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(rshsdepot) Elyria, OH



From The Chronicle-Telegram.
 
Original article at:
_http://www.chroniclet.com/2009/03/06/federal-stimulus-money-going-to-depot-pr
oject_122/_ 
(http://www.chroniclet.com/2009/03/06/federal-stimulus-money-going-to-depot-project_122/) 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Federal stimulus money going to depot project
Brad Dicken | The  Chronicle-Telegram
 
ELYRIA — Lorain County will receive about $3.6 million in federal stimulus  
money to fund capital improvements for mass-transit projects.
 
That means the county will speed up its efforts to renovate the old New  York 
Central Railroad Station in Elyria, county Administrator Jim Cordes said  
Thursday.

The county approved spending about $3.2 million in other federal  funding on 
the second phase of the renovation of the former train depot in  October, but 
Cordes said that the extra money will allow the county to move  forward with 
the third phase this year as well.

The cost of the third phase is expected to be about $1.2 million. A  fourth 
phase is expected to cost $1.4 million.

Among the improvements to the depot the county has planned are  renovating 
the depot’s rotunda and offices, waterproofing, adding an elevator  and 
upgrading security measures.

The entire project is expected to cost about $7.3 million, most of  which is 
coming from the federal government. The only money spent by the county  was 
the nearly $1.5 million the county spent in 2000 to purchase the building  and 
surrounding land.

The rest of the money the county gets from the money awarded this week  will 
go to buy replacement buses for Lorain County Transit in the coming years,  
Cordes said.

Commissioner Betty Blair said she’s all for speeding up the depot  
renovations, a move that will allow the county to relocate its LCT offices to  the 
facility, but she wants to make sure the county keeps its fleet of buses in  good 
working order.

“It’s wonderful as long as purchasing of the buses doesn’t get waylaid  
permanently,” she said.

Commissioner Ted Kalo said the county also plans to ask Amtrak to  contribute 
$1.7 million to build a platform that will allow passenger trains to  stop at 
the depot. That money would not come from the money the county was  awarded 
this week, he said.

Although Kalo said he was happy with the money the county will receive,  it 
can’t be used where Transit needs it most desperately.

“The money isn’t for operations,” he said. “It’s for bricks and  mortar.”

The county is projecting a $600,000 shortfall for LCT this year, and  without 
additional funds, Kalo said, cutbacks to busing programs could once  again be 
on the table.

The county was able to avoid trimming routes last year brought on by a  
budget shortfall $500,000 in transit because of a one-time federal cash infusion  
of about $645,000. Officials don’t expect to get that money again this  year.

The commissioners on Thursday used a $10,000 grant to fund a study on  how to 
increase commuter ridership of LCT buses, but Kalo said cutting routes is  
something the county will be looking at again this year.

Although Transit’s ridership has increased in recent years,  particularly 
when gas prices soared, increased costs and limited revenue have  mean less money 
to work with for the agency, which receives most of its $6  million annual 
budget from state and federal grants. The county contributes  $500,000 annually.

Kalo said he has high hopes for the depot as a county transportation  hub. He 
said the county also plans to use old tunnels in the building for  storage 
and recently signed a $1,200 per year lease with Norfolk Southern for  that 
purpose.

The transit money awarded to the county was part of nearly $179 million  
doled out around the state, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Sherrod  
Brown, D-Ohio.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or _bdicken_@_chroniclet.com_ 
(mailto:bdicken_@_chroniclet.com) . 
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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1855
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org