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(rshsdepot) Champaign, IL
Champaign, Ill., Train Station to Be Renovated
The News-Gazette
Mar. 27--CHAMPAIGN, Ill.--The C-U Station, Champaign's train station for
most of last century, will be getting a major face-lift.
Owner Dr. William Youngerman is planning $643,664 in improvements to the
outside of the historic building, mainly the roof, and between $225,000 and
$450,000 more to the inside as tenants dictate, according to plans submitted
to the city.
The biggest single improvement is retiling the roof, a $434,700 endeavor.
Marc Miller, Youngerman's attorney, said the supplier of the original tiles
has been located and is still making the tiles used when the station was
built in the early 1920s. Ludowici Roof Tile of New Lexington, Ohio, will be
used again as the project gets under way in late April.
The old tiles were tarred over by the Illinois Central years ago. The
sloppily applied tar now conceals what was originally a red tile roof.
"It was just globbed on," Miller said. "It probably worked for their purpose
even though it looks bad. We're going to bring it back to the original.
It'll look great. Imagine what that building will look like with all that
color."
The station was completed in 1924. It was built larger than was standard at
the time to accommodate football traffic to Memorial Stadium.
Youngerman bought the building from the railroad in 1991. The interior was
renovated. The third floor, formerly an attic, was finished, skylights added
and an elevator installed. A parking lot was added on the north end and the
area was landscaped.
The second and third floors are now filled with professional offices.
The City of New Orleans restaurant, which had occupied most of the first
floor, closed nearly two years ago. Miller said they're in negotiations now
with prospective tenants for that space. The only one publicly identified so
far is Rum Runners USA, a North Carolina-based chain of restaurant/bars that
features a tropical Caribbean theme and dueling pianos.
"If they don't take it, we'll look at something similar, a larger theme
bar/restaurant," Miller said.
Rum Runners is also looking at other spaces downtown.
Youngerman is applying for city assistance with the project under the city's
Revelopment Incentive Program, which awards grant assistance for up to 20
percent of a redevelopment project up to $100,000. The money comes from the
city's Downtown Tax Increment Financing District. Liquor licenses are
awarded as a matter of right if requested under the RIP program.
Youngerman is seeking two liquor licenses for the building under the
rationalization that it was platted as one lot yet takes up the space of an
entire block. Miller noted that if the property was broken up into several
lots, it would be eligible for licenses depending on the number of lots
created.
Miller said they've been working with "several" business that are interested
in locating there "so long as they can secure liquor licenses."
Bruce Knight, the city's plan director, said the reasoning appears sound.
The city council will have final say on whether a second liquor license can
be granted there.
Staff approval of the RIP grant will occur soon, Knight said, with formal
council approval occurring in June. The money for the Youngerman project
will come from next fiscal year's TIF budget since this year's budget is
exhausted by all the projects going downtown, Knight said.
"This is definitely an exciting project," Knight said. "That new tile roof
will really add a lot and help make that building stand out."
Besides the roof, improvements to the station include masonry repairs,
rebuilding windows, sidewalk repairs, more parking on the east side and more
landscaping.
The proposal to the city notes that when Youngerman bought the property in
1991, only $2,000 in property taxes was paid. In 2002, he paid over $40,000.
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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