PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — There's some new life on the horizon for the Wanamaker building in Center City.
SEPTA plans to install classrooms on the fifth floor of the Wanamaker building in a space about the size of a football field to train new operators.
This comes after the Federal Transit Administration last summer ordered SEPTA to beef up safety training.
"We need to do this because of the FTA,” said Jody Holton, the transit agency's chief planning and strategy officer. “We are expecting that this might help us with some of our turnover."
SEPTA has a goal of bringing in 60 new operators a month to keep up with attrition and retirements. Holton said consolidating training near headquarters will be more efficient than trainers traveling to depots throughout the city.
Holton said SEPTA has only seven training classrooms in its headquarters building, but this move would give SEPTA 18 classrooms in the nearby 12-story Wanamaker building. None of the space would occupy the lower floors recently vacated by Macy's.
The SEPTA board votes Thursday to authorize a lease agreement, which would cost $1.7 million a year over 11 years. Holton said SEPTA may be ready to move into the space in late summer or early fall.