Century-old depot can stay where it is

POTLATCH, Idaho – A 100-year-old railroad depot in northern Idaho won’t have to be moved before being restored, organizers of a preservation group say.

The Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway depot, built in 1906, was bought by the WI&M Railway History Preservation Group in 2001 for $1,000. But it came with a requirement to move it at least 25 feet away from the railroad line that runs in front of it.

Late last month, Watco Companies, which owns the railroad tracks and adjacent land, gave the preservation group a quitclaim deed to land alongside the tracks at the depot, meaning the depot won’t have to be moved.

“Moving it would have taken it out of context,” Don Somers, president of the group, told the Lewiston Tribune.

It also would have cost up to $150,000, said Latah County Commissioner Paul Kimmell, who helped persuade Watco not to require the depot move.

“I hated to see them having to move that depot, which is in pretty tough shape right now,” Kimmell told the Associated Press on Monday. “It was such a neat company town and this depot was an important part of it.”

The depot was the first commercial structure in the town where Potlatch Corp. began. The forest-products company now is based in Spokane.

In recent years, the wooden structure was vacant and covered with protective tarps.

After buying the depot, the preservation group received a $500,000 federal grant through the Idaho Transportation Enhancement Program, plus $57,000 in local donations.

Trains currently don’t run on the tracks, Kimmell said, adding that a refurbished depot might increase tourism.