Fostoria Rail Park Updates Articles:  The Courier   ~   The Review-Times   ~   The Blade Fostoria learned that it will receive an $815,700 grant for the development of the Fostoria Rail Park .  The rail park will be located in an area in Fostoria known locally as "Iron Triangle" where more than 150 trains pass daily on three rail lines.      The grant funds will be used to construct a train viewing platform, a parking lot, a grassy area and eventually some restrooms at the more than five-acre site, a former junkyard.  Future plans may include two pavilions, a small kiosk and a mulch-covered walking trail.

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Grant puts rail park on track 

By SANDRA WHITTA
The Review-Times
Staff Writer

FOSTORIA — Ohio Department of Transportation got on board and awarded the city more than $800,000 in grant money for the Fostoria Iron Triangle Rail Park.

The $815,760 grant, which was announced Thursday, will roll in during the 2010-11 budget cycle to transform the former Boneyard into a park for rail enthusiasts.

"This will be a phenomenal boost to our local economy," Mayor John Davoli said, adding the park will increase tourism by providing a good place for people to come to town.

Several years ago the city got a $300,000 grant to clean up the Boneyard, a five-acre Brownfield site. It used that project as leverage for the ODOT grant. With the cleaning of the site almost complete, it is a perfect time for this grant to be awarded, Davoli said.

Although the money won't be received for several years, the extra time will allow the city to get all the funding in place and perfect the design.

"We want all kinds of public input," Davoli said, adding the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society will continue to be the driving force of the project and will help with the site's design.

Ellen Gatrell, secretary treasurer for the society, said she was thrilled to find out the city received the grant.

"It is fabulous that it happened. ODOT realized that this isn't a joke that this is something for real," Gatrell said.

The rail society helped with the grant application, which was put together by Hancock Regional Planning Commission, by creating a survey for rail fans who visit Fostoria in order to understand who the fans are and what they want. The survey provided information about where fans are located, how long they stay, where they eat and who they come with, Gatrell said.

"It proved there are real fans," she continued, adding the society collected more than 100 surveys that were then copied and included in the grant application.

Although no design has been set in stone, the three most important features are viewing observation platforms, restrooms and parking, Davoli said.

"Rail preservation is going to make sure whatever the engineer does is what a rail fan would want. A rail fan wants it simple," Gatrell said.

A lot of trees that would obstruct views and stadium seating that would make it hard to take photographs without getting a person in the shot are items that will not be seen at the park, she added.

The grant will provide for 80 percent of the $1 million project, while the city will be required to come up with a 20 percent match.

"That is a good problem to have," Davoli said, adding he has been working with city council, auditor and the preservation society to come up with ideas on how to get the match. Several options were formulated, which Davoli said he wasn't at liberty to discuss.

"We are expecting this to kind of blossom now. This is something the whole city can rally around," Davoli said, adding the city hopes to use the ODOT grant as leverage for the downtown development program since the park would be in the downtown district.

The park is also likely to boost the economy as more people will come to the area and spend money and the increased tourism will encourage restaurants, hotels and other businesses to come to the city, Davoli said.

"Fostoria is the Cedar Point of trains and what would Sandusky be if Cedar Point wasn't there? Fostoria has really got an opportunity to economically grow because of trains," Gatrell added.

A large banner will soon be posted at the Boneyard site announcing it as the future home of the rail park. Preliminary items like picnic benches are also being placed, Davoli said.

(compliments of The Review-Times, Fostoria, Ohio)

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Fostoria Wins Grant for Train Park

By JIM MAURER
The Courier
Staff Writer

FOSTORIA — Ellen Gatrell was the happiest person in Fostoria on Thursday afternoon. Her dream came true.

"It's absolutely wonderful," the secretary/treasurer of the Fostoria Rail Preservation Society (FRPS) said after Fostoria learned that it will receive an $815,700 grant to begin development of a visitors train park near the downtown. "It's exciting."

"We've been tooting the horn to people," Gatrell said about the effort to promote the city's train history.

About 150 trains pass through city daily on three different rail lines. Where those lines come together is known locally as the "Iron Triangle," and the park will be located within that area.

