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Train group engineering site's revival

A fire-damaged former train station is on track to be
turned into a leasable business site.
By Jeff Sturgeon
981-3251

Photos by Josh Meltzer | The Roanoke Times

Skip Salmon (left) and Jim Cosby are with the Roanoke
chapter of the National Railway Historical Society,
which is helping in the effort to reopen a former
Virginian Railway train station property in Roanoke.
The site (below) was damaged by a fire about seven
years ago.

 Railroad buffs have garnered more than $500,000 of
the $2.2 million needed to renovate the fire-damaged
former Virginian Railway train station property in
Roanoke.

The Roanoke chapter of the National Railway Historical
Society and Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation
hope to reopen the registered landmark in the fall of
2009, providing leased space for a business or
organization and displays about Roanoke's rich
railroading history. The former station was hit by
fire nearly seven years ago and later donated by
Norfolk Southern Corp. to historians.

Two one-story brick buildings stand side-by-side with
a common orange-tiled roof and breezeway, less than 50
yards from tracks that now carry mainly freight. One
building sheltered departing rail passengers and the
other held baggage and package express; both date to
1909. The station closed in 1956 as construction began
on the national highway system, a project that, along
with the rise of air travel, ultimately reduced demand
for passenger rail service nationwide. The facility
was converted into offices and later a country store.

But fire damage and deterioration have taken their
toll, leaving part of the roof open, roof tiles in
disarray and the flared eaves in tatters. It is
encircled by a fence, creating an eyesore a few blocks
north along Jefferson Street from Carilion Clinic's
expanding medical campus and adjacent to the Mill
Mountain Greenway with its growing bicycle and
pedestrian traffic. It frequently makes various lists
of endangered, important structures.

After years of planning, lobbying and fundraising,
those who want the old station saved say they are
almost ready to begin construction. Last week the
chapter distributed a request for proposals from
architects and engineering firms to draw renovation
plans. The chapter's goal is to hire an architect by
mid-January and finish in October 2009, the year of
the building's 100th anniversary.

"We'll be trying to get it as close as possible to the
way it was," said Alison Blanton, committee chairwoman
and an architectural historian.

Project backers are accepting donations and applying
for more grants to supplement support already won from
the Virginia Department of Transportation and the
federal government. They plan to launch a fundraising
campaign on a date not yet announced.

When the project is complete, plans are for the
2,720-square-foot former passenger building to be
leased. The renovation team's first choice would be a
not-for-profit organization as a tenant. But the
backers will consider leasing to a business, said
James Cosby, chapter treasurer.

"It's possible that it could be a restaurant," Cosby
said. But he noted that any future tenant would have
to be aware that the property is in a flood plain.

Cosby said his team has obtained two grants: $260,486
from the federal government and $267,000 from VDOT.

Both require project backers to use a substantial part
of the property for a not-for-profit use. To that end,
the railroad group plans historical displays in the
former baggage building to highlight the impact of the
Virginian Railway on the development of the Roanoke
Valley and the state's train industry. Also envisioned
is a rest stop with public toilets for bicyclists and
hikers, Cosby said.

The Virginian Railway, formed in 1907 from the
Tidewater Railway and Deepwater Railway, merged with
Norfolk & Western Railway in 1959. N&W merged with
Southern Railway in 1982 to create Norfolk Southern. 

Source: http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/139823
As of: November 15, 2007