BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Downtown's planned $30 million intermodal transportation terminal, to be built mostly with federal money, will include a half-block long "glass box" waiting room, a 60-foot message board, space for the Scotland-based Megabus company and – maybe - fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Birmingham Design Review Committee this morning approved preliminary design plans for the facility, which will be a hub for Amtrak, Greyhound and the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority. No deal has been struck with Megabus, a subsidiary of Scotland's Stagecoach Group, though developers said they anticipate it will be included. Birmingham's 13-year-old, copper-domed bus terminal and the Amtrak station across the street are to be demolished to make way for the much larger facility.

Jamie Aycock, whose Giattina Aycock Architecture Studio designed the terminal, said a 4,700-square-foot waiting room with glass walls will be a centerpiece of the facility. Bus passengers will arrive and depart from one side of the room, which is about three times the size of the current waiting room. Train passengers will arrive and depart from the other side. The 60-foot message board would announce arrivals and departures and include messages about community events.

Passengers arriving or departing by car will be sheltered by the building’s 38-foot-high roof, which will extend out over the street. A new parking lot is to be monitored by cameras and include “panic” call stations, where authorities could be summoned at the push of a button. An upper floor of the building is to include administrative offices and a board room that could double as a space for community events.

The view from 18th Street.

Original plans called for food service from Burger King, Aycock said, but that may be replaced with a healthier option for travelers who don't have access to a grocery store. Something along the lines of a Fresh Market could provide travelers with fresh fruits and vegetables, he said.

“We’re trying to find a way to get them some fresh food,” Aycock said.

The project had been delayed by millions of dollars in federal penalties levied against Birmingham and Jefferson County for demolishing the existing copper-topped terminal, which was built with $4.5 million in federal funds in 1999. Planners demonstrated the necessity of its demolition – it could not accommodate expansion – and the federal government waived most of the penalties.

Eighty percent of the cost of the new facility is to be paid for with federal dollars. The city’s $6.3 million in matching funds is to come from a $150 million bond initiative approved by voters in a referendum last year.