(rshsdepot) Sacramento, CA

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Design Firms Vie to Create Layout for Sacramento, Calif., Transit Center
The Sacramento Bee

Jan. 20--If Sacramento city officials were wondering whether their planned
downtown transit center was a pipe dream or hot project, they just got an
encouraging clue.
Some of the country's top transit-design firms have jumped at the city's
request for help expanding the I Street train depot into a major hub for
trains, buses, light rail and, potentially, high-speed rail.

Eight teams hoping to guide the community process for drawing the layout
include architects for remodeling projects at international airports in
Oakland, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Washington, D.C., as well as the
groundbreaking Jack London Square transit station in Oakland and new transit
hubs on New York's Staten Island, and in Boston and San Jose.

One team brings designers who worked on the massive Kuala Lumpur City
Centre, which includes the world's two tallest buildings and a transit
station.

"We're pleased," said Deputy City Manager Tom Lee, who is overseeing the
project. "There is a lot of interest from people who want to see this done
well."

Officials with several of the companies last week said that they see the
proposed Sacramento project as one of the best downtown transit sites in the
country.

It sits at the south end of the massive and largely unused 240-acre Union
Pacific railyards.

City leaders and UP want the area to become a vibrant new downtown district
of stores, restaurants, offices, hotels, clubs, housing, and possibly a
basketball arena -- all of it anchored by a 10-acre transit center hub
bringing in millions of people annually by means other than automobile.

"It is a phenomenal asset," Eli Naor of applicant VBN Architects said of the
railyard site, which is fronted by the historic depot. "Few cities have
200-plus acres close to downtown that could become a completely rejuvenated,
transit-focused district. This is a marquee design opportunity."

A panel of city officials, transportation officials and community members
met Thursday to begin the process of choosing a winning applicant.

The city received an application from a team headed by LPA of Sacramento
Inc., as well as seven others, some of whom have offices around the country.

They are Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc., Anil Verma Associates Inc.,
Skidmore Owings and Merrill LLP, and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, plus teams headed
by SMWM, by Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn, and by VBN Architects.

The winning applicant will take on a job that will be as much about politics
as it is about architecture and engineering. It includes, up front,
convening public meetings to bridge a difficult community disagreement.

Amtrak and UP want to move the train tracks several hundred feet to the
north and build a new station connected to the historic depot by a
concourse.

But a group called Save Our Rail Depot (SORD) insists that the depot remain
as the station, possibly with an expansion, and that the tracks not be
moved.

"(The depot) has to be more than a facade; it has to be a useful station,"
said Kay Knepprath, chairwoman of SORD and a member of the city panel that
will pick the design team.

Mayor Heather Fargo and other city officials say they hope the consultant
can resolve that debate.

Several of the applicants, when asked by The Bee, steered away from that
issue last week, but made it clear they see the project as much more than
just a depot expansion.

"The historic depot is the keystone to the project, the front door to the
project," said one, who asked to speak on background pending the city's
selection. "The issue is to integrate that into a facility that accommodates
anticipated growth in ridership."

Said another: "We have a lot of ideas to get people to think outside the box
on things that have been stumbling blocks ... to provide a truly
state-of-the-art facility and have the existing depot be a key component of
that."

City officials said they are not even guessing at the cost of the project.
However, for comparison purposes, a planned renovation several years ago of
just the historic I Street depot was expected to cost about $21 million.

Fargo said the money issue could become more problematic if the state
follows through on Gov. Gray Davis' proposal to take some redevelopment
funds, which would normally go to the city, to help balance the state
budget.

She said she expects the city to solicit state and federal transportation
grants for the bulk of the transit center project.

Although the project is, at its core, a transportation hub, Fargo and other
city officials see the center performing a bigger role.

If designed correctly, it would be the connecting point among downtown, Old
Sacramento, the river, the new railyard district, and possibly an arena.

It could itself be a people-gathering spot downtown, connected to
restaurants, cafes, shops, offices and even housing.

"It has to be a destination, not just a stop along the way," Fargo said.

City officials say the transit hub is an important step in preparing for
expected increases in rail and light-rail ridership in the coming decades as
the region's and state's streets and highways clog with cars.

Gene Skoropowski, managing director of the Capitol Corridor rail line, said
he is pleased by the city's move toward designing the long-discussed transit
hub.

"I really look forward to the day with the arrival of (better) rail the
capital city of the most populous state in the United States is worthy of
that title," he said.

The process, under a public microscope for two years, is only now moving to
early planning stages, participants say.

"Will there be a shovel in the ground for a (transit center) in the next two
years?" asked Knepprath. "I think two years is very optimistic."


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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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