WINSTON-SALEM -- Winston-Salem's Union Station is a step closer to becoming a transportation depot once again. City leaders broke ground Thursday on renovations of the 90-year-old building.
After 10 years of trying to figure out how to make the old Union Station flourish once again, Winston-Salem leaders are moving toward to seeing its doors reopen. City council member Derwin Montgomery has been part of the process for six years.
"It's really one of those things where you take a vision and have it on paper,” said Montgomery, “Now, we're actually getting to a place where we're going to start touching it and seeing it come to life."
The building has been many things since its construction in 1926. However, for the last several years, it's lay empty falling apart. Now the city will transform it into a regional transportation terminal.
Mayor Allen Joines said he’s excited for the future of the station.
"It will be a multi-mobile facility with buses, taxis and eventually rail service coming in right here where there used to be a rail station,” said Mayor Joines.
It won't just be a transportation hub in the area. It will also house several DOT offices and spaces for retail.
"Hoping, one, that we're going to see increased uses of different types of transportation,” said Montgomery. “But even greater, the economic impact along this community, around Winston-Salem and along MLK."
The $18.3 million for the project comes from limited obligation bonds.
"So basically, you're borrowing money against the building itself. It's secured by that,” said Mayor Joines. “The city's credit rating is so high that we'll be able to borrow money at probably 2 percent or less."
Mayor Joines expects the renovations to take several years to complete.