(rshsdepot) Salt Lake City, UT

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Salt Lake Tribune.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Railroad 'eyesore' may be razed 
Old building sits next to UTA's new  hub; Becker says it could still have use 

By Brandon Loomis 
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune  
Article Last Updated:04/22/2008 01:25:10 AM MDT 

A piece of  Salt Lake City's railroading past is threatened by the city's 
imminent railroad  of the future, the commuter-rail line that begins operation on 
Saturday. 

A rusting freight dock and warehouse that was the  portal for produce, 
mattresses and more shipped to Salt Lake merchants nearly a  century ago is slated 
for demolition. It sits next to the new hub that serves  buses and the Front 
Runner trains that will run between Ogden and Salt Lake  City. The building 
shares its history with the refurbished transit hub next  door, and downtown 
enthusiasts had big hopes for a similar rebirth until the  Utah Transit Authority 
filed for a demolition permit from the city. 

"It's a little bit of an eyesore," UTA board  President Orrin Colby said. The 
agency wants to remove it to build something  that complements FrontRunner, 
whether it be a retail outlet, a bike-rental  center or a parking lot, he said. 

The move shocked historic preservationists who had  envisioned a bike center 
or a public market reinvigorating the historic  structure. The remnant 
building was once a single unit with the transit hub  itself, which now mixes the old 
with the new by retaining the former loading  bays but enclosing them with 
glass and shiny new metal. 

City officials asked UTA to hold off on demolition,  and now they have six 
weeks to find an investor. 

"My bias is always toward preserving historic  structures," Mayor Ralph 
Becker said. 
It could be a  bike-commuter center, a public market or a retail center, he 
said. And the city  could put up some money or a loan. 

"Structurally it's in poor shape, but it's still  part of the cultural fabric 
of our community," Becker said. 

UTA determined it would cost $5 million to $6  million to fix the 
17,000-square-foot building. 
Anyone  filing out of the double-decker FrontRunner cars and onto TRAX light 
rail would  notice the stark difference between the brightly refurbished hub 
and its forlorn  cousin. Mesh-covered windows in the abandoned building are 
broken, and the  corrugated steel on the bay overhangs have rusted. The sight 
could put off some  people riding the new trains, Colby said. 

Utah Heritage Foundation executive director Kirk  Huffaker sees the city's 
pioneering story in the steel beams and concrete truck  platforms. They echo 
what happened all over the Gateway District when the  railroads displaced quiet 
residential blocks with blue-collar workers. 

"The distinctiveness of the Gateway District is  really built into this 
building, Huffaker said. 

On a tour of downtown last week to critique Salt  Lake City architecture, 
Chicago Tribune critic Blair Kamin raved about the 1910  freight house. 

"It's got good bones," he said. "This building is  great." 
- --- 
* DEREK JENSEN  contributed to this story. 



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1715
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org