Rochelle Railroad Park Giftshop Being Shut-Down

[Chris_S68]

Word on the Illinois Yahoo group is that the city of Rochelle, in their infinite wisdom, has refused to renew the lease on the park's gift shop. I live in the area and, while I admit I don't frequent the park, I have, on occasion, stopped at the shop. Supposedly has something to do with bringing the park more in-line with other park district properties while making it more "kid friendly", whatever that is.
This is a pretty sad example of politicians' short-sightedness and being completely out of touch.

Chris

[zwspnby9]

So will the "RAILROAD PARK" stay. Or will it go with the gift shop???

[fuzzybroken]

The park is staying. The gift shop will be going.

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fuzzybroken

The park is staying. The gift shop will be going.

any time frame on when?

[fuzzybroken]

Here's what I got in my e-mail this morning:

QUOTE: This was received by one of the board members of the C&NWHS shortly
after 4pm today:



We have just received notice that the City of Rochelle will not renew
our lease agreement and we will have to close down and clean out the
gift shop completely immediately. When we saw you last week we had no
idea this would happen and we would not see you again.

It seems the City and the tourism board want to use for building for
something else.
Hope the convention goes well and we know everyone will miss going
through our really neat shop, as we will miss seeing all our old
railfan buddies (miss meeting new ones).
Tony and I are in a state of shock as we had no idea this would
happen. We did nothing to have this happen, we have paid our rent on
time for seven years and felt sure our lease would be in place as
always before. We both feel this is a blow to railfans everywhere!
Just one more ETTS.



Anthony and Lynne Miranda
Rochelle Railroad Park = NOT ANY MORE!
124 N 9th Street
Rochelle IL 61068

815-562-8107

Too bad, I never even got to visit there... [:(]

[chad thomas]

Perhaps a campain to save it ts in order. Anybody have the addys of the city council?

[vsmith]

It sounds more like a chicken-[censored] way of the city saying "we dont want to risk the liabilty as park owner if the leasee got injured during a robbery or an accident".

[Anonymous]

As Jay Leno would say... "the terrorists have won... " [xx(].

According to a Google search, the mailing address is:

City of Rochelle IL
Office of the City Clerk
416 North 6th Street
Rochelle, Illinois 61068-1540
(815)-562-6161

[edbenton]

The RR crews are going to be mad. The fact that the shop was there to help them whenever they had a low water condition to refill their radiators. they even have a hose long enough to reach the tracks either way.

[Chris30]

I'm suprised... It just doesn't sound like something that the City of Rochelle (in general) would do. Rochelle and the people who run that town have always been very aggressive towards atracting the railroads and railroad related business - ie. Global III. I have a feeling that there is more to this story.

CC

[Mookie]

Well, I guess I will just have to go there and stomp my feet and wave my arms in protest! But I can't go until May 21, so hope they can hold on that long!

Wonder if they are looking at a May 1st closing (month to month)?

I am not a happy unit, now that I am going to visit!

Mad Mook

[pat390]

I was just at the park 2 weeks ago and the shop was closed, but I was told the owner was out of town, its a shame that something like this is getting closed down, politicians need to get their heads out of their[censored] and learn to appreciate what people want. Not just legal issues.

[upchuck]

I just sent an e-mail to the Rochelle park district asking why the decision was made
and what more appropriate use there could be of this shop than what it is already.
Maybe I'll get a response or it will just be more of this...[banghead][banghead][banghead][banghead][banghead][banghead]

[Anonymous]

What is ETTS?

[rob1195]

I say we protest, have a trainwatchers sit in, LOL

[chad thomas]

I wonder if the web cam will get the boot too.

[Anonymous]

Web cam will not be taken away. We railfans appreciate Trains Magazines participation in the Rochelle Railroad Park.

[Anonymous]

Ive never been to rochelle i REALLY want to go tho.

[trainboyH16-44]

I sure am going to miss it, good times...

[Anonymous]

There seems to be a lot of erroneous information out there so I want to let you know what is really going on. The City of Rochelle has decided to give management of the Rochelle Railroad Park to the Rochelle Tourism & Visitor’s Association due to reasons that I’m not at liberty to discuss. Neither the Rochelle Chamber or Park District have anything to do with the Railroad Park, nor have they ever.

