BY MICHAEL BURKE
mburke@journaltimes.com | Posted: Wednesday, July 1, 2009 12:00 am
RACINE - The City of Racine will get nearly $1 million in federal money to help rehabilitate its train depot/transit center and enhance State Street.
The city and the Racine County Economic Development Corp., which jointly pursued the grant, confirmed the $950,000 grant Wednesday. The money comes from a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative, or EDI, grant.
The money will help the city restore the dilapidated west platform of the historic Chicago-Northwestern Railroad depot. The city will also use the money to cover the cost of demolishing blighted buildings across State Street from the Racine Transit Center.
The railroad depot project includes restoration of the west platform to the same condition as the platform on the east side of the tracks. The west platform was not previously restored because the railroad had sold the land on each side to different buyers, and the city did not own the west side at that time. The city later bought the land.
"It's only now that we can fit it back together," said City Development Director Brian O'Connell.
Racine's railroad station is one of the few with both sides surviving, although the west side is severely deteriorated, O'Connell said.
Work on the project will start immediately, including demolition of two city-owned buildings on the north side of that block, O'Connell said. When the dilapidated buildings are razed, the cleared land will provide a site for transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment.
"Certainly this will complete the railroad station rehabilitation that we started a few years ago," Racine Public Works Commissioner Rick Jones said Wednesday. "With the construction of our multimodal station, we're ready for commuter rail."
Officials credited U.S. Sens. Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold and 1st District Congressman Paul Ryan for loosening federal purse strings.
"This urban revitalization project will breathe new life into Downtown Racine, spurring job creation while enhancing the quality of life for residents," Kohl stated in a news release.
The money is not part of the federal economic stimulus package.
Mayor John Dickert said the grant "marks another significant milestone for the revitalization of the State Street corridor."
The city has received two previous EDI grants in recent years. Last year it received $196,000 to help redevelop Uptown.
The city received another grant to help pay for demolition of the old Jacobsen-Textron buildings and create the new Southside Industrial Park.
Besides helping the City with its redevelopment efforts on State Street, RCEDC manages commercial redevelopment efforts in West Racine, Uptown and the Douglas Avenue corridor.