(rshsdepot) Portland, OR (Union Station)

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Associated Press.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Portland train station could become home  to market vendors

August 20 2007

Portland train station could become home to market vendors Group hopes to  
start a public food market in the city; city officials warm to the idea By  
By ANDY DWORKIN The Associated Press August 20, 2007 6:00 AM  PORTLAND  
In several years you may be able to go to Union Station to catch a salmon,  
Pike Place Market-style, along with your train.  
A group hoping to start a public food market in Portland says the city-owned  
train station is its top pick for a site.  
Some city officials are intrigued by the idea and are eager to find new uses  
for the aging station in addition to Amtrak train service.  
But the city is far from committing to filling station space with a market,  
which faces problems that include raising millions of dollars in private funds 
 and dealing with Amtrak`s space and security needs.  
The space and security worries can be managed with careful planning, said Ron 
 Paul, consulting director of The Historic Portland Public Market Foundation, 
 which is working to give the city its own Pike Place-like market opening in 
2012  or later.  
``There are some challenges both in the amount of square footage that it  
(Union Station) will ultimately yield and in the organization of the market,``  
he said.  
A recently finished architectural study found a way to craft more than 31,000 
 square feet of market space by straddling Amtrak`s operations in the main 
hall.  The $25,000 study was funded by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban  
Development grant. Paul has gone over details with City Commissioner Dan  
Saltzman and staff from the Office of Sustainable Development, which Saltzman  
oversees.  
South of the central hall, the market would stretch into space now filled  
with bathrooms, offices, a train-passenger waiting room and maybe Wilf`s  
Restaurant, which could move into a separate annex building just south of the  
station. North of the hall, the market would go into building space now used for  
baggage and move outside into space that would be covered and turned into an  
entry.  
``It`s not ideal in that normally you`d want your market spaces more  
consolidated,`` without the passenger-hall`s interruption, said Joseph Readdy  with 
Mahlum Architects, who led the feasibility study. ``But it does function.``  
A market could fit 25 to 30 vendors in that station space, selling everything 
 from fresh produce to meat, baked goods, even distilled spirits, Paul said. 
Some  storage and planned food wholesale work might have to go across the 
tracks, he  said.  
The market has looked at several other spaces, including the nearby Greyhound 
 station and a federal building at 511 N.W. Broadway St. But Paul said he was 
 lured to the station by TriMet`s decision to run two MAX light-rail lines by 
 Union Station: the Yellow Line to North Portland and the under-construction  
Green Line from Clackamas County. Riders from those areas, which have too few 
 places to buy fresh foods, could pick up food on their way home from working 
 downtown, Paul said.  
Union Station also serves almost a half-million Amtrak riders a year. Paul  
hopes to get about triple that number of shoppers in the market in a year.  
Still, the Union Station plan has drawbacks. Stricter train security could be 
 a headache for market-goers, though Paul said he`s planning for some tighter 
 security rules. Historic rules and the building design limit the flexibility 
of  the space.  
Union Station needs $30 million to $40 million worth of work, including  
seismic upgrades and repairing water damage, to prepare for new tenants.  
After that work was done, Paul`s group would have to raise $6 million to $8  
million in private funds to install the market.  
The city, meanwhile, has made no commitment to putting a market in the  
station. The Portland Development Commission is trying to find new ways to use  the 
building and pay for repairs, said Lew Bowers, a PDC senior project manager.  
There could be other uses for that building, perhaps combining Amtrak,  
Greyhound buses and other transport services in one spot, he said.  
Bowers sees the station`s use as part of a bigger question: What to do with a 
 ``Broadway Corridor`` that includes the 511 Broadway Building, privately 
owned  Greyhound building, several nearby city-owned blocks and acres owned by 
the U.S.  Postal Service. That`s 20-plus blocks held by three or four owners, 
``which is  pretty unusual for downtown Portland,`` Bowers said. ``We see an 
incredible  opportunity for this area.``  
Figuring out a way to get more money out of the train station is part of  
that. Updating the station probably hinges on including the land in a planned  
extension of the River District Urban Renewal Area, which could channel bond  
money to the project. The PDC also would love to find a long-term owner for the  
station, Bowers said.  
That could be the city of Portland, he said, or it could be a private owner.  
Some public-private partnership is the most likely outcome for the station.  
``We need to have the discussion on more detail around this whole corridor,`` 
 and get community input and City Council approval before deciding how to 
deal  with the station, Bowers said. 



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1593
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org