The Rochelle Tourism Board is planning to continue to have some form of a gift shop at the Railroad Park and hopefully also to add a railroad museum, maybe a train layout and have some type of food and beverages available. I assure you that we plan to improve upon what is currently there, not to take anything away from the park. It may take us some time for these plans to come to fruition, but it will happen.

Thank you all very much for your concern of the Rochelle Railroad Park and your patronage as well. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at [e-mail].

Ross Freier, Director
Rochelle Tourism & Visitor's Association

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Chris30

I'm suprised... It just doesn't sound like something that the City of Rochelle (in general) would do. Rochelle and the people who run that town have always been very aggressive towards atracting the railroads and railroad related business - ie. Global III.

I have a feeling that there is more to this story.
CC

Me too.

[Chris30]

Ok... nice to hear the other side. It sounds like changes are being planned for the better. Food and beverage would be nice for both the people who attend the park and the people who work for the railroad. (If the food is good, I can't wait to hear the exuses that the trains crews will make in order to stop and grab a bite to eat.) I wonder where they plan on putting the museum?

It would be nice if Ross keeps Trains magazine informed of what's going on at Rochelle as I'm sure the magzine and it's readers would like to know.

CC

[espeefoamer]

They will probably replace it with a store selling nothing but Tommy the Too Too stuff[:(!][xx(][8][B)][:0].

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

They will probably replace it with a store selling nothing but Tommy the Too Too stuff[:(!][xx(][8][B)][:0].

Well, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and see what happens [:)]. If that does become the case, then complaints will be warranted.

I think that the fact that the Mr. Freier signed up on this forum today for the sole purpose of providing factual information on this issue says quite a lot about the city's commitment to the national railfan community.

[Anonymous]

Let's give the City a chance before we all go on a rant.

[blhanel]

As much as I liked the gift shop, I did wi***hat they had food and drink there. They did come in handy when I visited back in early March- it was a cold day, and I forgot all my hats, so I bought a stocking cap there.

[Anonymous]

To those of you posting recently, thank you for understanding and being patient. The Tourism Board wants only the best for the Railroad Park and would welcome any suggestions for improvements from all of you.

Ross Freier, Director
Rochelle Tourism & Visitor's Association
[e-mail]

[Poppa_Zit]

QUOTE: Originally posted by TourismRochelle

To those of you posting recently, thank you for understanding and being patient. The Tourism Board wants only the best for the Railroad Park and would welcome any suggestions for improvements from all of you.

Ross Freier, Director
Rochelle Tourism & Visitor's Association
[e-mail]

Thanks for asking, Ross. Based on the hearsay that's been swirling, I suspect that there may be more to this story than what we're hearing -- and is probably better off left that way. I never suspected the City of Rochelle was doing anything that would degrade the railfan experience your community offers.

How about installing some unobtrusive lighting of the diamonds -- maybe below ground or berm lighting that would illuminate the trains crossing the diamond without interfering with the neighborhood? Maybe working off a motion sensor or track signal to be turned on only when a train comes through?

By the way, a hearty thanks to you and the folks of Rochelle for doing what you do. I'm out there at least once every 10-14 days (at all hours of day and night) and have been made to feel very welcome by a majority of the people in town. I always buy a tank of gas at the BP on Route 51, and grab some fast food from the options available along Route 38. I have also dropped my wife off to do some shopping while I am taking pictures. So tell your merchants that the Rail Park is generating some revenues that otherwise would go to some other locale. The Rail Park is exactly 62 miles from my home, and it is a pleasant ride all the way on the tollroad. I look forward to returning.

[Soo2610]

As someone said earlier, there is more to this story than is being said. All I know is that on previous visits to the railroad park the gift shop when open was very hospitable, warm food and drinks were available during cold weather and the restrooms were always clean and warm. Rochelle did put this park in for railfans at their expense and I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens. Wonder what trains take is on this? They have a lot invested at Rochelle and have been surprisingly quiet on these developments so far.

[Mookie]

I am just happy it will all be there for my excursion out there in May. Most Visitor/Convention/Tourism boards work very hard to make visitors happy so I applaud the openess and look forward to visiting the park!

Mook