Destination Station eyes 2013 groundbreaking

Groundbreaking for the proposed Destination Station Center is expected to take place in the fall of 2013.

The Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce announced that schedule at its Tuesday, April 26 kickoff for fundraising for the center, which officials say will attract visitors year-round, especially school groups, while also encouraging visitors to use buses to get into town, leaving their cars at the Park & Ride.

during Phase 2 of the project, architectural renderings will be developed, fundraising will get under way from local and corporate sources, permits will be obtained and local marketing will be expanded.

Chamber CEO and President Carol Everhart also announced the third and final phase:  final fundraising, creating exhibits, staffing and groundbreaking.

Everhart said the center fits with the chamber’s mission to promote business, tourism and civic responsibility. She said the center would offer an additional reason for visitors to come or stay another day, and encourage the use of mass transit.

The centerpiece of Destination Station is its Exploratory, which would offer programs focusing on science and technology and new and alternate energy sources.

Organizers say they intend to attract students on school field trips, and Everhart said there is interest in partnering with education programs such as Junior Achievement, Odyssey of the Mind and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math or STEM education.

The chamber’s feasibility study examined science centers similar to the planned Destination Station, and determined there are 152,000 Delaware public school students to draw from and nearly 400,000 students if Eastern Shore and western Maryland schools are included in the tally.

Everhart said the feasibility study projected about 186,000 customers would pay to get in annually. That number is lower than the chamber’s original projection of 500,000. Everhart said those numbers are drawn from people who already come to the beach, but do not include new visitors.

Last year, as details of Destination Station were revealed, residents of Rehoboth worried about the effect the center would have on traffic.

Everhart said, “When we go to get the permitting and approvals, the traffic issues are going to have to be addressed.”

Officials from the Department of Transportation have said they will work with Sussex County officials on a traffic study when a building is proposed. The chamber’s memorandum of understanding with the department addresses only a site for the building; it gives the chamber three years to get the project off the ground.

Destination Station – to be built at the Park & Ride adjacent to  Jungle Jim’s – is planned as a transportation hub and energy and education attraction. The building cost is estimated at $12 million to $14 million, with all of the money coming from corporate and local donors.

No federal or state money will be used on Destination Station, although the Department of Transportation did receive $1 million in federal funds to improve the Park & Ride.

Phase 1 called for assembling an architectural and construction management team, completing a feasibility study and beginning a public awareness campaign. Becker Morgan Group was selected for architectural and engineering services; Nason Construction was chosen for construction management.

“We know what this building needs to do. It needs to be some place you want to go,” Everhart said.