HELP WANTED

As an all volunteer organization, our ability to survive and prosper is totally dependant on attracting new memberships and new volunteers to donate their time and talents to do the many jobs we have.  On the last page of this newsletter is a membership/volunteer application form you can mail, fax or scan and email to us at csstreetcarfdn@aol.com.   Be sure not to include personal information such as credit card numbers if you use email to contact us, as email is not totally secure.

We need a Chief Executive Officer whose primary job would be recruiting members and fundraising for  the everyday operations of the foundation - raising capital for restoration of our cars and construction of the in-street system is separate.  This person could work part-time from home.  We are open to discussing a compensation arrangement based on performance.

Our volunteer needs include a webmaster (when we can bring the management of the website to the facility), a librarian (to maintain our library and filing system), a staff supervisor (to direct various maintenance and restoration tasks for our community service people), an events planner, a grants writer, an advertising/public relations specialist, a restoration assistant (to be trained in materials and restoration techniques for restoring and maintaining both our wooden and steel cars), as well as several tour guides and streetcar operators (who would be trained and available on specified days of the week). 

Contact me at 719-330-4746 or email me at csstreetcarfdn@aol.com with your interests and we'll arrange a meeting.  Dave Lippincott

March Singing Wire NewsLetter is OUT!!!

Hi Everyone! The latest news letter is out and available. Just email us if you'd like a copy sent to you!

Dear Friends and Supporters

 

In my December letter - emailed to you; if you don't recall reading it, please email me at csstreetcarfnn@aol..com and I can get you a copy - I mentioned we were moving ahead, but slowly.  That's still the case.

 

The Streetcar Task Force's next two projects will include contracts for an Alternatives Analysis, which will take the feasibility consultant's recommendations as to corridors where the system will run in its first phase, and ID specific streets, stops, car storage/maintenance facilities, and the number and types of vehicles that will be used.  It will evaluate routes for issues such as buried utilities, competing traffic, and potential for additional on-line real estate development, ridership development, tourist visitations, and the like.  Following that closely will be the environmental impact study as required by all Federally funded projects.

 

The Mountain Metro governance study and recommendations will be available for review by the new City Council and Mayor, after they take office following the elections.  At that juncture, we should have more clarity about how the proposed streetcar system will be structured and who the participants will be, and can proceed with locating appropriate funding sources and raising the required local matching monies. 

 

The Great Streets initiative involving improvements along S. Academy Blvd. has included streetcars along with bus rapid transit, as potential public transportation alternatives.  At this point, there are no funds identified for the project, but we are following the process closely to see if there are areas in which we could contribute.

 

As a non-profit foundation, we cannot support individual candidates, but I would urge our readers to evaluate for themselves, which candidates are willing to support projects of measurable benefits to our community, such as our proposed system.

 

A companion issue involves the continued availability of Federal funds, given the budget constraints being discussed in Washington at this writing.  It's clear that monies for transportation will be cut, but whether those cuts will be directed only at high-speed rail or across the spectrum is unclear.  At issue is whether we will be forced to find funds privately or through other foundations to build our system.

 

Another funding issue will have a direct and negative impact on our foundation; that of continuing funding of our 1901 LaClede streetcar restoration.  We are in the middle of completing the third of five proposed funding rounds, through the State Historical Fund, which should enable us to finish the body work on the wooden car.  (Greg Roberts has a companion article on his work on the car in this issue.)   Previously, work has been completed on frame stabilization and work on the motorized trucks, among other items. What will remain for future grants is the work on the electrical and hydraulic systems, the casting of seat frames, and some other minor issues, which are estimated to cost about $200,000., a good portion of which must be contracted out.  The State Historical Fund has notified us that the State Legislature has appropriated all the grant monies for this coming fiscal year for restoration of the Capitol dome, and in the future, cut back on grant applications from two to one per year.  Projections are that competition for SHS funds will be fierce, as a huge backlog of projects will build up. 

 

We had calculated that when completed, using all volunteer labor, the LaClede car restoration (which, until 1932, ran on the W. Colorado Avenue route), will have cost about half of the amount other streetcar restoration projects of its size and scope have cost other cities.  If any of our readers have an interest in sponsoring  the car, all or part over a three year period, to allow us to continue work on it, I would urge them to contact me at my above email address to visit with us and discuss the matter.

 

Lastly, I'd like to congratulate Greg Roberts, whose applications to the State Historical Society for state historical designations for our unrestored 1901 Brill convertible car and the almost completely restored 1919 Birney Safety Car, were approved in early February.  Hours of research about the historical nature of these cars went into the applications and the SHS committee approved both without dissent or requests for additional information.

 

Dave Lippincott