Federal Transit Administration officials seem to have signed the death warrant on Renaissance Square.

Brigid Hynes-Cherin, the FTA's regional administrator, notified Ren Square officials this afternoon that it's unlikely that the FTA will be able to approve funding, given the changes in the plan.

This morning, Ren Square officials submitted a request to FTA for funding, with the changes dictated by City Council action. With the submission, Ren Square leaders wrote that the project no longer met their needs.

The federal Department of Labor "must certify the grant before FTA can obligate it," Hynes-Cherin wrote, "and it can take up to 60 days to receive DOL certification."

"Based on the information provided in your letter," she wrote," it seems highly unlikely, if not impossible, that you could prepare and we could receive the necessary information within a timeframe that would permit us to conclude that your grant application is complete, receive the necessary DOL certification, and obligate a grant for additional project funding before our grant system (TEAM) closes on September 25, 2009."