And members of the Astoria Riverfront Trolley Association couldnt be happier.
They plan to raise $50,000 from the community to pay back the Bank of Astoria, which loaned the money to the association to purchase Old 300 outright.
The action took place after the board of directors of the San Antonio Museum of Art voted to approve the sale.
This is a great day for the Riverfront Trolley Association and the city of Astoria, said Mayor Willis Van Dusen, who is president of the trolley association. We will now own our Trolley, completing a community dream and City Council goal.
Van Dusen said that he will lead fundraising to raise the $50,000 needed to repay a loan from the Bank of Astoria to buy Old 300.
The Bank of Astoria was lightning quick in loaning the Astoria Riverfront Trolley Association the funds to purchase the trolley, Van Dusen said. We wanted to act quickly; we did not want to lose this opportunity. The bank made the funds available overnight.
Cheri Folk, president of the Bank of Astoria, said making the loan to the Trolley Association was an easy decision.
It was a rare opportunity to assist, she said. The Trolley has become such an important part of our community fabric. We just didnt want to have a situation in the future where someone was asking for it back.
Van Dusen signed the first five-year loan agreement with the San Antonio museum for Old 300 in November 1998 and then secured a five-year extension in 2003. Some 300 Astoria volunteers donated more than 3,000 hours to the restoration of the vehicle.
More than 250,000 people have ridden on Old 300 since it began operations in 1999.
The significance of the purchase is that members of the Trolley Association will be assured that they will have a trolley for continuous operations and not have to worry about returning it to San Antonio some day.
Trolley volunteers will be planning further restoration and renovation for Old 300 during the first few months of 2006. Mechanical and dry rot repairs will take priority.
Members of the trolley board will involve the community in raising the funds needed for the purchase and further restorations, just as the community was involved in the 1998 to 1999 restoration effort.
