City rules derail Plymouth museum's plans to buy a caboose
Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2018 12:28 am
CSXT 903261 has been based in Plymouth since at least the late 90s....
City rules derail Plymouth museum's plans to buy a caboose
Brad Kadrich, Hometownlife.com Published 9:31 a.m. ET June 14, 2018
https://www.hometownlife.com/story/life ... 693494002/
An effort by Plymouth Historical Museum officials to obtain a piece of what everyone agrees is a representative piece of Plymouth life — a working train caboose — could get stalled on the tracks by city ordinances.
The museum's executive director, Liz Kelley Kerstens, said CSX has offered to sell the museum one of two cabooses currently sitting in the train yard in Plymouth, to display at the museum.
Kerstens said the plan would be to display the caboose in front of the museum — the only space available on-site — and make it available for observation and tours. Considering anyone who has lived in Plymouth for any length of time knows all about trains, Kerstens believes it would be a huge draw and a big boost to the museum's presence.
"Cabooses are going away, no one is using them anymore and this has a lot of history in Plymouth," Kerstens said.
The caboose is functional, although it needs work. The outside needs repainting and the inside needs some upholstery work and a good amount of cleanup.
The caboose, complete with cupola, weighs some 55,000 pounds, is 38 feet long, 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall.
CSX doesn't use a caboose any longer and will likely auction off the two sitting in its Plymouth yard, Kerstens said, unless the museum takes one.
Mike Woloszyk, the museum's marketing director, said the caboose would likely be a "big draw" for the museum.
"We're a train city," Woloszyk said. "It'll be a draw. People will obviously notice it (sitting in front of the museum). It's an eye-opener. And with people coming to see the caboose, they'll get a chance to see the museum. It'd be fun."
The problem? City ordinances won't allow the display. Community development director John Buzuvis said the caboose would be considered an "accessory building," which isn't allowed in the front of a building.
After talking with everyone from the building official to City Manager Paul SIncock, Buzuvis said he "couldn't find anything" that would allow the display.
"It's the precedent," Buzuvis said. "If we let them have a caboose, then when other groups want something, we've set a precedent."
With no space anywhere else on-site at the museum, there are a couple of options:
One is putting the caboose somewhere off-site, such as behind the PARC property across the street. But Kerstens pointed out that would make it difficult to maintain and awkward for sponsoring tours.
"There are other places it could go, but it would be hard for us to maintain it and to give tours," Kerstens said.
Another options is for a variance to the ordinance. That would require the request to meet several criteria, including proving a "hardship" to the museum if the request is denied, something both Kerstens and Buzuvis agree is likely to happen if a variance is requested.
Buzuvis has been working with Dave Latawiec, a member of the museum's board of directors, who seemed resigned to the idea a variance would be denied.
"Everyone is very interested in the caboose," Latawiec said. "It's a matter of finding a place for it."
For now, Kerstens and her team are still examining ways to make it happen. Kerstens deeply believes it would add greatly to the museum's visibility.
"Cabooses are a thing of the past," Kerstens said. "When I was a kid, I couldn't wait for the caboose to wave at the guy on the back of the train. Cabooses have a very romantic past."
___City rules derail Plymouth museum's plans to buy a caboose
Brad Kadrich, Hometownlife.com Published 9:31 a.m. ET June 14, 2018
https://www.hometownlife.com/story/life ... 693494002/
An effort by Plymouth Historical Museum officials to obtain a piece of what everyone agrees is a representative piece of Plymouth life — a working train caboose — could get stalled on the tracks by city ordinances.
The museum's executive director, Liz Kelley Kerstens, said CSX has offered to sell the museum one of two cabooses currently sitting in the train yard in Plymouth, to display at the museum.
Kerstens said the plan would be to display the caboose in front of the museum — the only space available on-site — and make it available for observation and tours. Considering anyone who has lived in Plymouth for any length of time knows all about trains, Kerstens believes it would be a huge draw and a big boost to the museum's presence.
"Cabooses are going away, no one is using them anymore and this has a lot of history in Plymouth," Kerstens said.
The caboose is functional, although it needs work. The outside needs repainting and the inside needs some upholstery work and a good amount of cleanup.
The caboose, complete with cupola, weighs some 55,000 pounds, is 38 feet long, 10 feet wide and 15 feet tall.
CSX doesn't use a caboose any longer and will likely auction off the two sitting in its Plymouth yard, Kerstens said, unless the museum takes one.
Mike Woloszyk, the museum's marketing director, said the caboose would likely be a "big draw" for the museum.
"We're a train city," Woloszyk said. "It'll be a draw. People will obviously notice it (sitting in front of the museum). It's an eye-opener. And with people coming to see the caboose, they'll get a chance to see the museum. It'd be fun."
The problem? City ordinances won't allow the display. Community development director John Buzuvis said the caboose would be considered an "accessory building," which isn't allowed in the front of a building.
After talking with everyone from the building official to City Manager Paul SIncock, Buzuvis said he "couldn't find anything" that would allow the display.
"It's the precedent," Buzuvis said. "If we let them have a caboose, then when other groups want something, we've set a precedent."
With no space anywhere else on-site at the museum, there are a couple of options:
One is putting the caboose somewhere off-site, such as behind the PARC property across the street. But Kerstens pointed out that would make it difficult to maintain and awkward for sponsoring tours.
"There are other places it could go, but it would be hard for us to maintain it and to give tours," Kerstens said.
Another options is for a variance to the ordinance. That would require the request to meet several criteria, including proving a "hardship" to the museum if the request is denied, something both Kerstens and Buzuvis agree is likely to happen if a variance is requested.
Buzuvis has been working with Dave Latawiec, a member of the museum's board of directors, who seemed resigned to the idea a variance would be denied.
"Everyone is very interested in the caboose," Latawiec said. "It's a matter of finding a place for it."
For now, Kerstens and her team are still examining ways to make it happen. Kerstens deeply believes it would add greatly to the museum's visibility.
"Cabooses are a thing of the past," Kerstens said. "When I was a kid, I couldn't wait for the caboose to wave at the guy on the back of the train. Cabooses have a very romantic past."