Jefferson City officials announced Monday they are working alongside the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Office of Administration and Department of Transportation to install a trailer to function as a temporary Amtrak station.
The trailer will be located in the visitor parking area of the state-owned parking lot 3, which is adjacent to the Lohman Building at Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. DNR donated the use of the trailer, and OA donated the use of the parking area.
The current Amtrak Station at Union Hotel has been closed for more than two months after a structural inspection of the 19th-century building determined there were significant structural problems.
The trailer has been delivered to the site, and this week crews from the Jefferson City Street Division will begin the process of connecting utilities for restrooms and constructing a handicap-accessible ramp for the entrance.
The temporary facility is expected to be in operation within the next two to three weeks.
The historic Union Hotel building is owned by OA and managed in cooperation with DNR and Jefferson City.
The hotel, built in 1855, is part of the Jefferson Landing State Historic Site and houses the Elizabeth Rozier Gallery and the Amtrak station waiting room.
A structural engineer did a preliminary assessment of the building after it closed in October, which indicated the hotel was not habitable.
Tiffany Patterson, director of the Missouri State Museum and Jefferson Landing State Historic Site, said they have contracted with the same engineer to do a short-term study on what could be done to shore up the building, as well as a long-term study.
The main concern remains the north wall of the hotel, which is on the track side of the building, she said. There is a bulge in the wall.
"We completed some selective demolition in the hotel on the interior finish, looking at masonry of the interior wall so the engineer can better look at it," Patterson said. "He should be back to do his inspection at the end of week, and we're not sure how long before his final report is done, but we can't make plans to move forward until that report is done."
Amtrak service and customer parking has not been disrupted. Amtrak customers have been waiting for their trains at an outdoor tent, and there are portable toilets nearby.
The last major masonry repair was done at the hotel in the early 1970s, state officials said. The roof was replaced in 2017.
Missouri State Parks leases the hotel property from OA and is responsible for maintaining the property, DNR officials said.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is in charge of the Amtrak service in the state.
Jefferson City remains the fourth most used Amtrak station in the state, behind Kansas City, St. Louis and Kirkwood.
MoDOT officials said recommendations for Jefferson City in the last state rail plan, released in 2012, included installation of a third main track and construction of a new station for Amtrak passengers, which was estimated to cost $11 million. However, no funds were ever budgeted and no location was ever proposed.