=20
building on a modern transportation line," he says. "I think it shows=20
Westerly might be a community that offers the best of both worlds."=20
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Stationmaster Bob Allard says that Amtrak now makes 12 to 14 stops a day on=20
its Boston-to-New York runs.=20
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State Sen. Dennis Algiere, a major player in the station's conversion from=20
eyesore to repolished jewel, continues to watch over the facility.=20
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When this reporter disembarked in Westerly, Mr. Algiere was busily checking=20
the lights in an underground passenger walkway with the stationmaster.=20
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"People were just delighted to see the station restored," he says. "It's a=20
building that people recognize. Some remember relatives going off to war fro=
m=20
here."=20
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Passenger volume, the senator says, has increased at the station, but its=20
lobby can seem oddly quiet between trains.=20
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Westerly sits on the Rhode Island-Connecticut border and is considered a=20
tourist-friendly community because of its nearby beaches and quaint, walkabl=
e=20
downtown. The center is only a five- minute stroll from the station. Along=20
the way are signs of commercial renewal.=20
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Facing the station, on Railway Avenue, a row of historic storefronts is bein=
g=20
renovated. On the opposite corner, the stately Savoy Hotel awaits remodeling=
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by the same developer who plans to revive the movie theater a block away.=20
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What railroad stations offer, it's been said, is an "architecture of hope."=20
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In Westerly, says Barbara Blycker, executive director of the Westerly=20
Pawcatuck Joint Development Task Force, the station is "a symbol of what the=
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prosperous times were all about. And the restoration seems to signify that=20
the prosperous times are again available to us."=20
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Overall, the project cost $3.5 million and represents a partnership among th=
e=20
town, Amtrak, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, which=20
actually owns the station.=20
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Where the money comes from=20
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One of the reasons Westerly and other smaller communities are willing to=20
consider such a project is because of federal monies available through the=20
1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. The bill was designed=
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to encourage development of nonhighway travel, and includes a pool of money=20
for initiatives such as station restoration.=20
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A federal grant may pay 80 percent of the cost and state governments another=
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10 percent, says Mr. Strebe of the Great American Station Foundation. "So if=
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you, as a community, can put up $100,000 to get a $1 million restoration of=20=
a=20
building done," he says, "well, it makes a lot of sense. It's a great thing=20
to do."=20
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This, he believes, is a major incentive at the moment, and probably a needed=
=20
one given the crazy-quilt of station ownership.=20
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One might think that Amtrak, which began in 1971, would own many of the=20
stations. In fact, Amtrak's Ellen Taylor estimates the company actually owns=
=20
less than 10 percent of approximately 500 passenger stations it services,=20
with about 20 percent owned by freight railroads, about 11 percent by cities=
,=20
and the rest in the hands of private owners, commuter railroads, or state=20
agencies.=20
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At one time there were about 80,000 operating stations of various kinds in=20
the United States. However, after "two-thirds of a century of relentless=20
neglect," only 12,000 to 20,000 have survived, according to a report, "The=20
Second Heyday of The Great American Railway Station: Seed Pearls of the 21st=
=20
Century," written by Tony Hiss and published by Amtrak.=20
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Mr. Hiss describes stations as the front doors of communities. After World=20
War II, railway travel dwindled as the Interstate Highway System took shape.=
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Communities that still want to upgrade stations on less-well- traveled lines=
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face an uphill battle. Ask the townsfolk of Marshall, Texas.=20
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"One of the motivations for redoing our station was that passengers had no=20
good place to wait; they had to stand outside in the heat and cold," says=20
Mayor Audrey Kariel. An upgraded station was also viewed as important in=20
efforts to revitalize the town square and commercial district.=20
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The restoration project took nearly a decade and posed "one obstacle after=20
another," says Mrs. Kariel, including a decision by Amtrak to eliminate the=20
Texas Eagle line that runs through Marshall. She and others formed a=20
coalition that fought the decision and saved the service.=20
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"Now the Texas Eagle is alive and well and leading Amtrak in revenue and=20
ridership increases," says the mayor.=20
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Strebe talks about how the buildings once drew people of all social classes=20
and still retain that potential.=20
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"People feel a sense of community about a train station that they might not=20
feel about anywhere else in town," he observes.=20
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The road to train-station renovation can be rocky=20
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Trying to salvage a historic train station can be immensely frustrating.=20
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Just ask Teresa Zielinski, who has reached an impasse, if not a dead end, in=
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her efforts to save the brick station in Wilmington, Ill.=20
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"It's very emotionally draining," she says disconsolately.=20
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Ms. Zielinski sees what other small towns have done to preserve their=20
heritage and worries that Wilmington, despite its numerous antique shops, is=
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going to lose an architectural treasure.=20
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"This is not just a little wooden depot," she says. "It's all brick, with al=
l=20
the gingerbread. It's very Victorian."=20
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If the station, built in 1869, goes, Zielinski says, the town will have=20
little more than the old Eagle Hotel and pictures to remember the past.=20
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When a city worker found Union Pacific making plans to raze the station in=20
1997, people looked to Zielinski to mount a save-the- station effort. A lega=
l=20
assistant to a defense attorney and a member of the local historical society=
,=20
she helped establish the Wilmington Depot Association.=20
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Union Pacific, which has no use for the station or the liability associated=20
with it, donated it to a neighboring business owner, who in turn gave it to=20
the association. The company, however, wants it removed from the property.=20
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If the station were wooden, as many are in towns of this size (population:=20
5,200), moving it would be a big but not necessarily complicated job.=20
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A brick station is more difficult. Because the structure could crumble en=20
route, movers would have to build a wooden frame inside and out to hold the=20
building together, and even then the chances for the station surviving a=20
short move are estimated at 50-50.=20
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"I can't risk moving it two or three miles," says Zielinski, who has receive=
d=20
a $50,000 bid to do the job. "I wouldn't want to move it a mile or two out o=
f=20
town anyway. It needs to be by the tracks."=20
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The logical location, she believes, is a deserted lot across from her house=20
and only two blocks from station's current location. Her neighbors, however,=
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strongly object, citing concerns that contaminants (lead paint and asbestos)=
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would become airborne during the move. Furthermore, gas tanks on the vacant=20
lot would first have to be removed and the ground cleaned.=20
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Zielinski says if she could find a way to address these problems, the=20
community would be supportive of the plan to convert the rehabbed station=20
into a railroad museum.=20
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Even if Union Pacific helped foot part of the moving bill, though, Zielinski=
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says there would be no money left to restore the station. Just ensuring it=20
wouldn't become an eyesore while awaiting renovations could require a grant.=
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Zielinski's greatest worry is that all the money raised for saving the=20
station might have to go to demolition.=20
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"I'm just kind of sitting and waiting," she says, hoping no one forces her=20
hand.

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #44
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