http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/1419061.shtml

WATERVILLE -- A raft of ideas to push the restoration of the Waterville's antique 470 steam engine has begun to emerge, as councilors voted unanimously on Tuesday to kickstart the project.

The first order of business: Donations and ideas to renovate the College Avenue landmark.

The project could get help from a bill moving through the Statehouse that would provide a portion of Gov. John E. Baldacci's $197 million bond package, according to City Administrator Michael J. Roy.

"The bond issue is important especially to the Head of Falls and potentially to Hathaway (the former shirt factory), and could be tied to the 470," Roy said. "The governor proposed $5 million. But the Maine Arts Commission and other groups presented an alternative of $25 million. If approved, that would bode well for the city."

Waterville would be able to draw on the $25 million bond issue for projects related to the "creative economy." Roy urged councilors to approach their state representatives to push for the commission's proposal.

It had initially appeared that central Maine had few projects that would benefit directly from the governor's bond package proposal. But efforts to promote a creative economy now may pay off for a city struggling to reinvent its landscape.

Meanwhile, negotiations with state and federal officials are moving along to forgive the city's debt on the Hathaway building, Roy said. If Head of Falls and the Hathaway development take off, they could tie in well with the push to restore the 470.

Among the ideas that have emerged are the possibility of moving the 470 from its current location to Head of Falls, said Gregory Brown, the city's representative on the seven-member 470 committee.

The idea is only one of dozens, he stressed. Another crucial one is to shelter the historic display.

"A shelter was proposed to cover the 470," Brown said in a memo to the council. "However, the current location, less than 30 feet from the working rail line, precludes constructing a building at this location. If a shelter were to be constructed, the 470 would have to be moved to a new location."

The committee, led by David Bolduc, has not set a fund-raising goal or any deadlines.

The city has about $2,400 set aside to fund the restoration. But the bill could eventually be far higher, which places fund raising as an urgent priority for the committee.

Ideas should be emailed to wtvl_470@ yahoo.com.

The engine was built in 1924 and given to the city in 1962. It made its last trip through Waterville in 1954; the engine has sat outdoors since then and fallen victim to weather and vandalism.

Chuin-Wei Yap -- 861-9253

cyap@centralmaine.com

How does this relate to the efforts that Richard Glueck previously discussed on this board? I haven't seen his name mentioned in the news regarding this project.

Tom Cornillie

Tom, Richard is the person who really got the ball rolling by writing to the mayor and appearing at a city council meeting -at which he was invited to speak by the mayor. I provided 8 X 10 glossy photos of the vandalism and also of some preservation "success stories" from around the country.

After that evening it is unclear to me what transpired -but things are happening and that can only be a good thing.

Stephen

City Enigneer Greg Brown has kept Richard Glueck out of the picture.
I wrote a certified letter to Mayor LePage wondering why I hadn't heard back from the city after the initial presentation I had made with Stephen Hussar's support. Dates for applications for critical grant monies were being passed, and nobody had shown interest in the project after the meeting. In reply, I received a letter from the City Administrator thanking me for the work I did and indicating that I was to be included in the project. Greg Brown was listed as being responsible to keep me involved. Mr. Brown did telephone me once in October, 2004, going on at gret length about making the locomotive operable, having Guilford run it, shop it, etc. I indicated to him that operating a locomotive like 470 was not only expensive, but problematic. Guilford was not interested in operations, nor spending money on the project. Insurance is a serious issue, and the boiler would require major work. Before anything was done, the locomotive should be inspected by a certified locomotive inspector/engineer. I cited the names of two who regularly post in this forum and who were gracious enough to contact me. Mr. Brown indicated that he could do a lot of that work! We parted by agreeing that restoration would move forward and that I would have a significant role in determining who would sit on the restoration committee, and probably sit as chairperson of the committee. After that- nothing. There were a number of railroad savvy people at the September meeting who would have made ideal committee members.
I found out only by accident, that Mr. Brown selected a committee on his own. It is unknown to me who is on the committee, or what experience they have in railroad preservation, or the realities involved in this whole process.
Let me say this: I am glad and grateful to all who have pushed to shelter and renovate the 470. The credit goes to you people more than to me. Any action is an improvement over 50 years of neglect. Since I am no longer a part of this effort (although my name is still being used in advertising) I can not vouch for the quality of the repair work or the final result. They type of renovation I envisioned would have cost about $150,000 for a static display. To operate her, I predicted a million dollars in renovations. The city has no money in public coffers to cover those costs, but perhaps Mr. Brown knows where these funds can be acquired.
My fear is that the locomotive will get broken parts cut off (again), repairs that are mortal to future restoration efforts, or a cow-catcher, red paint, and a balloon stack! Time will tell.
Again, I want to thank everyone, particularly Stephen Hussar, who supported the thrust to get the City of Waterville moving on preservation and renovation of Maine Central 470. We gave it our best shot, and now we take our chances.

Richard Glueck

Richard,

Thanks for the update. I hope that you will continue to pay close attention to this project as it evolves. Remember, because it is a public project you can provide oversight to point out where the committee is making less than optimal decisions. This is one advantage that is present with a public project - and simply is not possible with those involving privately owned items.

There has been a great deal of criticism of publicly supported projects on this board and elsewhere - but has anybody here tried to become involved in the project was in its formitive stages - when outside imput could have made a difference in the project's outcome?


Tom Cornillie