(rshsdepot) Palmer, AK

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Photo:
http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~combs/arr/route-map/cities/palmer/MM-palmer.jpg

Work under way on old Palmer depot

By SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN-Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -- Work is under way on the $180,000 facelift at the old Palmer
railroad depot and city council members took a keen interest in the project
during a report from public works director Rick Koch at the council's
Tuesday meeting.

The railroad depot has a history of renovation and for the past three
decades has served as Palmer's community center. The original building was
the depot manager's apartment and an office and the large room that now
serves as a great hall for community functions was once a warehouse.

This latest facelift will convert much of the passenger waiting area to
accommodate larger bathrooms, make acoustic improvements to the great hall
and add windows that can be opened to let heat escape. The council's
attention was focused mostly on the great hall and on access to the
building. The city has contributed $70,000 to the project and the state of
Alaska has contributed $110,000.

Among the suggestions at the meeting were adding a storage room for folding
chairs and tables, changing the roof so ice doesn't build up at entrances
and hiding the exposed electrical conduit in the walls.

Council member Brad Hanson suggested that Koch get more estimates while the
project is under way, and even suggested that the city should consider
spending more money.

"If it costs $20,000 or $30,000 more we need to do it . . . We need to do it
right this time," Hanson said.

Mayor Jim Cooper wanted to know if anything was going to be done about
storing chairs and tables and if anything would be done about ice dams that
build up over the entrances and drip down to ice up the doorways.

"We don't have any specific plans, but we do recognize that [the ice] is a
problem," Koch said, adding that a heat tape and gutter arrangement might
make a difference, but that structural changes to the eaves of the roof,
such as adding insulation, are probably out of the question. Improvements
that aren't in the contract could be done later with the public works
maintenance budget, Koch said.

Since the project's inception, the council has talked about the depot
remodel as a quality-of-life improvement for Palmer. After the meeting, Koch
said he expected the council to be interested and involved.

"There's probably a million dollars worth of stuff you could do to make it
nicer -- the bottom line is that once we get done, everyone will be happy
with the improvements," Koch said.

Another person who's excited about the job is Joey Ehmann. Ehmann and his
brother, Butch, own E & E Construction, the company remodeling the building
for the city.

"It's an old building that I spent a lot of time in growing up," Ehmann
said, "It's not a big job, but we're excited to be doing the work."

E & E Construction isn't primarily a remodeler, but the company was
responsible for the remodel of the Koslosky building in downtown where the
Ehmanns -- and most of the council members -- once shopped for
back-to-school clothes as children.

"It's kind of neat to be able to go back into a building and keep it alive,"
Ehmann said.

At the end of the meeting, Cooper requested that interested council members
pitch in with suggestions for a grand opening for the depot either during
Palmer Pride Days or Colony Days.

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

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