Thursday March 28th, 2024 11:39AM

Historic Gainesville landmark could be set for relocation

GAINESVILLE – Engine #209 could be on the move once again.

One of Gainesville’s best known landmarks, the Gainesville Midland locomotive, as well as its accompanying baggage car and caboose, might be enroute to a new home following decades and decades as an iconic placeholder along Jesse Jewell Parkway.

The Gainesville City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday evening transferring ownership of the 1.71-acre site where the train resides to the Gainesville Redevelopment Authority (GRA) for disposition.

The property, also known as the Great Southern /Train or GST Property, is bordered by Jesse Jewell, West Academy Street, Broad Street and Maple Street. 

City Manager Bryan Lackey said following Tuesday’s city council meeting that the GRA already had a prospective buyer and an agreed-upon price for the site: Northeast Georgia Health Systems (NGHS) and $1,200,000.

Lackey said NGHS has ninety days to act and decide.  “They have 90-days due diligence to look into it.  It really puts it into their hands if they want to conclude this real estate transaction.”

Lackey did explain that NGHS’s offer is pending the decision of Knight Commercial Real Estate.  “It’s important to know that this is really a back-up contract.  Knight still has the first option on this,” Lackey said.   NGHS, Lackey explained, will need to negotiate with Knight if they hope to have the investment company waive its right of first refusal.

But should that happen, Lackey said he really had no information as to how NGHS might use the downtown tract.   “I can’t speak for them on that,” Lackey said, adding that NGHS had chosen to keep that information private.

The item of interest in the resolution affecting the historic train states:

“The City agrees that it will, at its expense and within not more than twelve months after the date upon which NGHS obtains title to the GST Property, remove from the GST Property, the railroad engine, caboose and rail car together with the tracks, crossties, and all related facilities, materials and debris created by the removal, and relocate all of such engine, railroad cars and facilities to some other lands owned and maintained by the City.”

“If they (NGHS) do close on it we have one year to move the train,” Lackey agreed, but again said he could not speculate what NGHS would do with the property or where the train would be re-located.

(For those interested in reading the legal documents approved by the city council, click here, and scroll down to the “City Attorney Issues”, then follow the links to the three attached documents.)

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