Rail park proposal should not be lost March 9, 2003 - Montgomery Advertiser Article reprinted with the express permission of the Montgomery Advertiser. Minor league baseball is coming to Montgomery, which is exciting for baseball fans and fans of developing the city's riverfront area. But it will take a variety of attractions to again make the riverfront area vibrant. That's why the city should not write off a proposal to develop a railroad museum and rail park at the site of the old Western Railway of Alabama shops, which are east of North Court Street not far from the site where the baseball park will be built. The centerpiece of the site is a train shed similar to but less elaborate than the one at Union Station. There is also a large coaling tower and the foundation of a roundtable at the site. A nonprofit group, Old Alabama Rails, is inviting the public to see its plans and to catch a glimpse of the city's rail history at a celebration Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The festivities, which will include entertainment, will be in the train shed behind Union Station. Old Alabama Rails has an exciting but costly proposal for development -- one that is probably too costly for the city at this point. But if these facilities are not protected for possible future development, somewhere down the line the community will regret allowing them to fall further into ruin.