(rshsdepot) Akron, Ohio

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

-From the Cleveland Plains Dealer...

Station for scenic rail to open in Akron
07/25/01
Martin Stolz
Akron

- - A new station for railroad excursion passengers will open today near
downtown Akron.

Mayor Don Plusquellic is expected this morning to preside at the unveiling
of a train depot for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, which plies the
Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

The National Park Service designed, built and paid for the $132,000
passenger shelter, which is on Ridge St., east of N. Howard St., said Mark
Slater, the project's architect and a Park Service employee.

The 80-foot by 16-foot three-sided wooden shelter is modeled on late-19th
century Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company stations.

The building has some "hints of Victorian detailing," he said.

The 1,560-square-foot depot, which has a heated vestibule and ticket office,
has total space for 200 passengers, including benches for 64.

It is the third new station the Park Service has built since 1998 on the
railroad corridor, which operates from Independence to Akron, though service
is expected to reach Canton in the future.

Since its inception in 1994, the nonprofit Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad
has grown rapidly, transporting 100,000 passengers last year, said Sue
Round, a spokeswoman for the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad.

Though trains have picked up passengers at the Ridge St. location for some
years, the attractive pale yellow depot would give the excursion railroad a
greater presence in Akron and provide passengers with some shelter from sun
and rain, Round said.

The lot surrounding the depot, which is currently dirt, is expected to
become a paved parking lot for 100 to 120 cars, she added.

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