With winter rapidly approaching, government officials are stepping up efforts to find a more permanent, temporary station for Amtrak rail service passengers as they get on and off trains in Jefferson City.
At the start of the month, the historic Union Hotel building, which houses the station, was closed for a "thorough structural assessment," according to city and state officials.
Officials with Jefferson City, the Missouri Office of Administration and Department of Natural Resources said the decision to close the building was a precautionary measure to assure the safety of volunteers and visitors.
The building is owned by OA and managed in cooperation with DNR and Jefferson City.
"We had a structural engineer come in after we closed the building who did a preliminary assessment and said we needed to keep it closed," said Tiffany Patterson, director of the Missouri State Museum and Jefferson Landing State Historic Site. "He said it was not currently habitable."
Patterson 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 hotel, which was 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 proposal from the engineer is due sometime this week," Patterson said. "The main concern is the north wall, which is on the track side of the building. There is a bulge in the wall, and how we need to take care of that is still being determined."
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.
Jefferson City Operations Division Director Britt Smith said they have been looking at if other facilities in the area could handle the need, if they should go to a different location or if they could bring in a temporary trailer at the current site.
"We want to try and make accommodations better to make sure our guests feel welcome," Smith said. "There's a lot of moving pieces to make this come together. A facility has to be handicap accessible, and it has to have bathrooms. It's not as easy as you might think.
"I can't say enough about what the volunteers have done for the past 20 years at the station," Smith added. "They do light maintenance, and the city staff does more heavy cleaning, such as after storms. It's the volunteers who keep that place going. It's a labor of love for them."
Patterson said OA has offered a portion of a parking lot next to the Lohman Building, across Jefferson Street from the Union Hotel, in case the modular option is deemed the best solution.
"Anything that's done will have to take into consideration access to the train tracks," Patterson added.
The last major masonry repair was done at the hotel in the early 1970s, state officials said. The roof was replaced in 2017.
"State Parks leases the hotel property from OA," Patterson said. "According to the lease, Parks is responsible for maintaining the property. Budgets are tight, so we're still unsure where the money to pay for the repairs will come from."
The Missouri Department of Transportation is in charge of the Amtrak service in the state.
From July 1-Sept. 30, 8,439 passengers used the Jefferson City Amtrak station, according to figures from MoDOT and Amtrak. This compares to 9,535 for the same period last year - a 11.5 percent decrease. As a comparison, ridership statewide for the period was 43,866 this year versus 45,520 last year, a 3.6 percent decrease.
During this time period, there were several days Amtrak could not run trains due to floodwaters going over train tracks, transportation officials noted. Those who had tickets for Amtrak were bused to their destinations.
Jefferson City remains the fourth most used station in the state, behind Kansas City, St. Louis and Kirkwood.
MoDOT Administrator of Railroads Eric Curtit 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.
"No funds were ever budgeted, and no location was ever proposed," Curtit said. "The plan just acknowledged there's a need for a station. We just started work on a new plan, but I don't know how soon it will be completed."