Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
WESTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A non-profit organization is working to revive an historic rail depot in Weston.
The Weston Rail Depot, built in 1881, ceased train operations back in 1980. Besides a stint as a newspaper distribution center, it has remained largely empty and unrenovated for decades.
The depot has garnered a following for its historical significance from the non-profit Friends of the Weston Depot.
“The reason we want to preserve this building is because it's the actual building from 1881,” said Nikolas Steedle, the organization's rail historian.
Friends of the Weston Depot acquired the building in late December and are now working towards stabilizing the structure. Even they can admit that it is a fixer-upper to say the least, with the roof falling off and the walls barely holding on.
“It's a pristine example of a 19th century railroad building,” president of the organization Alicia Primer said. “It actually looks better on the outside than it does on the inside because there's a little paint clinging to the outside," she joked.
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Once the building is stabilized, the non-profit plans to turn the depot into something new entirely for the community to enjoy.
Primer said that the most common suggestions have been a coffee shop, and ice cream stand, but she said perhaps the best idea would be for something with restrooms, as this section of the Mass Central Rail Trail is sorely lacking them.
The organization wants to raise between 1.5 and $2 million for the renovation project, an amount that Primer and the others felt was eminently doable, especially in a town with a tax base like Weston.
“When we care about things in Weston, we spend money on things,” she said.
More information on the Friends of the Weston Depot can be found here.