(rshsdepot) Augusta, GA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From yesterday's Augusta Chronicle.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Augusta Train Depot Gets $450,000 in  State Transportation Grant Money

By Tony Lombardo, The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.  
Feb. 8--The Reynolds Street train depot is getting a special arrival.  
Toot, toot!  
The dilapidated depot has been awarded $450,000 in state transportation grant 
 money for renovations, the Downtown Development Authority/Main Street 
Augusta  announced Tuesday.  
Though it's not the $1 million that project backers asked for, the grant at  
least keeps the project from languishing, Main Street Chairman Hal Hood said.  
Officials must now determine whether to keep seeking alternate funds or pull  
off a renovation with the awarded funds, Authority Executive Director 
Margaret  Woodard said.  
Community members with a "vested interest" will add to discussions, including 
 Augusta Tomorrow, she said.  
The depot, which sits on a 6.3-acre city-owned parcel, was built in the 1850s 
 by South Carolina Railroad, along with the railroad bridge crossing the 
Savannah  River.  
Augusta Tomorrow member Monty Osteen last month informed the authority that  
developers were interested in renovating the depot tract into a mixed-use  
project with retail and residential space. However, that is contingent upon  
demolishing a section of the train depot to build a new entrance to the  property. 
 
Historic Augusta Executive Director Erick Montgomery said he hoped to avoid  
demolishing part of the station.  
"I would think that something could be designed that would compliment both  
developments without compromising either one," he said.  
Possible uses mentioned for the depot include office and meeting spaces and a 
 railroad museum.  
Ms. Woodard said she did not yet know when the building's rehabilitation  
could begin, or when the funds would be in local hands.  
Renovating the depot is a necessary move, Mr. Hood said.  
"It brings an important part of our city's history back in to play an  
economic role in our downtown community," he said. 

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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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