NORMAL, Ill. – Federal and state officials joined representatives of the Town of Normal and Amtrak today to ceremonially break ground for a Multimodal Transportation Center that will serve as a station for Amtrak rail and motorcoach passengers, local transit buses and will include a multi-level parking structure.
In February 2010, Normal received a $22 million Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
With this grant in place, the estimated $43.3 million multimodal center project was completely funded. Money was also obtained from Federal Transit Administration (FTA) grants, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grants, and bonds issued by Normal. A rendering of the station is above.
“The Town is very proud of the fact that this project is the very first to begin actual construction, of all of the projects nationally that received U.S. Department of Transportation funding through the TIGER Program,” said Mayor Chris Koos.
The building will be on a traffic circle that is the new focal point of Uptown Normal.
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff and Cong. Debbie Halvorson, along with Mayor Koos and Amtrak Board Chairman Tom Carper, participated in the ceremony.
