CALLICOON  — Representatives from seven architectural firms attended last Friday morning’s walk-through of the Callicoon Depot guided by members of the Callicoon Depot Inc. (CDI) and Callicoon Business Assn. (CBA).

“We see this project as being very important to advancing the resources of the community,” CDI President Darko Hreljanovic said. 

The capital improvement project, which will include office space, a conference room, a visitors center and several restrooms, is being funded in large part from a $250,000 grant from the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway (UDSB), who will have an office in the building.

“They (UDSB) are the tenant putting forth the funding and managing the visitors center,” Hreljanovic said. “There are three organizations working together on this project.”

The Callicoon Business Assn., which was awarded a $75,000 Golden Feather Award from Sullivan Renaissance nearly five years ago, will fund the architectural design of the project.

Hreljanovic, with the help of his fellow CDI board members, will oversee the design and work on the depot. He and fellow CDI members explained the history of the depot along with the conceptual design the group is looking to achieve.

The firms which attended were from Callicoon, Orange County and the Greater Metropolitan Area.

They have until March 7 to submit proposals for consideration.

“The first phase will be getting the visitors section in,” Hreljanovic said. “We will also want to bring the entire building into a state of good repair.”

As the architects toured the 128-year-old structure they were given a history of its use by Randy Bushart, a member of the CDI and Callicoon Depot Historian, who worked for the railroad for 36 years.

“The original depot burned down in 1895 and this depot was opened in December 1896,” he said. “Passenger service ended just after Thanksgiving in 1966 and after 1966 this station was used mostly for storage of materials and offices.

“The Freight Agent went away in 1981,” he said. “And then it was used strictly for maintenance. It was one of the larger buildings on the line.”

Bushart said nearly every station from Port Jervis to Hancock was torn down as the railroad tried to reduce its assessment on the tax rolls.

“This is not a [Historical] Landmark building but it is on the [Historical] Register,” Hreljanovic said. “We are interested in preserving the historical character, using a ‘light touch’ [in the redesign]. Sensitivity to architectural values is important.”

The project will be done in several phases and the architects were advised that whatever phase gets done first needs to be self-sufficient.