(rshsdepot) Kingman, AZ

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Kingman Daily Miner.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Depot plans on right  track


By: Suzanne Adams  
Renovations will begin after railroads sign off on project  
Train watchers and fans from near and far are eagerly awaiting the start of  
renovations on the old Santa Fe Depot in downtown Kingman.  
``There`s so many people interested in trains it`s incredible! I`ve got tons  
of people with railroad artifacts interested in the project,`` said Shannon  
Rossiter of the Mohave Museum of History and Arts.  
Plans for the renovation of the old train depot are about 95 percent  
complete, said Rob Owen, special projects coordinator for the city of Kingman.  All 
that needs to be done is to have BNSF Railway and Amtrak give their final  
approval for the project.  
Owen hopes to have that approval by January so the project can go out for bid 
 at the end of February. The restoration work can then start in March.  
The city will be reimbursed for 94.3 percent of the restoration work by a  
Federal Transportation Enhancement Grant. The city applied for the $500,000  
grant in 2001 and received approval in 2002.  
The grant is administered by the Arizona Department of Transportation.  
Kingman will have to match 5.7 percent of the cost of the project.  
Despite its age, the depot is still structurally sound, Owen said. The old  
station will be receiving new doors, windows, paint, plumbing and electrical  
work, heating and air conditioning, stucco and new landscaping as part of the  
renovation work.  
Ever since 2002, Kingman residents have been asking when work was going to  
begin.  
A lot of people don`t understand the grant process, said Bill Shilling, a  
city grant administrator. It can take many years to apply, receive approval and  
get funds from a grant for a project.  
One extra step that has slowed the process is that the city has to seek  
approval of the plans from not only ADOT but also Amtrak and BNSF. Amtrak owns  
the building and BNSF owns the railroad tracks and the right of way next to the  
depot. Plans for the project have been shuttled back and forth between all 
three  organizations.  
The only major request has come from BNSF Railway. The railway has requested  
a wrought iron fence to be put up between the building and the BNSF railroad  
tracks.  
The fence is designed to keep visitors away from the tracks, which are in  
constant use.  
Once the work is complete, the station will once again see customers lining  
up for train tickets. Amtrak will be moving its current ticket office from its 
 tiny space on Fourth Street back into the western half of the depot. The 
eastern  half of the building will become a railroad museum with exhibits and 
artifacts  from railroad enthusiasts and the Mohave Museum of History and Arts.  
The building is nearly 100 years old. It was built in the early 1900s by the  
Santa Fe Railway of reinforced concrete and may be one of the oldest concrete 
 buildings in the state.  
It`s also one of many historic buildings in downtown Kingman on the National  
Registry of Historic Places. 

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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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