(rshsdepot) Marinette, WI

["jdent1_@_optonline.net" <jdent1@optonline.net>]

From the Eagle Herald=2E=2E=2E

TEA grant situation discussed

Published Friday, December 6, 2002 11:13:03 PM Central Time
By DONN WILLIAMS EagleHerald staff writer=20

MARINETTE -- Three years ago a Wisconsin Department of Transportation stud=
y
determined the property the old Milwaukee Road depot rests on along Hall
Avenue is eligible to be listed on both the state and national registers o=
f
historic places=2E=20

Now city officials are discovering that determination is making it a lot
more difficult to get the grants necessary for a project that would extend=

Hattie Street from Hall Avenue to State Street, and aid in the development=

of a new Walgreens drug store at the corner of Hall and State=2E The
situation has Mayor Fred Westphal wondering if the developer of the
Walgreens store might lose patience and look to locate elsewhere in the
city=2E=20

On Nov=2E 20, three officials from the DOT met in Marinette with Westphal,=

Public Works Director Brian Miller, representatives from Ayres &
Associates, the Green Bay engineering firm preparing grant applications fo=
r
the city, and a representative from Karl Schmit Unisia Inc=2E They discuss=
ed
additional information that was being asked by the city to supply before
its TEA grant application could be considered=2E=20

The TEA grant makes available federal highway funds for traffic
enhancement=2E The program is administered by the DOT=2E=20

The city is hoping to secure the grant to provide funding for the
construction of the extension of Hattie Street, and install traffic signal=
s
at Hall Avenue and Hattie Street=2E=20

As part of last month's meeting the group toured the depot that was built
in 1903 and its property=2E=20

DOT officials handed out a map from the National Register of Historic
Places dated April 2002 which depicted a 230-by-230 foot square of the
depot property that is considered eligible for historic listing=2E The
Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad, which owns the property, has never
sought to have it listed in the national register=2E=20

Whether a property is listed in the national register or simply eligible t=
o
be listed, state statutes require the DOT to consider the historical impac=
t
of projects it is involved in before they can proceed=2E=20

"The unfortunate part of the drawing is that the boundaries extend from th=
e
Chown-Peterson property on the west to Jenquin's on the east and
unfortunately that is right across the right-of-way that we want to use fo=
r
the extension of Hattie Street," Westphal told the EagleHerald=2E=20

Because of this, the mayor expects the grant process will require
additional work and possibly public hearings=2E "I would say that it will
take longer," Westphal said, "Whether it will be blocked or whether it wil=
l
go is petty much up to the people up there=2E"=20

The city is hoping to complete the extension of Hattie Street before
October 2004 when work begins to reconstruct U=2ES=2E 41 through the city =
and
detour routes go into effect=2E The extension would aid traffic flow to th=
e
city's industrial park and mall area=2E=20

The developer for Walgreens also wants the road for access to the new
store=2E GNI Development Company holds an offer to purchase four lots
including the depot property=2E It would sell a strip of this property to =
the
city to provide the right-of-way for the Hattie Street extension=2E=20

The depot rests on property Walgreens wants to use for parking=2E The
national drug retailer has an agreement with the National Trust for
Historic Preservation, a non-profit advocacy group, that it won't demolish=

buildings listed on the national register=2E It's not known what Walgreens=

will do with the depot, since it hasn't been listed=2E=20

"We have been working with Walgreens and the developer through this very
complicated process to figure out a solution that will meet the needs of
the city, the developer, the various federal and state agencies involved
and save this important historic building," said Jean Lambin, field
representative for the National Trust in Mineral Point, Wis=2E "Moving the=

depot is one of the options -- that's obviously not the ideal solution, bu=
t
it's preferable to demolishing the building=2E"=20

Two years ago the city was awarded a $311,000 transportation enhancement
grant by the DOT to be used to restore the exterior of the depot=2E This
money can also be used to move depot from its present site to another
historically acceptable site a few hundred feet to the west=2E=20

Lambin says she is trying to find out if this grant can be used to move th=
e
depot according to Walgreens' wishes=2E=20

Since his election in April 2001, Westphal has been against the city using=

this grant money because terms of the grant require the city to contribute=

$60,000 towards the project=2E "I am against the depot because the amount =
of
money in the grant is not enough to accomplish what needs to be done, and
if it is done, it will have to be finished with city taxpayer dollars,"
Westphal said=2E=20

The DOT's bureau of the environment is also involved in the process of
trying preserve the historic depot, while finding a way that would permit
the extension of Hattie Street=2E=20

Robert Newbery, with the DOT's bureau of environment in Madison, attend th=
e
November meeting in Marinette=2E He said process is difficult because the
city is applying for three different grants for road construction and the
Walgreens development=2E=20

"It's a complicated project in terms of the number of people, the number o=
f
grants, the number of laws and regulations involved," he said=2E "We're al=
l
trying to work towards a resolution that allows the extension of Hattie
Street, encourages the Walgreens development and saves the depot=2E"=20

The city must now supply the additional information to the DOT that will
allow it to determine if the city is eligible for the TEA grant=2E=20

"Once we supply this information to them, they will get back to us,"
Westphal said=2E "It may all stop, or it may go=2E We thought it would be =
a lot
easier than it is=2E"=20







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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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