AUBURN — Councilors could vote Monday on putting a new downtown Auburn bus station and transportation center in Great Falls Plaza.

Councilors are scheduled to consider a resolution that would move the proposed bus station away from Hannaford supermarket to the parking lot across from the Auburn Housing Authority’s Esplanade Apartments.

Monday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. with a discussion concerning two new Tax Increment Finance Districts designed to benefit two industrial parks in the southern part of the city.

The regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m and includes a vote on the downtown transportation center.

The Lewiston Auburn Transit Committee and the city have set aside about $500,000 for the center. That includes federal grant money and city Tax Increment Finance revenue set aside for downtown economic development.

The station would be about 1,500 square feet, with room for a warm seating area, two public restrooms and a break area for drivers.

Original plans put the station alongside a proposed Great Falls Plaza garage in the parking lot near the Auburn Esplanade and Hilton Garden Inn.

That garage was not built, however, and the transit committee moved the hub for Auburn’s bus traffic to Spring Street, near Hannaford, with potential site plans and building designs being released earlier this year.

Complications with Spring Street land ownership convinced the city to move the center back to Great Falls Plaza.

staylor@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link