Depot's destiny: City leaders seeking input
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The Depot building has been closed to the public since the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
The 165-year-old historic Huntsville Depot is getting new attention from the city, which is launching a campaign for public input to help determine the building's next chapter.
Why it matters: As Alabama's oldest surviving depot, the site anchors downtown Huntsville's history — from housing Civil War prisoners to welcoming space pioneer Wernher von Braun.
- Huntsville has launched a survey with a July 14 deadline, and scheduled in-person sessions for July 15 and 16, to gather public input as it contemplates what the future of the seven-acre facility will look like.
Zoom in: The area includes the historic three-story depot building constructed in 1860, baggage platform, the turntable and the Roundhouse, now an event venue.
- Passenger service continued at the site until 1967, and in 1971 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and purchased by the city the next year.
- It first became a transportation museum in 1992, and in 2003, the city entered into a preservation and conservation easement with the state, said Katie Stamps, historic preservation planner with the city.
What they're saying: "It is a special place, and it is a protected place. And it deserves to be seen and deserves to be enjoyed by the public," Mayor Tommy Battle said at a press event Tuesday.
- Officials Tuesday floated numerous ideas for future uses, akin to other historic re-uses in the city like Lowe Mill, Stovehouse or Campus No. 805.
- Its location also provides opportunities to connect to the city's expanding greenway network, noted Dennis Madsen, city manager of urban and long-range planning.
- That includes a potential connection to the city's PARC project that includes a cable-stayed pedestrian bridge over Memorial Parkway.
Between the lines: How the city will go about securing funding for the effort depends on the ultimate use of the site, Stamps said, and options are limited to fund physical rehab of structures.
- She'd like to see some type of regular programming that keeps people in the building and using it, she said.
The bottom line: "It's going to take a lot of money," Stamps said.