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Union Station project is finally underway

Date: 7/25/2012

By G. Michael Dobbs

news@thereminder.com

SPRINGFIELD — What has been a challenge and problem for a succession of Springfield mayors will not become an "economic engine" for the city.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood characterized the redevelopment of Union Station as a "jobs creator," not just in construction positions, but also in permanent jobs in and around the renovated train station.

The building has been closed since the mid-1970s and was taken by the Springfield redevelopment Authority by eminent domain in 1988.

LaHood was in Springfield on July 23 to formally announce the allocation of more than $17 million in federal funding to underwrite the often spoken about and frequently delayed conversion of the building into an inter-modal transportation center.

"This is as good a use for taxpayer's dollars that you'll ever find in America," LaHood said.

Noting the decades the project has been under consideration, Congressman Richard Neal said "We've been at this for a long time." He then thanked Sen. John Kerry and the late Sen. Edward Kennedy for their support over the years in trying to make the redevelopment a reality.

Neal noted that similar redevelopment projects in Albany, N.Y., Hartford and New Haven, Conn. and Boston have brought about private economic development.

"The significance is not the nostalgia that grips you when you enter, but what it might mean for the future," Neal said.

Neal and Mayor Domenic Sarno noted the support for the project from the Patrick/Murray Administration and Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, the former mayor of Worcester, said the renovation of that city's Union Station brought about "unprecedented private development."

Kevin Kennedy, the city's chief development officer, explained that the demolition of the baggage building — the part of the building that is closest to Main Street — will take place later this year. Groundbreaking for the construction of a parking deck plus bays for buses should be next April, he added.

The $17 million means, Kennedy said, there is now $45 million "on hand" for the additional renovations. The great hall waiting area will be renovated and the tunnel that connects it to Lyman Street — where the entrance to the present Amtrak station is located would be re-opened. Tickets for Amtrak, Peter Pan Bus Co., and the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority will be sold at the historic ticket counter. To provide for even more parking, the parking lot on the other side of Frank B. Murray Street will be acquired by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, which owns Union Station and is the developer.

A new elevator system will also be installed to carry travelers up to the train tracks.

Kennedy said that Peter Pan Bus Co. has signed a letter of intent to move into the building.

The project is expected to be completed either in late 2014 or early 2015, Kennedy said.

Built in 1926, the massive structure is the better part of a block long and has five floors and a mezzanine. A walk through the upper floors reveals floor after floor of office space. Kennedy said there is 110,000 square of space that could be redeveloped, but he said that part of the redevelopment would have to be done "carefully." He cautioned about the impact the new space might have on the rental rate of downtown offices.

"We don't want to dump it," Kennedy said.

Since Union Station is close to the talked-about location of a possible downtown casino, Kennedy added the upper floors of offices might be appealing as a location for a casino's accounting and human resources departments.