(rshsdepot) Vicksburg, MS

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Vicksburg Post.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
$1.6 million grant OK'd for depot


By _Sam  Knowlton_ (mailto:sknowlton_@_vicksburgpost.com)  
[12/05/06]The organization working to  turn the Levee Street Depot into a 
transportation museum has been approved for a  $1.6 million grant and may receive 
more.

The grant will go toward the  $2.5 million cost estimate to convert the 
vacant downtown building that during  its history served as a depot for railroads 
including the Yazoo &  Mississippi Valley and Illinois Central.

The grant is from the  Mississippi Department of Transportation and word is 
expected as early as this  week on further funding sought from the Mississippi 
Department of Archives and  History, said the organization's president, Lamar 
Roberts.

The  transportation museum is part of an overall redevelopment of the City 
Front area  that already includes murals on the flood walls, a splash and a 
river-themed art  park. In progress are the transportation museum and a Corps of 
Engineers museum  to include a fixed display of the MV Mississippi.

Roberts said full  funding was for the project and the MDOT allocation is a 
big step.

“This  is going to allow us to go ahead and get the (architectural) drawings 
made” and  advertise for bids for renovation work on the building, Roberts 
said.     The depot was built in 1907 and was purchased by the city from  private 
owners about five years ago. Its roof was damaged by Hurricane Katrina  in 
August 2005, Roberts said.

City workers began preparation work for the  renovation in the summer, have 
repaired the roof and have “done about 80 percent  of our tearing-out that 
we're going to have to do,” Roberts said.

“We  will also be able to, with this money, start putting our exhibits 
together and  how we want to lay them out and what exhibits we will have because 
part of that  was included in the grant, in renovating the building and getting 
the museum on  its feet,” Roberts said.

City Planner Wayne Mansfield told the city board  that the award was the 
largest of its kind made in the state transportation  commission's central 
district this year.       Mayor  Laurence Leyens said the museum will create “a new 
venue for tourism and city  taxpayers' assets will be improved.”

The building has 14,000 square feet  on three levels, Roberts said. One each 
of the two former, segregated waiting  areas on the ground level are to serve 
as a gift shop and space for railroad  memorabilia, Roberts said. The former 
train platform is 28 feet by 80 feet, has  been enclosed and will be occupied 
by about 20 model train sets, Roberts  added.

The second level is to be occupied by a museum focusing on the  area's 
history in aviation and the uppermost level is to be for a library and  research 
center, Roberts said.

“Outside we will have an assortment of  rail cars for people to walk around 
and go through,” Roberts said. “We will also  have some old wagons and buggies 
for people to look at. We are going to have to  build a carriage house for 
that.”

Architectural drawings for the  renovation are to be done by Waycaster & 
Associates of Natchez, Roberts  said. The project's schedule calls for them to be 
done by 30 days after final  acceptance of the grant.

“I'm hoping that we'll be seeing some action  down there by the end of 
January or the first part of February,” Roberts said of  the group's plans.

The railcar-office and legislative archives of the  late Mississippi House of 
Representatives speaker C.B. “Buddie” Newman of Valley  Park have been 
donated to the museum. Plans are to open the office to the public  and display 
parts of the archive on a rotating basis, Roberts  said.

“Anybody that has railroad memorabilia, towboat, riverboat  memorabilia or 
anything connected with the old Southern Air Lines” may donate  such items to 
the museum as tax-deductible contributions, Roberts  said.

Roberts is also developer of the Blue and Gray Naval Museum that  evolved 
into the Battlefield Museum adjacent to Battlefield Inn. He is also a  board 
member of the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors  Bureau.

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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1458
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org