The grant funds will be used to construct a train viewing platform, a parking lot, a grassy area and eventually some restrooms at the more than five-acre site, a former junkyard.

Entrance to the park will be along Columbus Avenue.

Future plans include two pavilions, a small kiosk and a mulch-covered walking trail.

FRPS also has a former New York Central Railroad depot it wants to move to the site. A building remains on the property which also will have to be removed as part of the improvements.

A railroad museum, a hotel and a restaurant are also on the drawing board, but that would require acquiring additional land in the area and additional money.

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced Thursday that 13 projects will receive federal funds through the ODOT Transportation Enhancement Program, which provides funds to improve cultural, historical, aesthetic and environmental aspects of transportation infrastructure. The funds will be available in the 2010-11 federal budget cycle.

The city will have to provide 20 percent matching funds for the grant, or $163,152.

Generally, the federal funds are used for such projects as bike paths, pedestrian trails and streetscape (downtown infrastructure) improvements. The uniqueness of the Fostoria project probably helped to secure the funds, Gatrell said.

When Rick Perse, coordinator of the program at ODOT, visited the city in May to look over the former junkyard property on Columbus Avenue, he said the city's grant application, prepared by Lydia Mahalik, previously with the Hancock Regional Planning Commission, was the first such proposal received by ODOT District 2.

"It might take some broad-based thinking when we review this," he said at the time.

Apparently the reviewers liked what they saw, and now the city is in line to begin work on what will become "one of the anchors for downtown development," Gatrell said.

The timing of the announcement couldn't have been better, she added. FRPS has its annual rail festival scheduled for Sept. 22 in the downtown area. Prior to the festival, there will be portable toilets, picnic tables and temporary lighting installed at the future park site, she said, so visitors can get a first-hand look at the area.

"Now maybe people in town will start believing in what we're doing," Gatrell said about the efforts of FRPS.

"There's potential for long-term prosperity for the city," Mayor John Davoli said Thursday about the grant announcement, as the new park will improve the southern edge of the downtown area.

Also, tourists who come to the city to view trains will likely spend money while in Fostoria, the mayor noted.

"I see it as a true economic lift for the city," he added.

Funds will be allocated in the city's next two annual budgets to cover the matching funds, he said. The city may be able to use site preparation and development, already completed at the location, as part of the match.

(compliments of The Courier, Findlay, Ohio)

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Fostoria receives $815,760 federal grant toward 5-acre train park

FOSTORIA - Federal "transportation enhancement" funds will provide more than $800,000 toward converting an abandoned factory site in the city into a park where train enthusiasts may watch the 100 or more trains that traverse Fostoria on an average day, the Ohio Department of Transportation announced yesterday.

The $815,760 grant for the Fostoria Iron Triangle Visitors' Center represents the second-largest of 13 awards, exceeding $7.3 million statewide, that ODOT announced for the 2010-2011 budget cycle.

The announcement gives Fostoria a green light to plan for a viewing platform, restrooms, parking lots, and landscaping on the five-acre site bound primarily by three main railroad lines that pass through, and intersect in, the city, Mayor John Davoli said yesterday.

"We've been working on this for a long time," he said, crediting in particular the Hancock Regional Planning Commission for its assistance in preparing the grant application.

The city must provide 20 percent of the project's cost, or about $204,000 to match the entire grant.

Fostoria previously obtained, and has partially spent, a $300,000 federal grant to clean up old industrial sites and to pay for clearing the former factory site off Columbus Avenue . Mr. Davoli said the remains of the factory complex will be leveled by year's end.

While a nuisance for local residents, Fostoria 's busy rail activity attracts train buffs from across North America and even overseas. Especially during the warmer months, many congregate in a parking lot near the city's former Amtrak station, or on a gravel area along Columbus Avenue near two of the rail lines' intersection.

Mr. Davoli said he plans to visit train-watching parks built in other railroad "hot spots" to gather ideas for Fostoria 's facility.

compliments of the Toledo Blade  ~  Article published September 7, 2007

Fostoria Rail Preservation Society
PO Box 421   ~   Fostoria, Ohio 44830
ontrack@fostoriairontriangle.com  ~  419.435.1781