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(rshsdepot) Lafayette, LA
From the Daily Advertiser=2E=2E=2E
Depot offices occupied
Claire Taylor=20
Posted on November 26, 2002
LAFAYETTE - The newly rebuilt depot in downtown Lafayette is partially
occupied but won't be opened to the public until early 2003=2E
The 90-year-old depot, located along the railroad tracks that parallel the=
100 block of East Cypress Street, was gutted by fire and sat unused for
several years=2E Since 1998, Amtrak patrons have had no place to sit and n=
o
canopy to protect them from the weather while waiting on the train=2E
City-parish government is rebuilding the depot, using pieces of the
original historic building and canopy=2E The depot eventually will serve
Amtrak train riders and city transit customers=2E=20
Some city transit workers moved into offices inside the depot Friday,
largely for security reasons, said Tony Tramel, director of the Traffic an=
d
Transportation Department=2E The depot will not be opened to the public un=
til
contractors finish building a platform along the railroad tracks and
complete parking and landscaping=2E=20
"Weather holding, they should be finished by mid-February," said Dawn
Picard, project engineer with the Traffic and Transportation Department=2E=
"When we get to a point where they can safely enter the building without
any hazards in their way, we will open it and allow people to wait for the=
train inside=2E"
Reconstruction of the depot is part of a plan to build an $11 million
transportation complex in the downtown area=2E The complex is designed to
centralize local transportation services=2E
In mid-December, workers are expected to begin asbestos abatement in part
of the post office building that will be torn down for the second phase of=
the transit complex=2E
Bids should be received in January for a $2=2E1 million project to tear do=
wn
part of the Postal Square building and construct a sawtooth platform to
dock city buses, Tramel said=2E
The city's bus depot on Garfield Street will be relocated to the new
terminal once the bus platform is completed, which should be about a year
after construction begins, Picard said=2E
Postal patrons at the downtown office should not be disturbed by the
demolition and construction, he said=2E
Funding to build the remaining portion of the proposed transit complex is
pending, Picard said=2E
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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