So What Happens Next at Santa Fe Depot?

“That’s the question being asked following my story today about the $13.6 million federal grant announced for conversion of the Santa Fe Depot into a transit hub. It’s huge news, and it coincided with the city getting a favorable ruling from court commissioners on an eminent domain filing against the Brewer family, which owns the depot.

I gave all the details I had on the grant. But when it came to the eminent domain matter, well, it got left on the editing desk. Here’s the basic gist before I reprint what I wrote – I fully expect the depot to be acquired by the city by late October at the latest.
Now for what got cut. First, some history.

The Santa Fe train depot was boarded up when President Jimmy Carter ended Amtrak passenger rail service to Oklahoma in 1979. The train station was repeatedly vandalized, the ceiling caved in, and the depot became an eyesore in the next 20 years.”

read the entire article

Lackmeyer, Steve. News OK 6 September 2013.