Summary of meeting on 9/16/2009 with Amtrak, ITD, City of Sandpoint and the Historic Preservation Commission

For those that do not want to read this entire summary of the meeting, in a nut shell, it was productive. I was encouraged by our discussions and I feel that the Sandpoint Depot can meet Amtrak’s safety and access requirements enabling them to keep our station as an active passenger stop at its historic location in our downtown core. No representative from BNSF was present, so depot acquisition was not discussed.

John Bennett of Amtrak chaired the meeting and gave a presentation, including PowerPoint slides on the current Sandpoint train station situation. There was discussion and questions throughout the presentation and the meeting lasted for about two hours.

John started the meeting by saying that Amtrak had already planned to vacate the historic depot, several years ago, although according to ITD, the agreement to give Amtrak $921,664 for a new station was singed in late 2008. Amtrak was planning on locating the new stop near Schweitzer, but that idea was scrapped due to the possible reinstatement of the North Coast Hiawatha (NCH). If the NCH was to be reinstated, the Schweitzer location would not have access to the route and that would be unacceptable. So they are now looking into what location would best suit their needs.

There were three locations mentioned (see map below) and they included (Blue) the existing Sandpoint Depot, (Pink) a location just off Heath Lake road, about 8 miles south of Sandpoint and (Teal) the junction of the BNSF main line and Montana Rail Link (MRL) line, just north of the current station.

View Possible Sandpoint Train Station Locations in a larger map

The current station condition and future access was of most concern to Amtrak. They felt that the station was in need of major repair and that the access was not what they required for an Amtrak stop. Barbara Babic with ITD let Amtrak know that they designed the station access to meet all Amtrak’s requirements, including emergency vehicles and an ADA ramp to the front of the station from the parking area. ITD will be supplying detailed drawings including a study they did with regards to turning around a bus at the station.

Click image for an even larger view.

I was then asked to present the estimates for restoration that the Historic Preservation Commission had put together. We presented two estimates, one with the help of local architect, Tim Boden, professional engineer, Carlos Suarez, local contractor, Chris LoBosco and roofing contractor Jeff Caven. The second estimate was provided by Fred Walters, historical architect from Cambridge, Idaho who came to Sandpoint because of our discussions with the Idaho Heritage Trust.

The estimate the Historical Preservation Commission put together using local professionals came out between $589,724 and $800,975 depending on the level of restoration. On the low end ($589,724), our estimate was trying to make the station safe for Amtrak to begin using the depot again and on the high end ($800,975), we expanded our scope of work to include returning the roof framing and interior walls to their original design, upgraded the roofing to match what was originally on the structure and addressed ADA compliance with regards to bathrooms. Download the renovation estimates document compiled by the Sandpoint Historic Preservation Commission.

Drawing by Tim Boden, Boden Mountain Architecture, click image for a larger view.

The estimate Fred Walters put together was extensive and in his words, “There is also a significant contingency factor…” as the complete scope of work has not yet been fully defined. His estimate was separated into two levels of importance, critical and high. The critical components with, contingency, contractor and architect fees excluded is $900,000 and with the aforementioned fees included, the total came to $1,566,000. The high importance components with contingency, contractor and architect fees excluded is $455,000 and with the aforementioned fees included, the total came to $791,700.

After presenting these estimates and handing out copies to the appropriate people, the meeting continued and John Bennett discussed the other two location options.

The BNSF/MRL junction location was mentioned as an alternate station site although the access to the station would be to the north of Sandpoint and admittedly not ideal. There would also be other hurdles to overcome with this location and the feasibility was not completely certain.

The Heath Lake road location to Amtrak was ideal. There would be easy access off the highway, there are two main tracks providing the option for other trains to pass while Amtrak is stopped and there is plenty of room for parking and expansion. I mentioned that the population base was located nowhere near Heath Lake road and that if the station was located there, no one would be able to walk to access it. John Bennett with Amtrak said that their data shows that most people drive to train stations. He also mentioned that our station was 417 out of 525 regarding revenue for Amtrak.

There was a lot of discussion from everyone and the bottom line seemed to be that if we can get the access issue worked out and the station can be rehabbed for less than the $921,664 that Amtrak got from ITD for a building a new station/platform, then Amtrak will stay in the downtown core at the current historic depot location.

Special thanks to everyone who was able to attend. I was especially encouraged to see Shelley Landry, Regional Director to Walt Minnick, Karen Roetter, Regional Director to Mike Crapo and our state Senators Shawn Keough and Joyce Broadsword.

This concludes my summary, let me know if you have any questions.

Very best regards,
Aric Spence
208-263-3278
spt@sandpointtrainstation.com