(rshsdepot) Cheyenne, WY

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Up close and personal at the Depot

By Eric R. Wrigh
Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Friday, there was little evidence of its ongoing renovation.

Directly to the north, 15th Street was blocked off, a backhoe was parked in
the lot there, and plywood stood in front of a portion of the planned Snake
River Brewing Company Restaurant.

But inside, through the sunlit entrance's glass doors and past a decorated
Christmas tree, portions of the walls and floor of what eventually will be
the depot museum were exposed and bare.

Nineteen knee-high stacks of synthetic slate coverings stood near one wall,
and here and there wire and bare-bones electrical fixtures were exposed.

It was just a hint of the work in progress in the basement and second and
third floors, where all around the building's original support structure,
floors and walls - still covered with coal soot from locomotive engines -
are being preserved.

More than 75 people gathered to look over an array of architectural plans
for the building and plaza and to see some of the construction and repairs
set to be completed by fall.

"It's been a really exciting past couple of years with my involvement with
the project," Mayor Jack Spiker said after he introduced several of the key
staff and architects working on the depot.

Noel Griffith, depot project manager, said the plaza, with its event stage
and areas for vendors, should be done in time for Cheyenne Frontier Days.
The depot museum and upstairs business offices are set to open by Oct. 1.

"This is a major piece of art," he said, adding that projects of the depot's
magnitude and quality take time to finish.

The depot was built in 1886 for use by the Union Pacific Railroad.

In 1990 the Wyoming Transportation Museum Corporation was founded to save
the structure and convert it into a museum and learning center. Three years
later, the city and Laramie County Commission established the Wyoming
Transportation Museum Joint Powers Board to take ownership of the building,
and it initiated the restoration.

Since then the city has taken over, and the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation
was formed.

In April 2000, $50,000 in private donations boosted renovation efforts.
About a year later, the City Council approved more than $3 million for the
project, and since then it has secured another $1 million for it.

Recently, designs for the plaza have been completed and approved, and Snake
River Brewing was selected to open a restaurant in the building's east wing.

Also, the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Cheyenne Area Convention and
Visitor's Bureau and Cheyenne Downtown Development Authority have agreed to
lease second- and third-floor office space.

And a recently signed memorandum of agreement between the city, Old West
Museum and Cheyenne Frontier Days established the Cheyenne Depot Museum
Inc., which will manage the museum for at least 25 years.

Spiker said the project has helped encourage other restorations in the
downtown area. He pointed to the Plains Hotel's multi-million dollar
facelift and mentioned a $3 million renovation plan for the Hynds Building.

Spiker also talked about plans to add two trolleys to the existing downtown
service and Union Pacific's agreement to vacate the portion of 15th Street
and the plaza area in front of the building in trade for the paving of
another parking lot to the east.

"It has been an exciting project, and the community has been solidly behind
it," he said.


=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

------------------------------