(rshsdepot) Renton, WA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's King County Journal.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
    A train station without a  train?

By Dean A.  Radford
Journal Reporter


With dinner train's future uncertain, talk turns to uses for  Renton complex

RENTON — The Spirit of Washington Dinner Train hasn't  pulled out of Renton 
for the last time, but there already is talk about what  could happen to its 
depot and kitchen — and the busy event center  downtown.

That future may not include the dinner train's owner. But it  could include 
the Renton Chamber of Commerce, which has thought about moving its  office 
closer to downtown.

For now, no one is wishing for the dinner  train's demise in Renton, which 
during its roughly 15-year run has pumped tens  of millions of dollars into the 
local and regional economies.

The BNSF  Railway Co. wants to abandon its rail corridor from Renton into 
south Snohomish  County, which means it wouldn't operate freight trains there. 
That wouldn't  preclude dinner-train owner Eric Temple from using the tracks, if 
he had a lease  with BNSF.

First dibs on depot, kitchen

Temple said he has a  commitment from the railroad that he has first dibs on 
the depot and kitchen  before they are offered for sale or lease to someone 
else. He originally built  the kitchen to serve his dinner-train customers.

Now, he and others  maintain that Renton Mayor Kathy Keolker wants BNSF to 
lease or sell or give its  property, including the depot and kitchen, to the 
city in exchange for not  challenging its abandonment of the rail corridor.

"There is a huge deal  that Renton is screwing up," Temple said.

That's just not so, said  Keolker.

She said she hasn't talked to BNSF about the depot in months,  and then only 
to express the city's concern that she doesn't want the depot to  become a 
blighted building again if, for some reason, it's no longer needed by  BNSF or 
Temple. At that point, the city could take over ownership.

"I  have never been out to get the dinner train," Keolker said. "I love the 
dinner  train."

The City Council did vote to challenge BNSF's request to abandon  the line, 
but has yet to actually do so because the railroad is addressing some  of its 
concerns about bridge and track improvements in the  city.

Complicated land deal

The county is trying to acquire the  47-mile corridor to preserve it in 
public hands, initially as a trail but with  the potential that in the future it 
could be used for rail service again. That  could happen in a complicated land 
deal in which the Port of Seattle would buy  the corridor from BNSF, then trade 
it for the county's Boeing Field.

Gus  Melonas, a spokesman for BNSF, said no agreement has been reached on the 
 corridor issue and no specifics are available.

Temple has said his last  departure from Renton is next summer when his lease 
with BNSF expires. He's  considering moving his jumping-off point to 
Woodinville, home to the Columbia  Winery, his current destination.

But he would continue to operate the  Spirit of Washington Event Center in 
downtown Renton. He needs his kitchen to  cater events there, and the city wants 
a vibrant event center to attract people  to its downtown.

Also in the wings potentially is the Renton Chamber of  Commerce. Its office 
now overlooks the Renton Municipal Airport on Rainier  Avenue. It pays for its 
lease by providing services to the city. However,  there's talk of putting an 
upscale restaurant at the site.

Chamber eyes  event center

Bill Taylor, the chamber's president, doesn't want to see  the dinner train 
leave, either, or the event center left stranded. However, he  said, "if for 
any reason the dinner train had to give that up (the event  center), we would be 
interested in operating it."

The event center is  projected to generate at least $64,000 in revenue for 
the city this  year.

The depot is on Burnett Avenue, in downtown Renton.

Temple  and the city signed a 10-year lease in June 2005. After four years, 
either side  can terminate the lease with 12 months notice. However, if the 
city terminates  the lease, it would have to pay Temple a portion of his cost to 
improve the  center, according to Peter Renner, the city's facilities director.

Temple  doesn't oppose BNSF's plans to abandon the corridor.

'Important public  interest'

In a letter to the federal Surface Transportation Board, he  wrote that the 
abandonment serves an "important public interest." The state has  told BNSF 
that it could save millions of dollars if it didn't have to  accommodate rail 
traffic at the Wilburton Tunnel during the widening of  Interstate 405.

Temple has clashed with Keolker in the past, including  over the popular 
downtown movie series next to the event center in the Piazza.  Temple maintained 
the noise and light affected his customers; Keolker maintained  the movie 
series was a critical piece of her plan to draw people downtown. The  City Council 
agreed to move the series to Liberty Park.

Temple said  Keolker really wanted to have a carousel in the Piazza building. 
But Keolker  said that was the only proposal she had to forward to the 
council until the  event center idea surfaced.

Dean Radford covers Renton. He can be reached  at dean.radford_@_kingcoun 
tyjournal.com or  253-872-6719.

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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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