(rshsdepot) Cleburne, TX

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Depot's future in question

By: Rob Fraser, Times-Review Writer February 19, 2002

There may be a little glimmer of light at the end of the Trinity & Brazos
Valley Railroad Depot tunnel for fans of the structure.
Dan Roberts, owner of the building, and Shane Hopkins, a trustee for the
Santa Fe #3417 Historical Foundation, said they were exploring the
possibility of obtaining the necessary bonding to insure repairs would be
made to the building to satisfy the city's requirement.

The bonding information would have to be presented to the Cleburne City
Council at the Feb. 26 meeting, if the council approved the item, they could
order the building and standards commission to delay the scheduled March 1
demolition.

Hopkins said he had a brief meeting with City Manager Chester Nolen Monday
morning after he heard Nolen say on radio Friday if the repairs were bonded
the council "was of the mind they would go ahead and extend the life of the
depot and the four walls to stay up."

Hopkins said he had "no confirmation of that."

Hopkins said he had no telephone calls and checked with Dan (Roberts) to see
if he had anything and he decided to visit with the city manager.

He said Nolen told him if there was a bond to guarantee a roof was put on,
the windows boarded up and the bricks mortared - that would go to the
council and could be sufficient to stop the demolition.

"So I specifically asked him what we had to do to do that. There's got to be
some sort of time frame and Tom (Mayor Tom Hazlewood) said the building was
going to come down on March 1. We're willing to do this but obviously it's
going to take us a couple of days to figure out the ins and outs of how we
bond it," Hopkins said.

Roberts and Hopkins said they were not sure what all was entailed in this
kind of a bonding situation and "that is one of the things we are trying to
find out."

Hopkins said he thought Roberts would have to do the bonding and the
historical foundation would assist.

Roberts would retain ownership of the building and the foundation's role
"will be worked out as we get down the road."

Roberts has begun to investigate exactly what the city is going to need as
far as permitting "and exactly what they want."

Nolen said he "is kind of in the dark in the sense that I don't know what
exactly - and specifically what - the process would be."

Presumably they would need to go to an insurance or bonding company who
would write a bond or make a determination on who they could escrow the
funds for the necessary repairs, he said.

"That's always been an option," Nolen said, "if the repairs that were
outlined in the original agreement were completed (the roof, doors and
windows and remortaring the bricks). If those three items were completed
then that presumably would make the demolition order go away."

Nolen said, "Until the council is presented the documentation and
information we have to proceed with the direction we were headed, which was
to forward the documentation to the state giving them notice that the
facility was to be demolished."

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