St. Paul light-rail maintenance facility to get more thought

After a buildup of both opposition and support for a resolution opposing a light-rail maintenance facility in Lowertown, the St. Paul City Council unanimously voted Wednesday night to sit on the matter for two weeks.

During that time, folks on both sides of the issue are supposed to come together to find a solution.

Council Member Dave Thune, listening to residents and boosters of Lowertown, had sponsored a resolution saying the maintenance facility should go elsewhere. That ruffled the feathers of project leaders and created much behind-the-scenes politicking, because the city's opposition could complicate the project's progress.

In the end, it was Thune who publicly called for unity and urgent addressing of concerns on both sides.

The flap over the facility's location is the latest bump along the planned 11-mile line from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul. Planners say time is of the essence to stay on track in a bid to secure federal money for the $914 million project.

Residents, business owners and others say putting a maintenance facility for the Central Corridor light-rail line in a vacant factory building near the farmer's market would mar the historic and creative identity of the neighborhood.

But project planners and business and labor leaders say the old Diamond Products building at Fourth and Broadway is the best fit for the best price, reuses an existing building and would bring 150 jobs to the area.

Nobody stated any opposition to the light-rail line itself during the public hearing, but folks lined up to speak on both sides of the resolution.

"Don't sacrifice parts of Lowertown just to have a train garage," said Robyn Priestley, executive director of the St. Paul Art Crawl. Others shared concerns about hampering future development in the area.

Harry Melander of the St. Paul Building Trades spoke in opposition of the council's resolution. He encouraged a thoughtful but swift review. "It's critical this project move forward on time," he said.

The notion of using the Diamond Products site crystallized last November when it became clear to project planners that using a site off Kellogg Boulevard near the Mississippi River owned by Ramsey County would be too costly to decontaminate and would interfere with historic structures.

Using the county site and building the track to get there would cost about $72 million, well above the original $47 million budget. Buying the Diamond Products building and accompanying construction would cost about $69 million.

The building, which is about 178,000 square feet, and land stretching east would still need to be acquired. The owners are willing to sell, a representative said Wednesday.

The council will take up the resolution again on March 18.

"This is a project 30 years in the making," said Bob Hume, spokesman for Mayor Chris Coleman. "In the next two weeks, we'll all come together."

Chris Havens • 612-673-4148