BARTA is seeking ideas from engineering firms on the best way to renovate the vacant Franklin Street Station.

Once awarded, such an engineering study would be the first step in restoring the historical facility, which served as a Reading Railroad station until 1981, when passenger service ended in the city.

BARTA acquired the station in 2005, and performed some repairs, including securing the building and patching the roof. The transit agency has not made any substantial improvements to the structure since.

An engineering study would fulfill the requirements of a $1.5 million federal grant BARTA received several years ago toward renovating and reopening the station, said Dennis D. Louwerse, BARTA's executive director.

The study, which is expected to cost $200,000, will develop a design for interior improvements and prepare an environmental impact statement.

The former train station consists largely of a passenger waiting room with a 26-foot-high ceiling, a baggage area and a luncheonette.
Louwerse hopes the interior space can remain as close to the original as possible, and that BARTA will be able to lease the lunch counter.

The Franklin Street Station could one day play a key role in an R-6 rail extension, a proposal to restore passenger train service between Reading and Norristown.

BARTA board member Lawrence A. Greene Jr. said he hopes the agency has other uses in mind in case the R-6 extension doesn't happen.

Louwerse is confident BARTA will have a use for the station.

And board member Michael Roeberg said that no matter what the station eventually is used for, BARTA must spruce up the structure.

"If the train never comes, we still have made an improvement to downtown and removed that blight," he said.