John Gurda gives us the history of the rise, fall and resurrection of grand train stations in Milwaukee, and how right he is to sing the praises of the gorgeous Amtrak and inter-city bus station that has replaced the eyesore that used to stain St. Paul Ave. downtown.
We met out-of-town friends there last weekend, and all of us could bately believe our eyes.
I'm convinced that this so-called multi-modal station will add light and commuter rail lines in the next few years.
When that happens, passengers with good long-term memories will wonder why it took so long to replace the ugly building and also to add the most modern of rail upgrades.
I agree it's a great facility. However, driving by it a few days after the ribbon-cutting, our l1-year old said, "Intermodal? That was the best they could do?"
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we could it named after Zeidler?
I agree that multimodal is jargon. It could have simply been the Milwaukee Transit Station, but bureaucracies rule.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that with the Zeidler reading room at the downtown library, the park behind the Grand Ave., and the City Hall Annex, the Zeidler name won't be added to more sites.
It's a nice thought, though.