(The following story by Deana Poole appeared on the State Journal-Register website on May 18, 2009.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Some aldermen on Monday questioned plans to spend $571,500 in downtown tax increment finance money to refurbish Springfield’s Amtrak station.
The proposal, which was forwarded to the full city council for debate tonight, calls for the city to pay 80 percent of the $714,368 project, which largely consists of maintenance work.
During a meeting of the council’s public affairs committee Monday, Mike Farmer, director of the city’s office of planning and economic development, and Bruce Ferry, the project’s architect, described drawn-out, frustrating negotiations among the city, Union Pacific and Amtrak. They said Union Pacific didn’t even know it owned the station.
“If Union Pacific, if it was left to them, I think the station would fall in on itself,” Ferry said. “They have really virtually no interest in maintaining it. At the same time, it’s obviously an important gateway to the city.”
A spokesman for Union Pacific couldn’t be reached for comment.
“Our intent was to enhance a gateway into the city, to clean up kind of what’s an otherwise growing-dilapidated building,” Farmer said. “If you look at the parking lot, for example, it’s in sorry shape.”
Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards said it seems as though the city was prepared to give money to a company that doesn’t want it.
“They didn’t even know they owned it,” he said. “We’re doing all this stuff on the backs of the taxpayers. Quite frankly, what do the taxpayers get out of this?”
Other aldermen questioned whether Union Pacific has been paying taxes. The city attorney said she would look into the matter.
The brick depot, along the Third Street tracks between Jefferson and Washington streets, was constructed by the Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1895. It is on the site of the original station where Abraham Lincoln’s funeral train arrived in Springfield in May 1865.
Proposed work includes landscaping, parking lot upgrades and lighting, tuck pointing, painting and concrete work, and platform lighting. Interior work would include painting, plaster, plumbing and lighting repairs, heating and air-conditioning upgrades, removal of an old boiler and improving accessibility for people with disabilities.
After the meeting, Ward 4 Ald. Frank Lesko said he’s undecided on how he’ll vote, saying he wants to know whether Union Pacific has paid taxes and what the building is worth.
Ward 9 Ald. Steven Dove said he plans to vote “no.” He said he’s concerned the city’s share of the project’s cost was so large, especially given remarks that Union Pacific didn’t seem to care about the property.