Railroad 'eyesore' may be razed

A piece of Salt Lake City's railroading past is threatened by the city's imminent railroad of the future, the commuter-rail line that begins operation on Saturday.
    A rusting freight dock and warehouse that was the portal for produce, mattresses and more shipped to Salt Lake merchants nearly a century ago is slated for demolition. It sits next to the new hub that serves buses and the Front Runner trains that will run between Ogden and Salt Lake City. The building shares its history with the refurbished transit hub next door, and downtown enthusiasts had big hopes for a similar rebirth until the Utah Transit Authority filed for a demolition permit from the city.
    "It's a little bit of an eyesore," UTA board President Orrin Colby said. The agency wants to remove it to build something that complements FrontRunner, whether it be a retail outlet, a bike-rental center or a parking lot, he said.
    The move shocked historic preservationists who had envisioned a bike center or a public market reinvigorating the historic structure. The remnant building was once a single unit with the transit hub itself, which now mixes the old with the new by retaining the former loading bays but enclosing them with glass and shiny new metal.
    City officials asked UTA to hold off on demolition, and now they have six weeks to find an investor.
    "My bias is always toward preserving historic structures," Mayor Ralph Becker said.
    It could be a bike-commuter center, a public market or a retail center, he said. And the city could put up some money or a loan.
    "Structurally it's in poor shape, but it's still part of the cultural fabric of our community," Becker said.
    UTA determined it would cost $5 million to $6 million to fix the 17,000-square-foot building.
    Anyone filing out of the double-decker FrontRunner cars and onto TRAX light rail would notice the stark difference between the brightly refurbished hub and its forlorn cousin. Mesh-covered windows in the abandoned building are broken, and the corrugated steel on the bay overhangs have rusted. The sight could put off some people riding the new trains, Colby said.
    Utah Heritage Foundation executive director Kirk Huffaker sees the city's pioneering story in the steel beams and concrete truck platforms. They echo what happened all over the Gateway District when the railroads displaced quiet residential blocks with blue-collar workers.
    "The distinctiveness of the Gateway District is really built into this building, Huffaker said.
    On a tour of downtown last week to critique Salt Lake City architecture, Chicago Tribune critic Blair Kamin raved about the 1910 freight house.
    "It's got good bones," he said. "This building is great."
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    * DEREK JENSEN contributed to this story.