Monday, June 08 2009
EVANSVILLE - Vandalism to the Evansville's historic Greyhound bus station has the city making changes. City leaders are making it a priority to find a buyer who will renovate the space. We ask officials about their plan to sell.
"It's in pretty sad shape, but it's such a landmark, we gotta save it!" says Pam Hight as she drives by the old station.
Sixty years ago this station was bustling--a downtown transportation hub. Today the Greyhound building is abandoned. It shows: the ceiling's falling in, graffiti's splashed across the walls, and rust eats the outside.
NEWS 25 asks Evansville's Director of Metropolitan Planning: the longer the station sits there, won't it become more and more dilapidated?
"It could," says Tom Barnett. "Except for what we're doing."
Since our first story aired about the bus station's vandalism on Tuesday, the city boarded up most of the back windows to prevent future problems. It's a temporary fix until they can find a contractor to renovate the place.
"We're going to be advertising the property locally, regionally, and nationally," Barnett says.
Until that buyer steps forward, the city is figuring out how to stabilize the station--make quick fixes. Patching the roof is one of the top priorities.
"In about 60 days we're going to have a plan and hopefully we'll figure out how to fund the pieces that have to be funded right now," Barnett says.
He says it could be up to four more years before someone buys the building. The buyer is responsible for major renovations---not the city.
"Make it into a club, a fitness center, something, instead of just sitting there," says Debra Lara as she walks by the big blue building."The longer it sits empty, the worse it's gonna get," Hight chimes in.
NEWS 25 wanted to get a look inside the station, but the city told us letting us in would be a safety hazard. NEWS 25 will keep you updated on the renovation.
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