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No Comments [ Add Comment ]FrontRunner Whistles
By SCOTT SCHWEBKERail station opens community's doors
OGDEN -- As a shrill whistle from a massive red, white and blue FrontRunner train punctuated the cool morning air, city officials Friday enthusiastically unveiled whimsical benches, wind screens and hand railings gracing the city's new downtown commuter rail station.
The station at 23rd Street and Wall Avenue, along with its four steel benches that resemble objects used in outdoor sports -- such as skis, ropes, fishing poles, and kayak paddles -- should sit well with FrontRunner passengers, Mayor Matthew Godfrey said during a brief ceremony.
"It opens the door to invite people up and down the Wasatch Front to visit Ogden," Godfrey said, adding the commuter rail station's thematic approach toward promoting outdoor recreation will help drive the local economy.
The benches, wind screens and hand railings also double as public art and set the station apart from other stops along the FrontRunner's 38-mile route between Ogden and Salt Lake City, said Steve Meyer, commuter rail manager for the Utah Transit Authority.
Meyer, who rode the FrontRunner to attend Friday's unveiling ceremony, said he was awed by the approach into Ogden. "The view coming into Ogden is the best in the corridor," he told spectators at the event.
Dubbed "Art in Transit," the benches, wind screens and hand railings were commissioned by the Ogden Arts Committee and funded by two $50,000 grants from the city and UTA.
The city's allocation is from a program that earmarks 1 percent of the costs of capital improvement projects to fund public art.
Richard Scott, chairman of the Ogden Arts Committee, described the benches, wind screens and hand railings as functional and a fitting tribute to the city's railroad heritage and burgeoning reputation as an outdoor recreation hub.
Rafe Ropek, an artist from Berthoud, Colo. who created the benches, windscreens and railings said he enjoyed incorporating elements of the Ogden and Weber rivers along with local outdoor recreation amenities into his work.
The two windscreens are 40 feet long and 10 feet wide. Each features a large abstract computer-enhanced image sandwiched between tempered glass depicting the convergence of the Ogden and Weber rivers.
Hand railings at the station continue the river theme with steel elements and strong graphic representations of water cascading downhill.
Ropek made the benches through traditional blacksmithing techniques to highlight Ogden's railroad roots. The benches are green, blue, white and red to reflect the four seasons.
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