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(rshsdepot) Kinston, NC
Fate of train station in railroad's hands
January 10,2006
BY Bob Shiles
staff writer
Kinston Free Press - Kinston,NC
The fate of the old train station on Blount Street, a Kinston landmark, will be determined by the results of a track alignment study.
Scott Saylor, president of the North Carolina Railroad Company, said Monday that an engineering study is now under way to determine how to address a curve in the track just east of the station that forces trains to slow down significantly - from 40 mph to 10 mph - as they pass through Kinston.
"We won't know what to do with the building until the alignment study is complete and we know what to do with the track," Saylor told The Free Press in a telephone interview from Raleigh. "Options include moving the track closer to the building, moving the track to the other side of the building or leaving the track where it is now located."
The question of whether the deteriorating station should be moved, torn down or renovated and maintained at its current location is not a new issue. As recently as July, a local task force recommended that the building be shored, the Kinston Farmers Market be relocated to the site, a flea market be added, and the front of the building be converted into a deli or similar business.
But what can be done depends on North Carolina Railroad, owner of the property. Local efforts to preserve the station - vacant and unused for several years - has come to a halt pending railroad company action, Adrian King, Pride of Kinston's executive director, said.
At a Monday meeting of Pride's property development committee, members agreed that something needs to be done soon if the building is to be preserved.
"This building has been a vital part of the downtown landscape for years," King said. "If it is left as it now exists, it is going to fall down."
Some committee members said the building has deteriorated to the point where it cannot be moved. Perhaps, they said, it would be better to tear the building down and save some of the structure - such as bricks, doors, windows and roof - to be used in construction of a similar building at a different location.
"Maybe we could get the railroad to give us the materials and some cash so that we can use the original materials to construct a building a third the size at another location," suggested Ely Perry III, a Pride committee member. "This construction could be tied in with another building project."
Perry and other committee members admitted, however, that many in the community will strongly object to the building being torn down.
"But the only alternative," Perry added, "is to get the railroad to put a lot of money into the building. ... That is probably not going to happen."
Saylor noted that North Carolina Railroad has joined several communities in their efforts to relocate stations of historic significance. As an example, he cited Morehead City and Havlock.
The president added, however, that while it is important to preserve stations of "historic character," this must be done within the railroad's primary goal of spurring economic growth.
Bob Shiles can be reached at (252) 527-3191, Ext. 237, or bshiles_@_freedomenc.com.
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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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