The long awaited renovation and restoration of the old train depot in Palmetto edged a bit closer to reality Feb. 5 with the approval of Canton-based Sutton Architectural Services, Inc. to provide engineering and architectural oversight to the $1 million federal Transportation Enhancement Grant project. At a 25 percent match, the city will be responsible for 25 percent of the project price.

City officials said plans call for restoring the interior of the depot to its original style. Areas of main concern are the floors and the roof, where much of the deterioration has occurred over the years. Current plans call for the 1914 depot to become a railroad-related museum and community center. Mayor Clark Boddie said the overall objective of the project is to restore the building as close as possible to its original design while keeping it functional.

“The train depot being the center of the downtown area, obviously we’re happy about receiving that grant,” Boddie said last year after learning of the grant award. “A lot of times the train depot is the first thing people see when they come to Palmetto. It’s been a priority for me and for the city administrator for quite a few years to secure the funds so we could finally do the restoration of the depot. And I think once it’s finished everybody in Palmetto will be proud of it.”

At the Feb. 5 council meeting, Councilman John Miller asked what level of project input the council might have and whether they would work with the architect. Boddie said City Administrator Bill Shell would be responsible for day-to-day project management effort and that major decisions, with allowable time frames in place, would come to the council.

The 1914 depot originally served both passengers and freight. Beginning in 1966, the depot served as city hall and housed the public works department as well as fire and police. The police department moved in 2001, the last of the city offices housed at the facility.

When originally constructed, the depot consisted of two buildings with a common roof line. The depot was modified by enclosing the area between the two buildings and constructing a 375 square-foot area on the north side of the building for use as the city jail.

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