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Goldsboro group outlines Union Station stabilization plan, TA Loving selected for phase 1
Summary
Saving Union Station volunteers briefed the City Council on a multi-year stabilization project for the historic Union Station and said TA Loving was selected as the phase‑1 design‑builder; the group has secured $612,500 in state grant funds and is seeking the remaining money to meet a $1.5 million stabilization budget.
Saving Union Station volunteers told the Goldsboro City Council on Oct. 20 that stabilization work will begin in the coming months after the council approved related items on the consent agenda.
Julie Metz, a member of the Saving Union Station (SUS) team, reviewed the station’s history and outlined the immediate priorities to weatherize and stabilize the 12,063‑square‑foot building. Metz said the SUS team and the city issued a phase‑1 stabilization RFQ earlier this year and that TA Loving was selected unanimously by the review team to serve as the phase‑1 design‑builder.
"You will begin to start seeing a lot of activity on the property," Metz said, noting that a perimeter fence will be installed by November and design work will proceed in phases because the building’s historic fabric makes the sequence uncertain.
Metz told the council the project has a $1.5 million stabilization budget. The SUS team has secured a $612,500 state grant, a local match from DGDC of roughly $37,005, and has raised approximately $11,100 in private donations. Wayne County has committed $375,000 contingent on the SUS team closing the private fundraising gap. Metz said the team is holding $661,100 until it can secure the remaining $89,000 and collect the county’s portion.
The presentation also summarized a recent NCDOT‑commissioned feasibility study that recommends the eastern route for Raleigh–Wilmington passenger service — a route that assumes a stop in Goldsboro. Metz said that step is early in the Federal Railroad Administration corridor identification process and that the state may ask local governments to provide a collective 10% local share for the next study phase.
Metz urged the council to begin discussing long‑term uses for Union Station after stabilization. "There are no specific plans for Union Station after stabilization," she said. "We intentionally kept the focus narrow so we had an opportunity for a future use." She recommended the city consider tools such as historic preservation tax credits and CPACE to attract private investment.
The city clerk recorded the consent‑agenda approval that included the TA Loving engagement and an ordinance establishing an EPA Brownfields grant fund tied to the project. Council members asked questions about fundraising timeline, which Metz said she hopes to complete by the end of March 2026, and about coordination with NCDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration as the corridor work advances.
The council did not take further action beyond the consent approval; the SUS team said additional design, permitting and fundraising activities will follow.
