(rshsdepot) Bristol, VA

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_home.com>]

Bristol station gets $500,000 boost

By ANNE GRUNDON and KATHY STILL
Bristol Herald Courier


   Efforts to restore historic Union Depot to its original 1902
condition received a $500,000 nod of approval Wednesday from the
Virginia Department of Transportation.
   VDOT Commissioner Charles D. Nottingham presented the check to
Bristol Trainstation Foundation Co-chairmen Carl Moore and
Farnham Jarrard, along with his congratulations for a job well
done.
   "This project is exciting," Nottingham said. "I can almost
hear the train whistles blow. I wish I could say I took the train
here, but you all know that's not really feasible. Hopefully, one
day it will be, and that's what makes this project so exciting."
   The $500,000 grant was derived from federal money set aside
for out-of-the-ordinary transportation projects throughout the
nation. Of Virginia's $20 million share, VDOT's Bristol District
received $2 million this year.
   The money awarded to the Bristol Trainstation Foundation
Wednesday brings the total renovation funds to about $1.3
million, Jarrard said.
   Architects were finishing their drawings of the building, and
construction work is expected to begin in the spring, he said.
   "I imagine we'll start by adding a new roof," Jarrard said.
   The foundation hopes to restore the station to its original
condition and use it as a passenger rail station when and if
service through the Twin City is reinstated.
   That goal and the well-detailed information included on the
grant application made the award to the foundation "a very easy
decision for us to make," Nottingham said.
   State Sen. William Wampler, R-Bristol, said the grant funds
will enable the Trainstation Foundation to turn the historic
depot into "a showplace."
   "Once you see this particular station renovated, it will be
time for passenger rail service to begin," he said.
   After presenting the $500,000 check to the Trainstation
Foundation, Nottingham awarded a $100,000 check to the town of
Glade Spring for the construction of trails and a transportation
museum and a $45,000 grant to Damascus for a multi-use trail
along an abandoned railroad bed.
   Later Wednesday afternoon, a $100,000 grant was presented to
Pound for construction of a river walk through the town, $60,000
was awarded to Pennington Gap for a pedestrian trail, $25,000 was
given to GAP Corp. to add restrooms to the historic Interstate
101 Railroad Car, and $21,000 was presented to East Stone Gap
School Memorial Organization for a memorial at the site of the
old school, which was destroyed by fire in 1968.
   "The money will be used for the river walk, and hopefully it
will bring in some tourist trade," Pound Mayor Belva Bolling said
of that project. "The town is in need of this."
   Wampler and Delegate Terry Kilgore, R-Gate City, said the
grants might appear to be nominal at first glance but that the
long-range benefits to the region come when all communities build
a series of projects that improve the quality of life.
   "This is very important to the growth of our area and the
state," Kilgore said. "It makes it more inviting to tourists."

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