NCAT cuts ribbon on $1.6 million parking shelter in Ottawa

The vehicles utilized by North Central Area Transit have long served the city of Ottawa and all of La Salle County, but on Tuesday, there was a step taken to keep those buses safe and on the road just a little bit longer.

At a ceremony at the Chessie Lane facility on the east edge of Ottawa, Kim Zimmerman, transit director for NCAT, cut the ribbon to officially open a new paved and sheltered parking area in which to store the entity’s buses.

With the assistance of a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation and the city of Ottawa – the latter spearheaded by Commissioner Wayne Eichelkraut – there is now a 26,000 square foot lot with 36 parking spaces, enough to protect the fleet of 26 buses from harsh Illinois weather with room to grow. The pillars in the lot are equipped with electrical outlets for engine block heaters in the winter.

The only thing left to finish on the $1.6 million structure is to have bird netting installed in the rafters to further protect the buses. Then the project will be considered complete.

“It’s a relief to have it so near complete,” Zimmerman said, “but it’s super exciting to have this, to have our vehicles here, to have all our staff here, all in one location together for the first time, so that we can continue to grow internally and give us the opportunity to review our own operation and make it more efficient to better serve the community.”

A project like this takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication.”

—  David Schaefer, the bureau chief of transit operation for Illinois Department of Transportation

Zimmerman said when NCAT moved into its current facility in 2019, it knew it needed a parking lot and started immediately on the grant proposals for the concrete and the roof. The floor was complete in early 2022 and the roof in December of that year.

“A project like this takes a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication,” said David Schaefer, the bureau chief of transit operations for IDOT. “This facility will protect the near 30 vehicles from the elements and, with the rising costs of manufacturing, this will go a long way toward that … Ribbon cuttings like today wouldn’t be possible without such great partners like the city of Ottawa and NCAT.”

Now the lot is in, Zimmerman is hoping to secure additional funding from the state to put in a maintenance garage, hopefully in the next few years. She also mentioned a nearby property that could be purchased to use for a wash bay and the need for some renovation in the offices.

“This is a great thing for our city,” said Ottawa Mayor Robert Hasty. “The expansion … starting with an office in the corner of a building and having it grow larger and larger and larger into the facility that we have now, and the number of people it’s helping, not only here in Ottawa, but all of La Salle County, is remarkable.”