The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-26
.FULENWIDER TALKS
ABOUT DEPOT SITE
thinks Present Location made
quate for Present or Future
DANGER OF ACCIDENTS
Station on Twenty-sixth Street Would
Do Away With the Fatal Death
Trap at the Twentieth
Street Crossing.
DANGER OF ACCIDENTS

pressed his views on the location of the
new Union passenger station. The ques-
ton is being discussed in Birmingham
now more than any other, and Mr.. Full
enwider has carefully studied it and is
probably in better position than any one
else to understand the merits and de-
merits of the proposed site on Twenty
sixth street and Fourth and Fifth ave-
nues.
Following is the statement he made
yesterday:
1.-THE present depot is confessedly too
small to serve the community now. l
understand that the owners have de-
olined to expend the sum necessary to
enlarge that depot to meet the present
demands. l have grave doubts, more
over, even If the depot were enlarged,
whether it would not be necessary in
very few years to have another location,
any way.
with addition of the Illinois Central
to the railroads now entering Birming-
ham, there must be more facilities for the
handling of passengers. This Will re-
auire a larger area, l think, than Is avail
able at the present location, and. enter
tanning these views, ! believe the wise
thing is to select another site of sufficient
area to accommodate the business of the
future.
Avenues Must Not Be Closed.
while I have these views as to the
location of the depot, l am fixed in the
opinion that most serious injury would
be done to the city if any of the ave-
nues to be covered by the proposed sta
ton are allowed to be closed. The expan-
sion of the city eastward is bound to be
rapid and great if the depot Is located
on Twenty sixth street To cut of one
or more of these avenue of approach
would do incalculable harm to Birming-
ham and the Realty company, whose IN
terests | represent, and / would feel call
ed upon both as citizen and as presi-
dent of this company, to oppose to the
extent of my ability the closing of these
avenues. My position in this respect en-
braces another, which is the necessity for
an entrance into the depot on its eastern
de and it should certainly be provided
for in the plans for construction.
Clears the Ground.
before l go any further" said Mr..
Fulenwider, 81 want to make several
things clear.
I'm the first place, the Birmingham
Realty company does not own a foot of
ground between Twentieth street and the
proposed site of the new depot. 1t has
not sold the railroads dollars worth
of property, nor does it expect to sell
them any IL the depot is located on
Twenty-sixth street; whereas, should the
union passenger station be removed be-
low Eighteenth street, as many have
suggested, we would probably sell the
railroads a quarter of a million dollars
worth of property.
Furthermore, an inspection of maps
will show that our holdings are in all of
the outlying districts and the retention
of the union passenger station at its pres
eth site would be more in line with our
interests than removal to any quarter.
'These being the facts, my express
sion of approval of the Twenty-sixth
street Site subject to the fulfllment of
the conditions 1 have named Is that of a
citizen who Is interested In the growth
of Birmingham as a whole.
Ever-Increasing Menace.
mo thoughtful person will deny that
there are grave objections to the con-
tinuance of the union passenger station on
its present site. The site as l have al
ready said Is too restricted to permit of
the expansion of the station I'm propor-
ton to the growth of the city and the
consequent increase In passenger traffic.
But paramount to this and all other con-
siderations Is the constant menace to
life and limb at that point, at which
tracks are 50 thick and where passenger
and freight trains and switch engines
are moving almost every minute of the
day and far into the night. Smoke from
the numerous engines affects vision and
the changing of bells and the rumble of
cars dsturbs the equilibrium of the
nerves. The location of the Twentieth
street crossing is a hazardous thing to
the pedestrian. The peril Is perhaps
g. { alter to occupants of vehicles and pas
sengers In street cars. 1t is human 10
err, and there is the ever-present posi-
bility Of nagmen giving the wrong sig
nal or of a misleading Of the signals
hy the impatient throngs The fact that
there has not been an awful catastrophe
at that crossing Is something beyond the
Ia vs. OF cause and effect. The horror will
come, whether today, tomorrow or In the
distant future, no one can say, but we
all feel that 1t must come, and that when
L does fate will add heavy interest to
the collection Of its debt. The danger
shere is not only imminent but 1t will
INCREASE as the population of Birming-
ham grows more dense.
THE removal of the station below
Einhteenth street Will not mend the situ-
alton. On the contrary, j believe that it
would be aggravated
viaduct Too Costly.
"Of course this menace could be les
sened to a very great degree by the con-
struction of viaduct. But the cost of
il, including damages paid to owners of
AUDITING property, would probably ex-
coed tina, sntailed by the erection of
first class passenger station in some other
portion of the city. While the owners
Of abutting property might be fully COM
pensated for their individual losses, that
much of Twentieth street would become
dead practically, and injury would be
inflicted upon the city. for Birmingham
cannot afford to throw away any or us
business area.
IT think the railroads considered these
matters very carefully. and in proposing
to locate the station on Twenty-sixth
street they had in view the effect upon the
future development OF the city as well as
their own traffic requirements. And
don't think I am mistaken when l say