Gilbane Building Co., based in Providence, Rhode Island. began to make major reforms for the iconic William H. Gray III 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Amtrak announced Jan. 19. Planning for the public-private partnership began in 2016 and Gilbane came on board in 2020.
The $550 million upgrades are the first phase of the broader $10 billion District Plan, which aims to double the passenger capacity of the station to 25 million passenger trips a year, according to Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the project’s lead architect. Gilbane leads design and construction services on the job.
“As a design-builder, we have worked with our design partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), over the past 30 months to carefully develop a phased design-build approach that will transform the station into a world-class. transportation hub while minimizing disruption to ongoing operations,” said Shawn Carlin, senior vice president and Philadelphia business leader at Gilbane.
According to the release, in this phase of the project, Gilbane and his team will:
- Update and expand the station’s food and retail offer.
- Improve station operations and improve customer experience.
- Upgrade The Porch, the station’s public plaza, with landscaping and community amenities.
- Modernize Amtrak’s corporate offices.
- Improve the infrastructure of the building to achieve and maintain a good state of conservation.
William H. Gray III 30th Street Station first opened in 1933, and is the main railway station in Philadelphia. It is a major stop on Amtrak’s Northeast and Keystone corridors, and is one of the busiest intercity passenger rail facilities in the US.
Amtrak expects train operations to continue as normal. Elevator and escalator work will begin in January 2024, and additional construction phases will continue through 2027, the release said.
