DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., PLAZA

Greyhound’s move to train station nears

$500,000 renovation is under way

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza, into which Greyhound will move, was intended for that purpose when the port authority bought and renovated the building in the mid-1990s.

Electrical conduit and outlet boxes dangle from the ceiling in offices Amtrak formerly occupied in the western end of Toledo’s train station.

Conversion of roughly 600 square feet into a ticket counter, office, and freight room for Greyhound Lines, which is to move its local bus station into the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Plaza this spring, has begun.

In the coming weeks, construction of a Subway sandwich shop will start in an alcove and adjoining office next to the Amtrak ticket counter on the opposite side of the station’s ground-floor waiting room.

Amtrak operates four trains per day through Toledo, all with scheduled stops between 11:50 p.m. and 6:15 a.m. Toledo is a significant transfer point for Greyhound riders, with about two dozen buses on a combined six routes that stop in the city.

“Everything’s going to face into the waiting room,” Brian Perz, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority’s director of facilities and development services, said Friday during a facility tour.

The port authority is acting as its own general contractor for the project and has hired four firms for specialized construction: Jim Wing Plumbing for $20,300; Laibe Electric for $25,500; Toledo Tin Knockers for $4,800 for heating, cooling, and ventilation; and Rivereast Custom Cabinets for $14,600 for the ticket counter.

Once the weather warms up, another port contractor will build four bus bays along Emerald Avenue in front of the building, including a canopy resembling those over the station’s train platforms.

The total project is expected to cost the port authority about $500,000. As part of its 10-year lease, Greyhound will reimburse $212,000 of that cost over five years.

“We are excited to see this integration come to fruition,” said Paul Toth, the port authority’s president. 

“Greyhound’s relocation to the train station will now support a 24-7 multimodal operation, and will provide more transportation options for those making a connection through the station.”

Conversion of roughly 600 square feet into a ticket counter, office, and freight room for Greyhound Lines is under way. The project is expected to cost the port authority $500,000.

The space into which Greyhound will move was intended for that purpose when the port authority bought and renovated the building, then known as Central Union Terminal, in the mid-1990s.

But Greyhound at the time was locked into a long-term lease for its current bus station at Jefferson Avenue and Michigan Street downtown. 

Company officials also noted that bus bays built as part of that renovation required departing buses to back out into the street, which Greyhound doesn’t allow.

The new bus bays will be parallel to Emerald. 

One will be east of the station’s main entrance, while the other three will be west, with curb-front space at the door for public pick-ups and drop-offs.

A contract for the outdoor construction is to be presented to the port authority board March 24, Mr. Perz said.

The authority’s goal is for Greyhound to move in “sometime in May,” he said.

Toledo is a significant transfer point for Greyhound riders, with about two dozen buses on a combined six routes that stop in the city, so Greyhound was eager to have food service on site, Mr. Perz said.

The port authority is in negotiations with a Subway franchisee to operate the new sandwich stand.

“There’s a chance it will be open 24 hours, but I’m not sure,” Mr. Perz said.

Amtrak operates four trains per day through Toledo, all with scheduled stops between 11:50 p.m. and 6:15 a.m. 

Even when the station is open around the clock, Amtrak’s ticket counter will remain closed between 1:30 and 10:30 p.m.

Contact David Patch at: dpatch@theblade.com or 419-724-6094.