Daily Bee article: Amtrak opts to stay in Sandpoint, but local historic depot use in question

Excerpt from article in the Bonner County Daily Bee on July 16, 2009

Sandpoint’s historic train stop will remain put for now, but Amtrak officials have yet to make a long-term decision about the station’s ailing depot.

Amtrak spokesperson Vernae Graham said after weighing their options, company officials decided early this week to maintain the Sandpoint location, which is Idaho’s sole stop on the Empire Builder route from Chicago to the West Coast.

“We’re going to stay at the same location,” she said. “Where we’re currently stopping, we’ll continue to stop for right now. … There was discussion about whether or not we were going to move to a new location, but at this point it’s status quo.”

The decision ends months of speculation about the station’s future, but leaves a number of questions unanswered, according to depot advocate Aric Spence. Spence, who also chairs the Sandpoint Historic Preservation Commission’s depot subcommittee, said Amtrak’s announcement is a victory, but more work needs to be done to ensure the depot’s long-term survival… Read the entire article.

Be sure to check out the latest news from my conversation with Amtrak on 7/16/2009.