"But it can be done. You can move buildings." "It’s in a precarious position sitting 20 feet from the tracks," Kimmer said. The group may also be able to research and apply for grant funding in the future to help fund that effort.īut the station's location could present a problem, she said. They connected only a few weeks ago and both plan to be a part of the effort to preserve it, but they need a bigger coalition of interested citizens to make that happen, Weaver said, and what likely amounts to a considerable amount of money.ġ45-year-old Charlotte landmark still has lifeĬharlotte schools $29.85M tax proposal: What you need to knowĬharlotte housing complex isn't ready yet, but has a long waiting list 'What’s going to happen to this place?'Ĭourthouse Square Association Manager Julie Kimmer said the nonprofit could facilitate an effort to preserve the train station. That uncertainty doesn't surprise Bankhead or Weaver, who called the situation a case of "benign neglect."īoth men began taking an interest in the station's waning condition independent of each other. Staff are "taking a look at the property," Waldron said, but he didn't have definitive answers to questions about what Canadian National Railroad could or would do to help facilitate it's preservation. He said the company is aware of Weaver's inquiry into the train station. On Thursday Patrick Waldron, senior manager of media relations for Canadian National Railroad, had no answers. Would the company give it to the group, Weaver wants to know, or if they'd have to buy it? He wants to ask the company how a group like Courthouse Square might assume ownership of the building. "What we’re looking for is who to talk about this within the company,” Weaver said, Thursday. More than a week later Weaver is still trying to reach someone at the company about the building's fate. Step one, Weaver said, was reaching out to the building's owners, Canadian National Railroad.Ĭity staff were able to verify the company owned the building, but a regional real estate manager for Canadian National didn't know the building existed when Weaver called him about it. This month he got that ball rolling, getting the go-ahead from the association board to investigate what it would take to preserve the train station. It will take a community effort to save the building, Weaver said. The 15-member CSA board operates on an annual budget of less than $70,000, and with it they maintain and care for three notable pieces of history - the 1885 Eaton County Courthouse in Charlotte's downtown, the 1873 former sheriff's residence that sits next door and the 1845 Courthouse near Bennett Park. The nonprofit is dedicated to the preservation of county history. “Once the roof goes, the next thing will be the brick walls that eventually erode and collapse.”Īs president of Courthouse Square Association, Weaver could be in a position to help do something about it. “Our fear is that in another 10 to 20 years this whole thing is going to be a pile of bricks,” he said. Rod Weaver believes the Grand Trunk Western station, which sits to the side of the tracks north of the city's downtown, has two decades, tops, before it becomes nothing but rubble. It’s got three nice windows at the end, and a couple facing the track.” “This big door that’s boarded off there, you can see the ramp where they used to push the baggage cart up there," Bankhead said. "The other side was where the waiting room was. Trains traveled from northeast to southwest, stopping there several times a day. The Grand Trunk station was the busiest of the two, Eaton County Historical Commission member Deb Malewski said. The second station, utilized by the Michigan Central Grand Rapids branch of the railroad and now home to a Mexican restaurant, sits on the opposite side of North Cochran Avenue. The station was built in 1885, one of two that operated in Charlotte.
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