SALEM — After years of hard work by volunteers, the restored Depot train station is almost ready to welcome visitors — and a tenant.
"We're better than 95 percent complete," said Henry LaBranche, acting town manager and coordinator of the renovation.
A small museum is planned inside the restored train station, but the town also has formed a committee to send out requests for proposals for a lease of the property.
The committee, facilitated by Community Development Director William Scott, will hammer out the details of building maintenance and other issues with potential tenants before bringing a tenant to the selectmen for a final decision.
LaBranche said the committee also will be tasked with finding the type of tenant the town would like in the station, perhaps a small business or nonprofit organization with just one or two people who could share space with the museum.
"It's small," he said. "There may well be some awkward moments and that's part of what we're going to ask people to sort out."
The upstairs is about 600 square feet. If the committee decides to finish a basement, that could add about 300 square feet as a conference room, LaBranche said.
The museum, meanwhile, will be run by the Salem Historical Society.
"As soon as building is complete, the historical society has been collecting artifacts and they can begin to put into place their plan," LaBranche said.
The station was once an eyesore, with a badly fading paint job and an addition that didn't belong on the original structure. The Depot Revitalization Committee raised money privately to restore the building, owned by the town, to its former look.
At the same time, work is under way on the tracks that ran alongside the building, with the creation of a rail trail path for biking and walking from Derry to Salem. A new restaurant, Tuscan Kitchen, next door and future development could bring more foot traffic, and visitors, to the station.
This October will mark three years that the project has been under way, LaBranche said.
"It's been a pay as you go," he said. "When we have the money, we do the work."
He said the committee had help from donors, both privately and through a tax credit program that rewards companies for investing in approved community development projects.
LaBranche said the committee hopes to have an open house at the train station sometime in October. The last of the work that still needs to be done includes the installation of a railing, a vanity in the bathrooms, molding and paint touch up.
• • •
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
