(rshsdepot) Macon, GA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Telegraph.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
Macon moving to get Terminal Station back on track
By Matt Barnwell - _mbarnwell_@_macon.com_ (mailto:mbarnwell@macon.com) 
 
 
 (http://media.macon.com/smedia/2008
/01/14/00/910-011108_TStour_JV078.standalone.prod_affiliate.71.jpg) 
Jason Vorhees/The Telegraph
 
 
Macon is once again searching for someone to lead  revitalization efforts at 
Terminal Station, the historic train station that  anchors the eastern edge of 
downtown.


The project, expected to cost more than $10 million when fully finished, has  
hit its share of snags since Macon bought the property in 2002. But officials 
 are hopeful that a new, collaborative effort between local officials and 
state  agencies will unlock federal funds that have been lying in wait for some 
time,  jump-starting the station's refurbishment. 
A selection committee that Mayor Robert Reichert put together will this month 
 review bids from firms interested in managing the property. 
The firm the committee chooses will be charged with three primary tasks,  
Reichert said:
• Overseeing construction  and improvements in the first phase of restoration 
projects. 
That primarily includes installation of a new transfer station for the Macon  
Transit Authority and adding escalators and elevators to improve the 
circulation  of people through the building. 
One chunk of the first phase, construction of a new branch of the state  
Department of Driver Services, is already complete. The agency, which issues  
drivers' licenses, is moving to the Terminal Station from Central City Park and  
will open this week. 
In future phases, plans call for a Greyhound bus station and a commuter rail  
terminal. 
• Identifying, recruiting and signing  commercial tenants to lease space in 
the train station. 
City officials say any type of business can operate from the station as long  
as the proceeds generated by their occupancy are spent on transportation. In  
this specific case, that means money from lease or rental agreements will be  
funneled back to the transit authority. 
A previous holdup had been a demand from federal agencies providing grant  
money for the project that the building only be used for transportation. The  
agencies later relaxed that provision. 
• Managing the Terminal Station going  forward. 
Reichert said he envisions that various enterprises will seek space in the  
station. 
A restaurant seems to be one of the more likely businesses to locate there,  
he said, given the proximity to downtown museums and the departure of the 
nearby  Willow on Fifth restaurant a year and a half ago. 
The station also might provide a good location for law or accounting offices  
seeking a more prestigious address, or a service and information kiosk where  
people can pay their utility bills, the mayor said. 
"Essentially, what we're doing is we are creating a mini-mall," he said. 
Sammy Thompson, president of Brittain, Thompson, Bray, Brown Inc., the  
architectural firm directing renovation efforts, said the general project  manager 
that the city hires will play a key role not just in overseeing tenants  but 
also in acting as a liaison to the mayor, the City Council and the state  
Department of Transportation. 
"That's a very important position because it requires a lot of day-to-day  
operation to keep up with the activity," Thompson said. 
Success at Terminal Station could provide an early, visible political victory 
 for Reichert, who took office Dec. 12. Even before his swearing in, he 
assembled  people to begin working on the project, said Don Tussing, a 
transportation  planner for the Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning Commission who is helping 
guide  the bid process. 
"We got a lot of space here, and a lot of it's really unutilized," Tussing  
said. 
This won't be the first time the city has sought oversight for Terminal  
Station activity. 
Since the city purchased the station, millions of dollars in federal funding  
have been earmarked for its use. About $6 million is available once a 20 
percent  local match is added in. 
But for one reason or another, Macon has not been able to meaningfully tap  
into the grant money, which has been controlled by the Federal Transit 
Authority  and the Federal Highway Administration. State and federal officials never 
quite  seemed comfortable with local proposals for the facility's use. 
"The cash was not flowing because first, you have to demonstrate to the  
Department of Transportation that you have spent the money on an eligible  
expense, and you have to document it," said Gigi Cabell, Reichert's grant  manager 
who is coordinating Terminal Station efforts. "That was the stage where  the 
project kind of came to a pause because those requirements hadn't been  
fulfilled." 
The state DOT finally approved in 2006 the release of the grant money as  
reimbursements for future Terminal Station expenses. Cabell said officials are  
now preparing their first reimbursement request and revisiting with state  
officials about the city's master plan for the station. 
To this point, the city has moved forward with bits and pieces of the overall 
 plan. Officials used funds from a $10 million bond package sold in 2002 to 
get a  few things done: The DDS branch was completed. The transit authority 
moved its  administrative offices into the building. Antique benches were 
refurbished. 
But the bulk of the work proved an elusive task. 
"It wasn't totally in vain, previously," Tussing said of Terminal Station  
work during the past five years. "But we should have seen a lot more  progress." 
Officials spent the final 15 months of former Mayor Jack Ellis'  
administration wavering between various companies and agencies as they searched  for 
someone to manage the project. 
Ellis first picked an Alabama-based company against the advice of the  
selection committee that reviewed proposals in fall 2006. The council rejected  the 
mayor's choice. 
Ellis then tried to hand things over to the transit authority, which  
eventually decided it didn't want the job. During the final months of his term,  
Ellis said he would give the project to NewTown Macon, the semi-public board of  
downtown boosters that was initially partnered with the city when Macon  
purchased the station in 2002. 
The handover never materialized, and Reichert said he thought it best to  
restart the bidding process. Friday, potential bidders walked through the  
property with city officials and City Council members. 
NewTown, along with private local firms, has again emerged as one of the  
interested parties. 
"It's important to downtown, both in the short term, when we can get some  
mixed-use development, and in the long term, when the rail comes in," NewTown  
CEO Mike Ford said. "We think since it was NewTown way back when, this is an  
opportunity for us to get involved again."
To contact writer Matt Barnwell, call  744-4251.



**************Start the year off right.  Easy ways to stay in shape.     
http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

------------------------------

End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1662
********************************

=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org