Restoration
A number of businesses use the headhouse, while the United States Postal Service has been using the rear train concourse as a staging area for semi-trailer trucks serving the neighboring Downtown St. Paul Central Post Office. During the restoration, the USPS moved most of the truck operations to a bulk mail processing center in Eagan, Minnesota, making way for rehabilitation of the depot as a rail hub.
In June 2009, the Ramsey County Board approved purchasing the depot headhouse for $8.2 million, to serve as a Central Corridor light rail station and for future passenger rail use. The purchase paved the way for a $150 million restoration effort which is expected to return trains to the station in 2012.
Demolition of the Postal Service building that blocked track access to the concourse began in mid-March 2011.
The entire renovation project will cost about $237.5 million, of which $35 million will be provided by the US government through the TIGER program. As the multimodal transportation hub is being retooled, public tours will be returning to the St. Paul Union Depot as well.
Read more about this topic: Saint Paul Union Depot
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