(rshsdepot) Sandpoint, ID

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

From Sunday's Bonner County Daily Bee.

 

Bernie Wagenblast

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

City may buy BN depot
Posted: Sunday, Dec 03, 2006 - 12:04:06 pm PST
By R.J. COHN
Staff writer



 


 

SANDPOINT -- Three years ago, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway offered
to sell the city its 90-year-old train depot fronting Sand Creek for a
dollar.

But there was a catch -- the city would have to either purchase the land
under the historic depot on the mile-long peninsula separating Lake Pend
Oreille from Sand Creek, or lease it from BNSF.

Either way, Mayor Ray Miller said it was just too pricey.

But that may soon change. 


 

Although there's no offer on the table, a deal may be brewing for the city
to purchase the depot as well as the property.

If the deal can be reached, the city would then lease the it back to BNSF to
use as its AMTRAK station, according to Miller, for a cost that would cover
maintaining and operating the building.

BNSF has an obligation to provide AMTRAK stations along its railway lines.

Part of deal would include the Seasons at Sandpoint bankrolling the cost of
completely renovating the depot, which has been placed on Idaho's National
Register of Historic Places. Over the last several decades the condition of
the depot has severely deteriorated.

Plans for the U.S. highway realignment project call for a new roadway that
will be about 6.5 feet lower than the existing ground as it passes between
the Cedar Street Bridge walkway and the depot.

"Nothing is firmed up yet," said Miller who will meet with officials from
BNSF, AMTRAK, Idaho Transportation Department and Gov. Jim Risch in Coeur
d'Alene Dec. 6. "Seasons has said that they would like to participate in
refurbishing the depot if it can be in the possession of the city.

"If the property and the building can be deeded to us, we'd be very
interested in going forward with this."

Steeped in historic lore when railroads were once the main source of
shipping and long-distance travel, the compact, brick depot built in 1916
for $25,000 was the second building constructed on the site.

It replaced an older train station -- the Northern Pacific Railroad
Passenger Depot -- and had a tool house, ice house and a freight warehouse
just north of the building.

A recent ITD engineers' study touted the depot as still structurally sound,
but found it in cosmetically poor condition. Only a few of the original
vintage-era light fixtures still remain.

Along with cracks sustained in the depot's floors, wall and ceiling due to
what engineers say are from cracking in the concrete slab, subsurface
material has also settled and shifted to create a non-level platform. The
study calls for re-roofing the entire building.

"Although depot appears to suffer from weathering and general lack of
maintenance, the building appears to be relatively sound," the report said.
"However, if continued lack of maintenance persists, structural repair costs
will continue to increase."


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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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