It’s Morning Edition on KRPS; I’m Fred Fletcher-Fierro.
53 years. The time since the last train leftJoplin’s Union Depot on November 4, 1969, ending 58 years of train service. The structure, owned by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, has deteriorated and now sits windowless, covered in graffiti behind a chain link fence. KRPS's Fred Fletcher-Fierro tells us that with the help of two professors outside of Missouri, a community group is accepting ideas to give the Depot a new life.
What do you do with a nearly 112-year-old building that has not been occupied in over 50 years? Members of the Downtown Joplin Alliance are trying to answer that question. Recently they held an open meeting, where more than 70 residents turned out to Chaos Brewing Company to brainstorm ideas regarding the future of the Depot.Pat Crawford of South Dakota State University School of Design ran the meeting with her colleague, Sabrine Martin, from Kansas State University. Crawford explains how the DJA and Union Depot were selected for this unique project at no cost.
“Some of it was, especially the video they had of the building, and the space and the architecture, it just had this historic feel and character that was, while we wanted to be a part of what can that place be.”
The Alliance applied for the Technical Assistance to Brownfields Program or TAB at Kansas State University.The program provides free assistance to communities and other stakeholders with brownfields redevelopment efforts. Crawford was there with eight students from the five majors of South Dakota State's School of Design. She partnered with K-State Sabrine Martin on their first project in Kansas last year.
“It was with Arkansas City. And they were looking at downtown revitalization, so it was not a specific site like you have here in Joplin, but they were looking at the entire downtown.”
Part of the work session included residents sharing their Depot ideas. They included a multi-purpose community center with a coffee shop and art studios. Others thought the Depot would be the perfect spot for an updated local history museum. Another idea shared was that it would be a good location for a new grocery store. South Dakota State's Pat Crawford sees something else.
“What jumps out is the notion of opportunity. So there are so many things that it can be, just as the physical structure, many, many options, but now with the economic development study, the feasibility study, getting input from the citizens. The question now is what’s right for Joplin.”
Economic viability of any project at the Depot is likely the highest priority. Also, Crawford highlighted some of the studies that must be completed before any project gets underway. At the meeting, Downtown Joplin Alliance Executive Director, Lori Haun, said a structural analysis of the building determined it was in good shape. An environmental study is underway and will be completed this spring. K-State's Sabine Martin highlights the unique needs of projects like the Depot.
“We don’t know yet, because these redevelopment projects, they take some time because you need to find the financial needs to do it. You need to stitch it together.”
According to Martin, working on an old building or an entire downtown, like their project in Arkansas City, Kansas, last year, takes considerably more time to figure out and find suitable development.
“So the idea there, they had some vacancies downtown, entire buildings, sometimes a storefront to attract people to move in, physically like as residents, cause they have a small college in town too, so they were thinking of remodeling the upper stories for student housing, or for people with more means, a little bit more fancy. So that’s what they are working towards. And I know for a fact that at least one of the buildings downtown sold in the meantime.”
Martin says that work sessions like the one held by the DJA create publicity and bring out civic-minded residents. It's also a learning environment for the eight sophomores and juniors from South Dakota State who view the over 100-year-old structure and bring fresh ideas. Crawford says working with the students is also,
“They keep you on your toes, they do, they do. But they have fun ideas, and their, they engage in some much energy, and the way they work across disciplines and work with each other is really nice.”
The students, two professors, over 70 residents, engineers, and staff at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Downtown Joplin Alliance convey the formation of specialty and passion it will take to recreate and resurrect the Depot. Regardless of the outcome or how long it takes, Pat Crawford of SDSU says projects like it have allowed her School of Design students to learn about Joplin's history and recreate an essential building for its future.
“In the real world, that is how we work, yes, and so, as a director of the school, it was important to me to be able to provide some of those opportunities to the students so that they. You know they’ll spend four years learning their major, being highly skilled at their discipline, whether it’s graphic design or landscape architecture, but sometimes how do you then learn to work with others?”
According to the Downtown Joplin Alliance Union Depot, proposals for developers will be ready by this summer. It’s currently listed on commercial property websites.
