(rshsdepot) Baird, TX

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Photo:
http://www.bairdtexas.com/court_h2.gif

State funding rescuing area historical sites
By Larry Zelisko
Reporter-News Staff Writer

Rebuilding a brick street, restoring a depot and raising a museum are among
area projects approved by the Texas Department of Transportation to receive
federal funds.

Through the Statewide Transportation Enhancement Program, $143 million was
approved for 107 projects in Texas, including five in the Big Country.

Area projects receiving funding are:

Baird - 1911 Texas & Pacific Railroad Depot restoration. Total cost,
$1,480,630. Federal funding will provide $1,142,573, with Callahan County
responsible for the remaining 20 percent.


n Breckenridge - Walker Street rehabilitation. Total cost, $1,428,216.
Federal funding, $1,142,573, with the city responsible for the rest.

n Brownwood - Great State of Texas Historical Transportation Complex. Total
cost, $2,818,290. Federal funding, $2,254,632, with the city responsible for
the rest.

n Comanche - Old Cora Pedestrian Information Center. Total cost, $119,854.
Federal funding, $95,883, with Comanche County responsible for the rest.

n Fort Griffin State Park - Crossroads Exhibit Hall and lecture room. Total
cost, $96,000. Federal funding, $76,800, with the Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department responsible for the rest.

Department of Transportation spokesman Mark Cross said the program funds
"nontraditional" transportation projects such as bicycle and pedestrian
trails, landscaping and scenic beautification, and historical preservation.

Without federal funding, the projects wouldn't get off the drawing boards,
area officials said.

"There's no way in the world" the city of Baird, Callahan County or the
Baird Foundation could fund a restoration of the depot, said Baird Chamber
of Commerce manager Tommie Jones.

"To preserve an old structure like this, we were really determined, almost
desperate, to get this funding," Jones said. "This building is a real asset.
It can be a showcase for Baird."

Even in its condition now, without heating or air conditioning, more than
1,000 visitors signed the guest book last year, Jones estimated.

"People pull off the interstate to come to Baird," she said. "They see our
billboards and are attracted by our antique stores. They're interested in
heritage tourism and they see the architecture of the depot and they are
drawn to it like a magnet."

Plans are to restore the depot for use as a visitors center and museum, said
Bill Leach, enhancement program coordinator for the Abilene District of the
highway department.

For Breckenridge, this was the second time to apply for funding to rebuild
the city's main downtown street, which is also U.S. Highway 180, said City
Manager Gary Ernest. Without the federal assistance, the project would not
be possible, he added.

The project will preserve the four blocks of brick street downtown, add new
curbs, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

With the replacement of sewer and water lines, Ernest said, total cost of
the project could be about $3 million.

The street was built in 1923 with bricks from nearby Thurber, said Michael
Belvin, who is in charge of enhancement projects for the Brownwood office of
the highway department. Only minor repairs have been made to the street
since then, he added.

Bricks will be removed, cleaned and reused if they are in good repair. Brick
pavers will be used to replace broken bricks.

In Brownwood, $2.8 million is budgeted to build the Great State of Texas
Historical Transportation Complex. The museum will be built across the
street from the Santa Fe Depot and the Harvey House, which will be
undergoing renovation through enhancement program funding awarded in 2000.

The complex will feature the Martin and Frances Lehnis Railroad Museum, said
Brownwood city manager Gary Butts. Lehnis, a retired Santa Fe Railroad
employee, donated his collection of memorabilia to the city, including a
Pullman car, a depot and a caboose. The museum at first will be a working
museum where people can watch artifacts being restored.

Eventually, it will evolve into a full-fledged transportation museum, not
just a railroad museum, Belvin said.

The city is responsible for raising 20 percent of the total cost. For all
the projects, a nominating agency is responsible for raising at least 20
percent of the total cost in order to receive funding.

The complex fits the city's master plan for downtown renovation, centering
on the depot and working outward, Butts said.

In Comanche, the Old Cora courthouse, a log building billed as the oldest
courthouse in Texas, will be refurbished so it can be used as a visitors
center on the square.

At Fort Griffin State Park, the existing visitors center will be expanded.

Leach said the transportation enhancement program is a popular one with
local entities. Money from the program was used for exterior restorations of
the Jones and Shackelford courthouses.

Two years ago funding was provided for 11 projects in the Big Country:

n $2.7 million for the Texas Forts Trail visitors center in Abilene

n $1 million to complete the restoration of the depot and Harvey House in
Brownwood

n $555,840 for parking and a visitors kiosk at Fort Phantom Hill

n $505,344 for a walking path in Albany

n $119,328 for a visitors center in Ranger

n $383,136 for sidewalk improvements in Ballinger

n $874,877 for a pedestrian parkway in Dublin

n $165,542 for restoration of a gristmill in Dublin

n $1.8 million for a bike path in Stephenville

n $115,200 for improvements at the Hangar 25 Museum in Big Spring

n $1.2 million for a visitors center in Thurber

Those projects are progressing. In most cases, final plans have been
presented to the Department of Transportation for approval.

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