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(rshsdepot) Longview, TX
From the Longview News-Journal.
Link to original story at:
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/04/10/04102009_Lo
ngview_council.html
Bernie Wagenblast
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Council agrees to city operation of train depot
By JIMMY ISAAC
Friday, April 10, 2009
The City Council signed its part of the deal. Once Union Pacific Railroad
Co. signs the contract, Longview will own a train depot.
The council committed to an agreement with the railroad company Thursday.
The pact conveys the 9,300-square-foot depot to Longview and leases the
property beneath the depot to the city for 20 years at a total cost of
$125,840. That amount must be paid by Oct. 31.
Longview plans to refurbish the depot into a multimodal transportation
center for freight and passenger rail, bus and shuttle service at a central
location. City administrators want to pursue federal and state grants to pay
for the refurbishment.
Joy Smith, spokeswoman for Amtrak — which provides passenger rail service
from the depot — praised the city for reaching an agreement with Union
Pacific within less than one year. Other cities such as Marshall and Poplar
Bluff, Mo., waited more than a decade before acquiring ownership of their
rail facilities.
"Union Pacific understands the importance of the Longview depot to the local
community and is pleased with the progress that has been made towards an
agreement, which will help preserve this historic structure for future
generations," said Raquel Espinoza, Union Pacific spokeswoman.
In another matter, the council accepted a $650,855 bid from Longview Bridge
and Road to perform erosion control upgrades at three Longview parks.
The projects, approved by voters in the 2007 Capital Improvement Projects
bond package, calls for constructing a 500-linear-foot concrete bag wall at
Timpson Park and 1,800 feet of creek bank stabilization at Akin Park. Some
work is also planned for Hinsley Park.
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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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