(The Associated Press circulated the following story on November 23.)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The first phase of renovation of the old Union Pacific Railroad Depot is complete, and the public was allowed to tour the 117-year-old structure Saturday.
“The hardest part is behind us,” Mayor Jack Spiker said earlier in the week, adding that some finish work remains in the lobby and completion of the west wing is months away. “It’s kind of downhill from here, and that’s the reason for the celebration.”
Added Wayne Hansen, chief executive officer of Cheyenne Depot Museum Inc., which manages the building: “Now it’s time to have some fun with it.”
The depot was built in 1886 and renovated in 1929 and 1992.
In 1990, the Wyoming Transportation Museum Corp. was founded to save the depot and convert it to a museum and learning center. The Legislature appropriated $2 million to be matched locally for building stabilization and renovation.
In 2000 the city took possession. That year a design was produced that included a museum on the west end, office space in the middle and a restaurant on the east side.
The Snake River Pub and Grill opened this month, and the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Cheyenne Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Downtown Development Authority and Cheyenne LEADS, the city-county economic development arm, will move in during the next few weeks.
“We’ve put the right partnership together in these tenants,” Spiker said.
Last year, Cheyenne Depot Museum Inc., a nonprofit arm of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, was created to manage the building and museum.
Hansen said the tenants complement each other. The museum gets funding help from the renters, the tenants get to showcase the building, and visitors and residents benefit from both.
“The building becomes a focal point for the future of the community beyond what a museum is,” he said.
Contracts for the west wing’s first and second floors, including an exterior elevator and chairs, are expected to go to bid in January.
“The light at the end of the tunnel is getting so bright that we know we are going to get there,” said engineer Bob Clary, who has worked on project since 1989.
The red-and-gray sandstone, three-story depot was one of the largest and most ornate along the Transcontinental Railroad during the 19th century.
Its style, Richardsonian Romanesque, derives from Henry Hobson Richardson, whose work influenced other prominent American architects such as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.
Eileen Starr, former state architectural historian and author of a book on Wyoming architecture, listed the UP depot No. 2 on her list of favorite Wyoming historic buildings, behind only the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park.
The cost of renovation will likely reach $10 million, Spiker said. Funding has come from a variety of sources, including private donations and a combination of local, state and federal money.
Also under construction is Depot Square, a pedestrian plaza featuring artwork, trees and a stage.