By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
On an otherwise chilly, overcast December afternoon a ray of light shined on Galion’s Big Four Depot as shovels were put into the ground signifying the next chapter of the former train station.
While the depot isn’t getting a full restoration quite yet, the ground breaking ceremony held Saturday afternoon signified the beginning of the Pavilion at the Big Four Depot. Expected to be completed prior to Memorial Day next year, the Pavilion at the Galion Big Four Depot will be a multi-use pavilion for community events which could include live performances, art displays, and rental for the venue.
Marty (Hover) Cecil of the Friends of the Big Four Depot revealed why the depot is so important to her.
“My father moved to Galion and worked for the railroad station as a road foreman and this was his office. I think it is kind of unique that my dad had been a fireman and an engineer, and the railroad trusted him enough to move into management. So he was one of the rare people who started in labor and then moved into management,” Cecil reflected. “Then on the other side the part of the depot where the windows face the tracks, when he was train master, which he became later, that was his office. So you could sit back in one of those old fashioned roller chairs and you could watch the tracks from either way.”
“It is an amazing thing we used to have three of the major railroads in the entire east. Two of them that were in the city: we have the Eerie, the New York Central, and the Pennsylvania five miles away in Crestline,” Cecil continued. “This was a huge railroad center. At the height of the railroad era there were 120 trains a day that would go through Galion. We want to bring the joy back.”
Cecil noted that when the depot project began to take root the Friends of the Big Four Depot got in contact with a professor from Toledo University, who told them that they had a depot that was becoming scarce in America.
“We talked to a professor from Toledo, and he immediately said, ‘You want to save this because it is a gem.’ We have been told that it is the last standing division headquarters depot between Cleveland to Saint Louis. We aren’t sure about that, but it is so important to save this.”
Galion Mayor Tom O’Leary was excited to break ground on the project.
“It is big step for it, this money has been available from the state for well over a decade, and while we have been in fiscal emergency it has been difficult to access those funds. So what we are excited about is over the past six months we have worked with the state, got approval to use these funds for this kind of project, went through kind of a laborious design and bidding process, but we got awardable bids signed a contract with Weithman Brothers and a construction schedule that allows this project to be put into use sometime around Memorial day.” O’Leary said.
The pavilion will be a one story, 1,205 square-foot building which could be enclosed and will feature a fireplace and wraparound overhang.
Both Cecil and O’Leary spoke about a few of the uses that the Pavilion could have once it is renovated.
“It is going to be awesome. We hope to have choral groups, theater, bands, class reunions, weddings, I can’t wait to get my class up here. Probably the most important thing (is) May, we are kind of aiming for May 20, but that depends on the weather and everything, but in May we are going to have our grand opening and we are going to have an auction. Any monies that come from the pavilion for these rentals, for the art shows and things like that, the money is all going to the depot.”
With all of the proceeds going towards the renovation of the depot both O’Leary and Cecil envisioned what uses the depot would be able to accommodate once it is renovated.
“The mayor would be best to talk about this but he is talking about opening up the main floor, opening up our lobby. We would like to do entrepreneurial things, we would like to have shared space, we have one of our board members talking about having photographers could rent space. We have a room that would make a great board room if you need to have meetings,” Cecil said. “We hope to have one room that is a museum, bringing different things from different railroaders, as well as my family, that would be on loan from the families. It wouldn’t be a donation, but it would be an on-loan thing where the museum is open to see the different railroad items.”
“I think what we are going to do with the money this year, with the money coming into the depot project from the city next year is to pay for a preliminary engineering design for the interior of this so we have a use plan, and then we can begin the process of timing renovation and putting together a budget,” O’Leary added.
“I think what the nonprofit is considering is a transit center,” O’Leary continued. “Public transportation in Crawford County is going to change over the next couple of years, and Galion needs to be a part of that. So I see this as a bus depot, and perhaps as a location for the bus company that is coming out of Seneca County to have a Crawford County Office.”
O’Leary continued noting that the depot could become another center of transit.
“A year ago we hired someone who is very much involved in depot renovation operations in Tuscarwaras County. She came up and gave us some hints and helped organize our efforts,” O’Leary explained. “One of the things she pointed out was that in an extent we could use the building in a renovation for what it was used for originally, and I think that stuck with us because this was always a depot. A place for people to gather to catch a train, and in the future we hope to catch a bus.”
O’Leary continued with possible plans for the second floor of the Big Four Depot.
“The second floor was offices, and what we are envisioning is a joint use space. Where local photographers for instance that don’t have a studio could have a studio and share it among three or four cottage industries. I think of some of the people who ride the bus, we could have legal services, counseling services. What happens when you don’t have transit in in the county can leave some people high and dry. So we could see that as a use for medical counseling, legal appointments, and those kinds of things. Ben Carum is the gentleman whose idea that is. He works in an office sharing space in Columbus, and I believe Mansfield has something like that, so this would be Galion’s version of this.”
Cecil added that those interested in model railroads would be able to have a display within the depot.
The project for the pavilion is funded with a $200,000 grant from the Ohio Cultural Facilities Commission, and up to $30,000 in local funds. Galion City Council authorized the grant application in March and the State of Ohio Controlling Board officially approved funding in June. The architect for the project is John Grauduss and will be contracted through the Weithman Brothers.
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