New Greyhound terminal breaks ground on Kearney

by Melissa Wilson

SBJ Staff

The fastest dog in America won't pay any more visits to downtown Springfield as of early 2000.

The Greyhound bus terminal building at 803 E. St. Louis, which Greyhound leases from Delaware-based Transportation Realty Income Partners LP, is in the process of being condemned and will be demolished in February along with several other downtown buildings to make way for Civic Park. Greyhound Lines Inc. broke ground in September for a new $1.19 million bus terminal and office at 2425 E. Kearney, according to Bruce McMahon, Greyhound's project manager for the new terminal.

Branco Enterprises in Neosho is the general contractor for the project and Randall Scott Architects in Dallas is responsible for the design.

"The new building will be very attractive, with glass at one end and a circle drive for the buses to pull around the building back into the street," Terminal Manager Sandie Vaughan said. "It's going to be much different than even the newer Greyhound terminals in other cities."

Vaughan said the Canadian company that bought Greyhound Lines Inc. in March, Laidlaw Inc., plans to phase out Greyhound's leased bus terminals across the country, such as the St. Louis Street location, which Greyhound has leased since the '70s.

"Greyhound has used a lot of leased areas, which restricts what the company can do with the terminal, especially as far as repairs go. The company will own this new building, and if something needs to be done, we can take care of it. That's the part I'll like," Vaughan said.

The commercial sales office, which Vaughan said is the only one of its kind for Greyhound in the United States, will also move to the new building.

The commercial sales office sells contracts to "major trucking companies, railroads companies where the employees travel a lot to get to a job. (The commercial sales office) put(s) us on the map a little more," Vaughan said.

Vaughan said the Springfield terminal, which serves 14 schedules a day, is a major transfer point for passengers traveling to the West and South, and the proximity of the new terminal to I-44 and U.S. 65 was definitely a factor in the relocation.

"This (new location) will save wheel time. Wheel time is very important it's the time it takes the driver to get to the terminal from the highway. Going through the city and fighting traffic, that'll kill them at 5 o'clock so the location is a major attribute," Vaughan said.

The new terminal will relocate about 15 terminal employees and 21 employees from the sales office. An additional two or three employees will be added to staff the new terminal, according to Vaughan and Jacqueline Uckele, director of commercial sales. Thirteen drivers will use the new facility.

Vaughan said she has not yet been informed if the new terminal will provide additional schedules, but she said there is a possibility more schedules will be added after the relocation. She said she has seen an upswing in bus travel because of Greyhound's special offers on ticket prices in the last five years, so the demand for more options in bus travel is everywhere.

"We are hoping for more schedules ... the schedules are bid for and are set up at a certain time of the year, so it will be spring or early summer 2000 before we know if we'll have more runs," Vaughan said.

Greyhound Lines Inc. has more than 13,000 employees in the United States and Canada. It is the nation's largest bus company and the only nationwide provider of intercity bus transportation. With its headquarters in Dallas, Greyhound has more than 2,600 destinations in the 48 contiguous states, with additional service into Canada and Mexico.

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