(rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA

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

-From the Sacramento Bee...

Depot chugs toward decay -- But the city is shining a fix-it light at the
end of the tunnel.
By Tony Bizjak
Bee Staff Writer
(Published July 1, 2001)

For several years, community and business leaders have waged a passionate
debate over the future of Sacramento's historic I Street train depot.
Should the grand building be upgraded into a 21st century train station, or
should it serve as the quaint historic entry to a larger modern complex?

Meanwhile, quietly, steadily, the brick-and-mortar structure has been
crumbling toward no future at all.

The depot's 75-year-old tile roof leaks. Water has invaded and cracked the
masonry walls. Balustrades are disintegrating. Plaster tumbles from ceilings
in empty upstairs offices.

Next door is the depot's sister structure: the vacant REA building, once a
distribution center for Railway Express Agency, a nationwide
package-delivery company. There, a section of roof caved in years ago and
has not been fixed.

"This is such a level of neglect on a historical architectural artifact,
it's destruction," lamented Brooks Truitt of the preservationist Sacramento
Old City Association.

The buildings are owned by Union Pacific Railroad, which got them when it
bought Southern Pacific Rail Corp. in 1997.

Union Pacific attorney Roy Brewer doesn't deny the buildings are in
disrepair. But he said the depot is just one of many old structures his
company inherited in the merger.

Brewer said reorganization of the company's rail transportation business has
been difficult since the merger, requiring diversion of money and resources.
"Buildings like these simply were, in my words, at the low end of the totem
pole in terms of resources devoted to them," Brewer said.

The depot mainly is used by Amtrak, which pays minimal rent, and the Capitol
Corridor passenger service run by a regional government body.

The neglect may be coming to an end, however.

Sacramento officials say they believe it is in the city's best interest for
them to go in now with government funding and make repairs before the rainy
season arrives.

Their reasons for stepping in are twofold, officials say:

The city, as a government agency, qualifies for millions of dollars in state
and federal transportation grants for the depot work.

Moreover, city officials say, they ultimately hope to buy the depot, the REA
building and about four acres around the two structures used mainly for
parking. As such, they say, they have an immediate interest in stemming the
deterioration.

The railroad company has expressed interest in selling the buildings, which
have yet to be appraised. Doing the work now should save money in the
long-run, city officials said.

Brewer said last week that "there shouldn't be a problem" letting the city
on site to work on the depot. The city is awaiting official approval from
Union Pacific's attorneys.

As of last week, city officials said they have $3.4 million in city, state
and federal funds for depot work. The city portion comes from redevelopment
agency money.

Of that, $800,000 would go toward fixing the depot roof and its
understructure. Some of the money would be spent on property appraisals to
determine an appropriate selling price for the buildings.

Some money also would go toward basic reorganization of the parking lots and
pedestrian areas.

For years, the site has been hard to see, difficult to maneuver through, and
dangerous for rail passengers who find themselves mixing with buses and cars
on their way to the track platforms.

Councilman Steve Cohn is among those fed up with the layout. "It is a total
mess. People feel ashamed that this is our station. Hopefully, this will
start to fix that," he said.

Meanwhile, the city has served notice on Union Pacific that its vacant REA
building is unstable and must be shored up -- including replacing the
roof -- as soon as possible.

"It is important to get both buildings stabilized now," Mayor Heather Fargo
said. "This is one step in a series of steps."

Union Pacific officials have agreed to stabilize the REA building but are
disputing the city's demand that the sagging roof be replaced, if only by a
temporary roof.

"Our thought is we don't need a roof to stabilize the building," Brewer
said. "We think there are ways to ensure any rainfall can be drained out so
it doesn't cause structural damage."

Fargo said city ownership of the buildings would give the public more
control over key elements of what is expected to become a multimodal
transportation complex. The city's long-term goal is to integrate the depot
and the REA building into a center combining passenger rail, commuter train
lines, light rail, and a bus terminal.

The city plans to hold a series of public hearings this summer on the
disputed issue of where the railroad tracks would be in that new center.

------------------------------