(rshsdepot) Windsor Locks, CT

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Hartford Courant.
 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
_http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/_ 
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications/)  
 
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Group To Offer $45,000 For Train Station 
April 11, 2006
 

By: MONICA POLANCO 
 
Town Preservation Association Wants To Restore Historic Site 
 
The Windsor Locks Preservation Association plans to offer $45,000 to buy  the 
old train station on Main Street, the group`s president said Monday. 
 
The association, created in 2004, has been working to preserve the  
boarded-up historic train station, which belongs to Amtrak. The station was  built in 
1875 and runs along Route 159. It has fallen victim to squatters and  vandals 
in the past and now is vacant. 
 
Hartford-based Amadon and Associates recently appraised the  less-than-1-acre 
property, which includes the train station, at $45,000,  according to a 
report released Monday. The preservation group can now use the  figure to negotiate 
with Amtrak. 
 
``To be sitting at this point ... is really phenomenal and absolutely  
amazing to me,`` said Barbara Schley, president of the Windsor Locks  Preservation 
Association. ``A lot of people thought that this was never a  possibility. I 
think that this is going to be a reality.`` 
 
If restored, the building must have a low-impact use, Schley said. The  
association may use the restored station for office space if no one else is  
interested. 
 
The group is waiting to find out whether the state Office of Policy and  
Management will approve a $225,000 grant to help fund the project, which has a  
total estimated cost of about $750,000. The association hopes that the town,  
which also owns a portion of the property, will donate the land to the group. 
 
The association needs a lawyer before it can begin negotiating with Amtrak,  
Schley said. The group hopes to find a lawyer who will handle the negotiations 
 for free. 
 
In other association news Monday, Schley announced her group`s plan to  award 
a grant of up to $1,000 for landscaping that would encourage preservation  of 
an older home. The group is still working on the details, but the money is  
expected to be awarded this year. 
 
To be eligible, the home must have been built before 1900 and must be  
occupied by the owner, Schley said. The landscaping must be visible from the  front 
of the home or from the front and side if the home is on a corner lot. 
 
``It`s a great way to give back to the town and to do something  
preservation-oriented,`` she 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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