(rshsdepot) Crestline (OH) Roundhouse

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Telegraph-Forum.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Crestline Roundhouse soon will be  gone

By Dan Clutter 
Telegraph-Forum staff 

CRESTLINE -- Crestline was built by the  railroads, and for more than 100 
years, the railroads were the major source of  the city's economy. 
One of the icons of that city's heritage will begin to come down.  
The Crestline Roundhouse, which was the landmark of the old Pennsylvania  
Railroad, will be demolished beginning Monday. Demolition is expected to last  
six weeks.  
The property's owner, Denver Roof of Mansfield, said that while he doesn't  
want to see the building destroyed, he has no choice anymore.  
"It's gotten so bad," Roof said. "We had a kid get hurt out there about a  
month ago, and it cost me a lot of money.  
"None of us want to tear it down. I certainly don't. I'd love to see it  
restored."  
Roof, who said he has "four or five options" with what to do with the  
property once the demolition and clean-up is completed, said he wanted to sell  the 
property to the Crestline Roundhouse Preservation Society, but added that  
nothing has been done for many years.  
"I imagine I'll sell it to somebody," Roof said. "But right now I just don't  
know.  
"I know that there is that society out there that wants to buy it, but  
nothing has been done about that."  
Roof said the cost of the demolition is not known.  
William J. Ayers, in a piece on the Crestline Roundhouse Preservation Society 
 Web site, said the current roundhouse was built about 1918, despite the fact 
 that the PRR had a facility there decades before the current building was 
built.   
The original facility was so large that it contained car shops, a tin shop  
and a machine and blacksmith shop. More importantly, shops and businesses 
sprung  up all around the facility, helping to drive Crestline's economy.  
For many Crestliners, the sight of the roundhouse was a common one. The PRR  
closed the facility in 1967 when the company merged with the New York Central  
and the building has sat dormant since.  
The purpose of the building was to allow steam engines to change direction.  
Also, steam engines were repaired in Crestline.  
The building's famous 150-foot smokestack, which formed much of the outline  
of Crestline's western border for more than 70 years, was torn down during a  
seven-day period ending Oct. 12, 1982. Safety reasons were cited then as well. 
 
Crestline Safety-Service Director Gene Toy, also a Crestline native, said the 
 city knew nothing of the demolition, because the facility isn't in the city  
limits. But he said some sorrow comes with the news.  
"You can look at it with some nostalgia," Toy said. "But someone will get  
hurt out there.  
"A lot of Crestline's heritage will go with it," he added. "I hate to see it  
meet that end."  
Toy said that trying to save it now it just too little, too late.  
"The time to save it would have been 20 years ago," he said. "I think we'll  
all miss it."  
_dclutter_@_nncogannett.com_ (mailto:dclutter@nncogannett.com) 



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1521
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org