Save Our Station ramps up preservation efforts

Efforts to save the historic Cheney train depot are picking up steam, and preparing to leave the station, heading down the tracks in search of funding to move, refurbish and maintain the 86-year-old former Northern Pacific terminal.

“We’re ready to move on to the purchasing of land,” Save Our Station (SOS) committee member Joan Mamanakis said.

That move is still in the distance, requiring funds that were estimated at roughly $415,200 in April 2014 when the city passed on a private offer to help purchase and move the depot. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad owns the depot and had applied for a permit to demolish the structure, but has since backed away from the approved permit to allow the SOS efforts to come to fruition.

The committee has done a lot of work on preserving the depot. Classes at Eastern Washington University have assisted by producing reports on potential uses for the structure, identified possible locations and outlined considerations involved in relocating the depot.

One big component has been securing private funding for the project. Cheney native and Alaska businessman Dr. Peter Hansen has agreed to match all donations made to preserve the depot, up to $500,000, donations that include any grants the organization procures.

“Every donation now goes twice as far,” Mamanakis said.

Hansen’s ties to the area run deep, Mamanakis said. Born in Cheney and a graduate of Cheney High School, Hansen’s family have owned a number of businesses in the city including Hansen’s Hardware, Hansen’s Clothing as well as a gas station, a barbershop and other properties.

Mamanakis, who is also the Cheney Historical Museum’s director, said one of Hansen’s grandfathers built Cheney’s first “talkie” movie theater, The Pix Theater, which later became the La Melodoen. Ironically, the theater was not only built in the same year as the depot, but also in the same Spanish-style architecture that makes the depot unique to the region and, at one time, eligible for inclusion on the National Park Service’s National Registry of Historic Places.

“And both of them (Hansen’s grandfathers) arrived here by train,” Mamanakis said.

Mamanakis said Hansen wants to give back to the community by preserving the train station. He also wants to see the community get behind the efforts to purchase, move and maintain it.

To that end, the committee has identified several sites it considers ideal for purchase, although Mamanakis declined to name them because it could impact any negotiations in favor of the property owner. Committee member John Taves said there had also been discussions with a property owner near the city’s information kiosk at First Street and Cheney-Plaza Road about donating land there, and with the owners of the Holiday Inn Express about hotel land.

Taves, who is also a city council member, said he recently had the chance to discuss some grant opportunities for the station with a representative from the State Office of Historical Preservation while he was attending the annual Association of Washington Cities convention in Wenatchee. Taves said SOS was strongly urged to seek a grant from the state office.

“They’re really into railroading,” Taves said. “That would have to be a matching grant, but we have the matching funds.”

Mamanakis said the committee is finalizing its application for 501 (c) 3 non-profit status that would create the Cheney Depot Society, the official organization that would oversee the depot. Right now those functions are under the Cheney Historical Museum umbrella, but will transfer to the Society once the application is complete.

“SOS — Save Our Station is still our rallying cry,” Mamanakis said.

Finally, the committee needs more volunteers, as the tasks are growing larger than the current six members can manage. Mamanakis said they need volunteers with expertise or interest in many areas such as social media, publicity, fundraising and developing relationships with businesses that could potentially locate to the depot once it is moved and refurbished.

“There’s something to fill every skill,” she added.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].