LEHI -- One of the oldest railroad depot buildings in the West is just $56,776 and a few months away from full restoration. Nearly $142,000 has already been spent.
Lehi's Utah Southern/Union Pacific Railroad Depot is now on a permanent pad at the original site of the depot, 225 E. State, in the heart of the Lehi historic business district.Missing native lumber planking and glass windows have been replaced. The exterior gleams and will soon be painted in the original colors of railroad red and forest green.
The two-story interior is being painstakingly restored by volunteers.
The completion is tentatively set for mid-July, but more money needs to be raised before then, said Richard Van Wagoner, projects manager for the Lehi Historical Preservation Commission.
"The latest cost estimates for the entire project are $198,760.78," Van Wagoner said. "We are working on raising the final $56,776."
"We have $150,000 that has come in from donations and grants from the Department of the Interior, but we only received $5,000 from the Union Pacific Railroad when we were expecting much more," said Carl Mellor, a member of the historical preservation commission and a city councilman.
The building is 130 years old, on the National Historic Register and is the last standing building of the Mormon Railroad lines. Built in 1870 at the request of early LDS Church President Brigham Young, president of the Utah Southern Railroad Co., the effect on the town of Lehi was dramatic.
"Teamsters and bullwhackers transported goods to and from points south as well as timber and ore from the rich mines in American Fork Canyon and the Tintic District," Van Wagoner said. 'Many Lehi men found employment in the freighting and forwarding businesses. Numerous saloons, boarding houses and shops sprang up along the State Road."
The depot was in service in various capacities from 1872 until 1973, when it was abandoned. Nine railroad companies used the depot and it served as an office for Deseret Telegraph. The station master lived in the depot building. The large passenger waiting area was sometimes used as a dance hall.
It became the property of the commission in 1996.
Members of the historical preservation commission asked city leaders in 1995 for permission to pursue restoration and to construct the Frank H. Eastmond Park around the site. The commission hired Dan Losee Architects to help oversee the refurbishment.
Once restored, the depot will serve as a transportation museum and as a home to the Wasatch Model Railroaders Association, the Lehi Chamber of Commerce and the Lehi Civic Improvement Association.
It may also be one of the station stops for Utah Transit Authority's proposed commuter trains.