REHABILITATION OF SPRINGFIELD AMTRAK STATION COMPLETED

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Ernie Slottag 789-2235

The rehabilitation and upgrading of Springfield’s Amtrak station have been completed, ending a months long project to improve esthetics of the facility, and bring it up to ADA standards.

“For several years, the City had sought to upgrade the facility and bring it up to current accessibility standards,” Mayor J. Michael Houston said. “It is tremendously important that we provide a positive experience to tourists and travelers who pass through the station, today. We did not want to wait until a new multi-modal transportation center is constructed in the future, hopefully on the Tenth Street rail corridor, but instead felt it imperative to provide an inviting atmosphere for travelers who come to Springfield now and for the short term.”

The Chicago to St. Louis rail corridor was one of the fastest growing routes in the country. Ridership has more than doubled over the past six years, and is up more than 4 percent already this fiscal year with Lincoln Corridor trains carrying nearly 560,000 riders. Even though railway construction required some riders to be bussed between stops this summer, more and more people have decided to take the train and leave their automobiles home. More than 192,000 people boarded or detrained in the Capital city during the past year, a 9 percent increase over the previous year.

Evans Construction was selected by Amtrak to lead the project. The contract included a number of significant improvements to the building and its surroundings. Bruce Ferry of Ferry and Associates was the architect who also oversaw an earlier station rehabilitation project completed more than 20 years ago. This project included resurfacing the parking lot, painting the station inside and out, refurbishing the artwork and historic benches, rebuilding the restrooms and improving building accessibility for individuals with disabilities, and remodeling a portion of the platform area that includes more green space.

The total cost of this project was approximately $680,000 and was paid for with a combination of Amtrak funds and the City’s investment of downtown tax increment financing funds.