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The first time Mike Watte came to the Amtrak station Downtown, he walked right past it.

"For a big city, this one (station) was surprisingly small," he said.

Looking around at the Amtrak lobby at 214 First St. S.W., with its plastic chairs for waiting passengers and its stained floor, the Olympia, Wash., resident said his hometown's Amtrak station is nicer than Albuquerque's 100-year-old station.

City officials are much more blunt about it, calling the Amtrak station an "eyesore."

But that could change soon. Using a combination of city, federal and Amtrak funds, the city and the rail line are planning to move the ticketing area and lobby into the Greyhound bus terminal next door, and spruce up the older building for use as a baggage operations and conductors rest area.

Officials from the city and the Amtrak office in Chicago said the plan is being finalized, but they did not disclose a date for the move.

Ed Adams, chief operations officer for the city, said the Mayor's Office has $160,000 to use for the renovation of the exterior of the Amtrak station, which is called the Curio Building.

Adams said the station has limited restroom facilities and handicap accessibility problems.

Greg Payne, director of ABQ Ride, added that the train station's baggage-service area has deteriorating walls, torn linoleum flooring and limited passenger security screening.

Payne said he always gets complaints from Amtrak passengers on the condition of the building.

"It's become something of an eyesore," he said.

Although the Curio Building needs renovation, the city wants to preserve the overall look of the exterior, which is similar in style to the Alvarado Transportation Center next door, Adams said.

"It has to be done in a historical context," Adams said.

Amtrak has told the city it has $500,000 to renovate the building's interior, and possibly to renovate the Greyhound terminal interior to meet Amtrak's needs, Adams said.

Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman in Chicago, said the railroad does have plans to renovate the Curio Building for baggage service and a driver rest area, but could not confirm the amount that would be spent.

City officials hope additional funding will come from a federal transportation, housing and urban development bill approved earlier this week by Congress. It is pending final approval by President Bush.

The bill contains $510,000 for Albuquerque Amtrak station renovations, along with money for hundreds of projects nationwide.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman said in a news release the funding is in jeopardy because Bush has threatened to veto the measure.

If the bill wins final approval, Mayor Martin Chavez said it will help the city and Amtrak efforts.

Between all the contributing agencies, he said, "We think we'll have enough to fund what has been an embarrassment to Albuquerque because it's a welcoming place."

Chavez has been thinking of renovating the Curio Building for more than a decade and has tried in the past to get Amtrak and Greyhound in the same facility, said Adams.

Payne said this renovation would be the third phase of the Downtown transit centers' refurbishing projects. Phase I was the renovation of the Alvarado Center, which serves ABQ Ride's transit system. Phase II was the Greyhound center.

For Watte, the idea of having Greyhound bus service and Amtrak in the same building makes sense.

The first time he tried to find the Amtrak station, he said, it was too small to notice.

"We walked in the Greyhound (station), mistaking it for the Amtrak station," he said with a laugh.

Soon, that might not be a mistake.