TARTA taking over old Goodwill building, eliminating downtown lo - News, Weather, Sports, Toledo, OH

The recently abandoned Goodwill building along Cherry Street won’t be vacant much longer.

The Toledo-Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) has bought the building and will use it as a new downtown terminal and agency headquarters.

TARTA bought the building for $1.5 million.

Passengers will catch busses and buy passes there.

You’ll also find an indoor waiting area with food and beverages available.

TARTA administration, staff and dispatchers will also locate there.

“Goodwill makes sense for us as far as its location, proximity to downtown and amenities for customers," said Steve Atkinson of TARTA.

The bus barn on Central Avenue will still be home to busses and maintenance staff.

The most noticeable change ahead will be the abandonment and demolition of TARTA stations along its downtown loop.

But there will still be stops around downtown.

“Eliminating the loop makes a lot of sense for downtown for a lot of reasons. It’s better for busses, foot traffic. Better for TARTA. Able to put all of our pickups and drop-offs in one location,” said Atkinson.

Businesses like Coney Island Hot Dog should benefit when the loop and stations vanish.

That should open up more parking spaces for customers.

“Any more business coming downtown is good for us. Too many suffer now. It’s good for everybody,” said Frixos Stymiandes of Coney Island.

The building will be renovated and ready to open by the end of the year.

A team of architects and engineers will work on a design.

The city of Toledo will also develop a traffic flow plan.

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