(rshsdepot) Lafayette, IN

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Photo links:
http://www.lafayette-online.com/vtour/DAYAR2.jpg  (daytime aerial photo)
http://www.lafayette-online.com/vtour/NIGHTAR2.jpg  (night aerial photo)
http://www.ldr-int.com/3a2_lafayette_body.htm  (Web page about restoration
w/photo)
http://architecture.hntb.com/images/8b2_bigfour.jpg  (exterior photo)

Depot investment still worthwhile, Lafayette officials say

By Jeff Parrott, Journal and Courier

In 1994, Lafayette city officials undertook the mammoth job of relocating
the Big Four Depot, outfitting it with elevators and installing a pedestrian
walk so people could reach Amtrak trains on newly relocated rails.

In campaigning against former Mayor James Riehle in 1995, current Mayor Dave
Heath criticized the depot project's $8.1 million cost, about $1.6 million
of which was paid by the city, as an example of frivolous city spending.

Should Amtrak discontinue service through Lafayette, all that expensive
infrastructure will suddenly become unnecessary.

Even so, city officials say, the project was worthwhile and will continue to
prove useful into the future. That's because the depot and adjoining Riehle
Plaza have emerged as a busy community center, regardless of what Amtrak
decides to do.

"We'll still have the bus connections, child care center, plaza and all that
stuff," said city redevelopment director Sherry McLauchlan. "I mean, it
would be a loss but that doesn't mean it's not going to be used."

Liz Solberg, Lafayette railroad relocation director, agreed.

"Sure, we certainly hope this will increasingly be used for a train
station," said Solberg, referring to her hopes to someday bring high-speed
rail through Lafayette. "But it's just one of many functions going on in
this area."

Before it was moved in 1994, the Victorian-era Big Four Depot stood at South
and Second streets for 92 years. Reduction in passenger rail service over
the years had stranded it from passenger traffic. The only remaining
passenger train, operated by Amtrak, ran down the middle of Fifth Street.

Railroad relocation changed that. The CSX rails that Amtrak used were
relocated closer to the Wabash River. The Big Four Depot, which was moved
two blocks north to Second Street and Main, became a hub for Amtrak, the
Greyhound bus line and Greater Lafayette Public Transportation Corp. buses.

However, in 1995, just as the depot relocation project neared its finish,
Amtrak reduced the number of stops in Lafayette from 20 a week to six.

The schedule since has increased to 14 trains a week with two stops each
day. A northbound train leaves the station at 6:10 a.m. and a southbound
train returns to Lafayette about five minutes till midnight.

On Thursdays, Saturdays and Mondays, the train that stops in Lafayette is
the Amtrak Cardinal, which runs from Washington, D.C., to Chicago.

On other days, it's the Kentucky Cardinal, a smaller version that shuttles
between Louisville and Chicago.

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #284
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