By Mark Scheer
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
The project has been in various stages of discussion in Niagara Falls since the late 1980s.
Today, longtime supporters of a plan to restore the historic U.S. Customhouse as part of the development of an intermodel transportation center off Whirlpool Street say they can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
City Planner Tom DeSantis told lawmakers this week his office is confident it will be able to break ground on a renovation project at the old Customhouse next month. If all goes as planned, DeSantis said the city’s new Amtrak passenger station will be ready to open in a few years.
“Assuming our funding requests are successful, we will see conclusion and be welcoming travelers by 2013,” DeSantis told the council during a meeting on Monday.
DeSantis said the city and its partners are in the process of applying for federal and state dollars needed to bring the project to fruition. He added that the city is also continuing efforts to secure clearances needed from the various entities involved, including CSX which owns the rights to the tracks and right-of-way, Amtrak, the company that provides passenger rail services to the city and the state Department of Transportation which oversees such operations in New York.
“We are making very good progress on all of those fronts,” DeSantis said.
On Monday, the city council supported several measures that will advance the project, including the award of more than $2 million on contracts for renovation work at the customhouse and an agreement that will allow Amtrak to use the station once it is completed.
“It’s had a number of periods where it's looked great and then not so great,” DeSantis said. “We are going to make it look great again.”
On a related front, the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Commission is in the process of selecting a preferred consultant that will provide assistance in the development of an underground railroad museum inside the customhouse building. Commission members are working to implement a master strategy to promote cultural heritage and oversee projects, including transforming the first floor into an underground railroad interpretive center.
Kevin Cottrell, who serves as project coordinator for the North Star initiative, which aims to establish a heritage district along north Main Street near the Whirlpool Bridge, said commission members have narrowed down the list of consultant candidates from 14 to 3. He said the commission has interviewed representatives from the top three consulting firms and is preparing to make a recommendation for approval to the council. He said the commission is planning to make that move once a formal funding agreement is in place with the New York State Dormitory Authority, which is supplying $450,000 for the interpretative center.
TIMELINE
A glance at some of the major milestones — past, present and future — in constructing the intermodel transportation center.
• 1987: NFTA-Niagara Falls passenger station study
• 1994-1997: Unsuccessful attempt at creating a public/private partnership; Grant applications for design and construction submitted
• 2001: Conceptual design
• 2002: Preliminary engineering; expanded project proposal
• 2004: 30 percent design completion; NEPA & SEQRA
• 2006: TEP Grant — U.S. Customhouse restoration kickoff; Route 104 kickoff; CSX Bridge replacement kickoff
• 2008: Design approval; Environmental clearance; CSXT MOU signed
• 2009: Obligation of final design funding; Final design kickoff; ARRA HSIBR grants announced; Site acquisition kickoff
• 2010: Advanced design plans complete; Acquisition mapping complete and approved; Customhouse groundbreaking (August)*; Title searches and appraisals complete (fall)*; CSXT Bridge groundbreaking (fall)*; Stakeholders agreements funding secured (fall)*
• 2011*: Final design acquisition complete (spring); Customhouse restoration complete; right of way clearance and bid authorization (summer); bidding and construction kickoff (fall)
• Winter 2013*: Niagara Falls International Station and Intermodal Transportation Center complete
* - Aniticipated
SOURCE: City of Niagara Falls
