[Date Prev][Date Next] [Chronological] [Thread] [Top]

(rshsdepot) Palatka, FL



Links:
http://www.gbso.net/prps/
http://www.putnamcountychamber.org/postcardtour/15jpg.htm
http://www.freac.fsu.edu/HistoricPlaces/Sites/8PU00271_depot.html

03/4/2002

Officials envision transportation hub for tourists coming to Putnam

By Virginia Wissel
Palatka Daily News

PALATKA -- Promoting tourism was on the minds of officials who want to make
Palatka a tourist destination by creating a transportation hub.
Nancy Harris, county commissioner, and Larry Pritchett, property appraiser,
spoke as members of the Waterfront Development Committee at the city
commission meeting Thursday about actions to make that possible.
Harris presented the committee's ideas about joint cooperation between the
county and the city to create the hub for visitors.
"When people arrive at the train station, how do they get around? If they
come at night, it is difficult to get a taxi. How can they get to the
hotels? We don't have a bus service," Harris said.
Harris suggested a police substation at the train depot or a travel office
and asked if commissioners could sit down with representatives from Amtrak
for further discussion."
Mayor Karl Flagg said, "Conceptually, this sounds good, but we do not want
to bring outsiders in to discuss this before we have a plan."
Flagg asked City Manager Allen Bush to send a letter to County Administrator
Rick Leary asking for the item to be put on the agenda for a special city
and county visioning meeting Friday.
Jeff Norton of the parks and recreation department told commissioners Amtrak
was waiting until its renovations were completed at the train depot before
considering a ticket agent.
"Amtrak brings in 14,000 passengers a year," Norton said. "With their
cutbacks, the city will lose one train out of the eight that service
Palatka."
Greyhound bus service has closed their station in Palatka because of lack of
ridership.
Pritchett said the "dreams can go beyond the depot." He mentioned the retail
area around the depot as "a historic commercial district that needs to be
revitalized."
Harris envisioned the mayor appointing a committee to study the problem.
Commissioners Mary Lawson Brown, George Sanders and Bush are members of the
Putnam County Chamber of Commerce's Waterfront Development Committee that
includes representatives from the communities of Crescent City, Welaka and
Palatka.
The group has pushed for a waterfront master plan that promotes tourism and
increases public access to the St. Johns River.
"How can people who come into town take the riverboat we are planning if
they can't get to the water?" Harris said.

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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