In 2008, the town of Hillsborough obtained 20 acres of land adjacent to the North Carolina Railroad corridor to develop a passenger rail service.
Currently, Hillsborough is planning and designing a building for the train station. Town staff and designers provided updates in a November Board of Commissioners work session.
The single-story building will be approximately 7,000 square feet, with the site’s entire size being almost 20 acres.
Passenger service areas and offices will be located in the building. Outside of the building, there will be a drop-off area and parking spaces.
Fred Belledin of Clearscapes, the lead architect for the project, said the building will be located off of Orange Grove Street, just south of downtown Hillsborough.
“The station is centered on that entry drive, so it provides that civic presence as one enters the site and helps to anchor the future transit-oriented development that will occur in front and around it,” said Belledin.
Belledin said when visitors enter the building, they will walk through a long, shared gallery space which functions as circulation and a shared communal space.
He added the station will be located on an axis with the train tracks.
“We’re also creating some shared outdoor space behind there, so it’s creating some nice informal gathering space both for travelers as well as visitors,” said Belledin.
Perspective from elevated greenway. Photo via Clearscapes.
There will also be a board room located in the middle of the planned space with town offices to the right.
Outside of the building, there will be 45 parking spaces, 5 of which are ADA accessible. There will also be accommodations for bicycle parking.
The three main goals of the project during the design phases are sustainability, accessibility and meeting required regulations, Belledin said. He discussed Clearscapes’ considerations when designing the building, including what he described as the “challenging but interesting” topography of the area.
“There’s obviously a lot of vegetation on the site and we are obviously inheriting quite a bit of infrastructure that we are designing around — including the bridge over on Church Street, some of the existing utilities, the existing rail quarter and even the driveway entrance to the site,” said Belledin.
Despite the challenges of having to work around the natural landscape, the project is in a location that won’t require much destruction of surrounding trees, said architect Eric Davis.
“It was intentional that the first part of the site to be developed was on a part of the site that was already cleared, so for the majority of the woods and the majority of the woodland areas to be preserved in this first phase,” said Davis.
Davis said the site provides opportunities to integrate stormwater features and accent the site in terms of key views and sightlines. He added the stormwater features of the project are a way to “put sustainability on display.”
“The stormwater measures that we’re thinking about — you would find more in an urban context, because as you move along the site, for instance, as you park, you will have a series of fire retention and grass swales that collect the water, move it to the north side of the site,” said Davis.
Section through board room. Photo via Clearscapes.
The Town of Hillsborough will be working with the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division to fund the project. The cost of building the station is currently estimated at $8.1 million, although this could increase as the project moves further along.
Hillsborough Mayor Jenn Weaver said she appreciates the care and commitment of the town and Clearscapes to design the train station and adjacent building. She said she is looking forward to continuing the development process.
“The elements that you’re bringing in and the spirit of this modern, sustainable building is really exciting,” said Weaver.
Commissioner Kathleen Ferguson agreed, stating she was “blown away” by the design.
“I’ve been to the Kannapolis Station,” said Ferguson. So that had primed my expectation, and this far surpasses.”
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