U.S. Representative Daniel Maffei (D-DeWitt) at the podium, left, announcing a federal grant for the redevelopment of the former Mail and Freight Depot building on Burnet Avenue into an alternative-fuels station. Looking on behind Maffei are Eckardt (Chris) Beck and Vita DeMarchi, managing partners of Synapse Partners, LLC of Syracuse, center, and Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll, far right.

SYRACUSE – A piece of Syracuse’s transportation history that has fallen into disrepair is being redeveloped to benefit an emerging business sector.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded CuseCar a grant of

$1.8 million toward developing an alternative-fuels station at the former Mail and Freight Depot at 400-448 Burnet Ave. in Syracuse.

The total cost of the project is $3.7 million.

The 60,000-square-foot building is visible from Interstate 690 near the Townsend Street exit and known for its statues depicting people waiting for a train.

CuseCar is a not-for-profit car-sharing organization comprised of vehicles using alternative fuels. CuseCar utilizes the expertise of the for-profit Synapse Partners, LLC – a Syracuse-based environmental risk-management firm. Four partners of Synapse (which includes Synapse Risk Management and Synapse Services), launched CuseCar in September 2008.

More than 100,000 vehicle drivers pass the train depot every day, see a rundown structure, and may not know what it once represented.

Eckardt (Chris) Beck, one of four managing partners at Synapse, doesn’t feel the community should look at the train depot as a building that once had a purpose, but now no longer does.

Beck calls the project “the connection to the Connective Corridor.”

The grant comes from DOE funding contained in the federal economic-stimulus package, U.S. Representative Daniel Maffei (D-DeWitt) said. Maffei, who announced the money Sept. 14, said the building is an eyesore.

People have been asking for specific examples of how dollars allocated for green-technology projects will benefit Central New York, he added.

“What we’re doing today is showing you,” Maffei said at a press conference.

He feels people driving past the structure don’t even see it anymore, saying it’s been “lost to history.”

In addition to the federal grant, CuseCar is also using a $250,000 grant from the New York State Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmental Protection Fund and seeking additional grant money for the project, said Vita DeMarchi, another managing partner at Synapse.

Both Beck and DeMarchi have also directly contributed “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to date on the project, according to Beck.

The group started planning for this project in May 2007.

Synapse Partners employs a total of 16 people, seven full-time and two part-time employees in Syracuse, four full-time employees in Branchburg, N.J., and one full-time and one part-time employee at its office in Alpharetta, Ga.

Three of the seven full-time employees in Syracuse operate the CuseCar initiative.

Built in the 1930s, the former Mail and Freight Depot is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Interstate 690 replaced the rail lines the depot served in the 1960s, according to CuseCar.

Project outline

CuseCar will use the grant to install 68 electric charging units throughout Onondaga County. The units will interface with National Grid’s developing Smart Grid program, according to the nonprofit.

The project also includes the construction of seven charging stations at the fueling site on Burnett Avenue. Solar panels to be installed on the former train depot will feed energy to the seven stations, the company said.

The project also includes the installation of a compressed natural-gas fueling station at the Burnett Avenue site. Plans also call for a hydrogen-gas fueling station in a partnership with General Motors Co.

In addition, the redeveloped building will house a Green Infrastructure Facility Training Center. The center will include a rooftop classroom for demonstrations on green roof and solar panel installations.

Several contractors will be involved in the restoration effort, which is set to begin in early November, Beck says.

The contractors will supply and install green roofing materials and solar panels, and handle the deconstruction of the train trestle, which is laden with asbestos, he adds.

CuseCar has yet to sign any contracts for work. Synapse will coordinate the contractors, said DeMarchi.

Holmes-King-Kallquist & Associates of Syracuse is serving as the project architect.

The firm hopes to have the work completed by the middle of next year, DeMarchi added.

Most cities would demolish the building, but finding new and alternative uses is the better option, said Richard Fedrizzi, president of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council, and a native of Camillus.

“This is part of the fabric that tells the Syracuse story. It’s part of our history and it can be reclaimed. It can be reclaimed with the highest technology products that attack the most basic and simple ideas – clean, non-toxic transportation,” Fedrizzi said during his remarks.

CuseCar will seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for the redeveloped building from the U.S. Green Building Council, Fedrizzi said.

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