Did Connelsville PA Train Station really cost 1.25 Million?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connellsvi ... ite_note-1
accoriding to the Pittsburgh Trib it did
here is the actual station-
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5021/5756 ... 1419_z.jpg
now for 1.2 mill I could certanly get a fine crib to live in.

From the http://www.greatamericanstations.com/St ... ation_view

The Capitol Limited glides along the east bank of the Youghiogheny River before reaching Connellsville where travelers wait at a shelter erected by Amtrak in the winter of 2011. In addition to the new building, a 550 foot concrete platform with tactile edging, accessible parking stalls, improved signage, and light standards were also installed at a total cost of $1.25 million. The project was funded through Amtrak’s Mobility First initiative under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Sounds about right to me.

Gil, known as Bill somedays ...

My guess is the $1.25M includes things like the parking lot, platform (which simply coordinating construction around live train movements can be a pain) and more.

Whether $1.25M is reasonable or not is hard to say, but I suspect it's paying for a lot more than in that photo.

reddcapp wrote:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connellsvi ... ite_note-1
accoriding to the Pittsburgh Trib it did
here is the actual station-
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5021/5756 ... 1419_z.jpg
now for 1.2 mill I could certanly get a fine crib to live in.

If the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review stated that the station cost that much, is there something you have learned that gives reason to doubt its journalistic integrity?

Some things are shockingly expensive for what they are.

Take a surface parking lot. No idea how many stalls this particular station has, but using a rule of thumb:

25 stalls * $7,000 a stall = $175,000 for the parking lot alone (including drainage, lighting, paint etc).

Here is what most people don't understand. Things like the Connelsville Train Station aren't wastefully expensive, it is more that things like modern family houses are astonishingly cheap. That train station is built from solid materials that must stand up to not only the elements, but also vandalism and abuse. It probably has a real human architect design it and its surroundings and part of the design process was making sure it could last through the years without a lot of maintenance. A modern house is made from Tyvek, dry wall, vinyl siding and the cheapest Carolina pine available. It is built on spec and thrown up by illegal immigrant labour. They don't do too well if you leave them unattended.

The cost of living in a developed country that is not Upton Sinclair's Jungle means that anything that requires skilled human intervention (like stonework or design) will have a hat-fly-off price tag. It's the same process driving college and healthcare costs.

1. Thats a really nice looking "shelter". Sure beats the old Amshacks.

2. I do public construction for a living and if a newspaper asks what something costs- they want the total cost, since it's the most understandible to the readership, from start to finish. That's land, architect/engineering fees, permits, actual construction, oversite and inspection, not to mention in this case the extra costs for being next to an active RR track. I am surprised that this station only cost $1.25M.

matthewsaggie wrote:1. Thats a really nice looking "shelter". Sure beats the old Amshacks.

2. I do public construction for a living and if a newspaper asks what something costs- they want the total cost, since it's the most understandible to the readership, from start to finish. That's land, architect/engineering fees, permits, actual construction, oversite and inspection, not to mention in this case the extra costs for being next to an active RR track. I am surprised that this station only cost $1.25M.

Wouldn't labor and materials (especially labor) have a say in that price tag as well? Can tend to get very expensive.

Seems to be the new Amshack replacement design: Beaumont Enterprise Article 1

The new Beaumont station - paid for with federal stimulus money - is a variation of the design other cities are getting, Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said.

Some of those designs have lavatories; others don't.

It all depends on ridership levels. Beaumont's low passenger count means the new facility - without restrooms - meet's Amtrak standards, Magliari said.

Article 2: Article and pictures of the completed station today

Shame they couldn't include some architectural elements that call back to the old Amshacks