(rshsdepot) Erie, PA

[jdent1_@_optonline.net]

From Erie Times News...

Local firm buys Union Station
New owner to transform complex into recreation facility; tenants to stay

By Peter Panepento

Jim Berlin stood in an empty room on the third story of Erie's Union Station, bathed in a faint green afternoon light, talking about potential.

Above him, the ceiling crumbled. Next to him, paint peeled from the walls. Below him, intricate tilework was covered by a thick layer of soot.

But when Berlin — chief executive of Logistics Plus — walked through the abandoned third story of Union Station on Thursday afternoon, he spoke convincingly about a building with a bright future.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Berlin's growing, Erie-based freight-management company closed a $1.5 million deal to buy the city landmark.

On Monday, workers will begin a renovation project that will turn the building's third floor into Logistics Plus' corporate headquarters — a project that by May will bring 35 professional workers into a 16,000-square-foot section of the building that has been vacant for a quarter-century.

The renovation will be accompanied by a series of other restoration projects that are expected to bring retail shops, a museum and a pedestrian mall to the 76-year-old train station.

The project is, by Berlin's admission, a risky investment in a project that will likely cost his company millions before it is complete.

It is also an investment that has the potential to restore one of Erie's most prominent landmarks into an urban gathering place.

Union Station hasn't had such a label since the middle of the 20th century, when it served as a railroad station that was the launching point for cross-country vacations, soldiers heading off to war and couples saying goodbye.

But as airplanes replaced trains as the nation's preferred mode of travel, Union Station began a slow decline.

By 1978, the building's third story was vacant.

Union Station later became an unsanctioned shelter for Erie's homeless, who burned the building's wooden doors for heat.

It has since become a monument to potential, as recent renovation projects have brought some life back to the once-proud building.

Today, its 100,000 square feet are half-full with a hodgepodge of tenants that include Porters Restaurant & Tap Room, Sabella's at Union Station, Amtrak and the YWCA.

Those tenants will remain, said Heidi Schlabach, Logistics Plus' corporate project manager.

But Schlabach, who is overseeing the building's renovation, said they will soon be sharing space with an array of other businesses. 

When Logistics Plus completes its renovation of the third floor in May — a project that will likely cost between $500,000 and $1 million — it plans to undertake a series of smaller projects that are expected to transform the half-vacant building into a railroad-themed recreation complex.

A railroad history museum is planned for the building's southwest corner, overlooking the railroad tracks that bring about 70 trains through Erie daily.

Outside, the company plans to create a paved pedestrian mall that would give railroad lovers a chance to watch the passing trains and can serve as a destination for those looking to have a cup of coffee or a sandwich at an outdoor cafe. The company also plans to bring in some small retail shops.

"We want to develop it into something similar to Station Square in Pittsburgh," said Arthur J. Whelan, Logistics Plus' corporate development director. "It will be a place with a lot of activity, a lot of diversity, utilizing the shops and other retail."

While the development will likely transform the once-bustling train station into a modern mixed-use urban development, it will also transform a company that until recently was based in a small office in Jamestown, N.Y.

Logistics Plus, founded in 1996 as a small business that helped GE Transportation Systems Inc. ship its goods worldwide, continues to grow at a rapid pace.

Whelan said its sales, which totaled just more than $2 million in 2000, will likely exceed $10 million this year.

The company has about 90 employees in offices worldwide, but has centered its business in Erie, where it can remain close to key customers such as GE Transportation Systems, Lord Corp. and Ameridrives. 

It began searching for a corporate office in Erie in 2002, at first looking to lease space downtown, Whelan said.

During that search, local economic-development officials suggested the company consider buying Union Station and offered to help Logistics Plus find temporary office space and assistance while it negotiated the deal.

"It was iconic of what we represent as an organization," Whelan said of the company's new building.

"It became a natural fit for us."

Logistics Plus now houses its corporate staff in the former Erie Area Chamber of Commerce office in Boston Store Place — a short-term setup until it completes its renovation of Union Station.

For Erie Mayor Rick Filippi, the completion of that process has the potential to help the city fulfill two important economic goals — building its base of high-tech businesses and bringing life downtown.

"It's an extremely exciting opportunity," Filippi said. "This is the type of high-tech business we're looking to attract to the city."

What's more, it could inject new life into a building that has fallen short of its potential.

The first step in that transformation will come in November, when Logistics Plus opens a newsstand and coffee shop next to the Amtrak station.

And Logistic Plus' Berlin said he hopes the building will someday help Erie showcase its railroad history while also offering a new venue for younger residents to spend time downtown.

"If you have a world-class display, with a railroad museum, shops and the trains coming by, it could be a mecca for train fans," Berlin said. "The 'cool factor' is off the charts."

UNION STATION FACTS
* Address: West 14th and Peach streets
* Dedicated: Dec. 3, 1927
* Stories: Three — An original plan for a five-story
building was scrapped because of the Depression.
* Size: Between 90,000 and 100,000 square feet
* Notable tenants: Porter’s Restaurant & Tap Room,
Sabella’s of Union Station, Amtrak, YWCA
* Hidden features: A pair of subways used to shuttle
baggage and passengers. A two-story bomb shelter is
still fully stocked with rations. An abandoned 1950s-era ambulance from the Dobler Hose Co. is parked inside.

PETER PANEPENTO can be reached at 870-1707 or by e-mail. 


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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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