Idaho Train Depot To Fall
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Mar. 10, 2009
Town leaders say the 1891 depot is "listing" and would be too expensive to repair.
Credit: Preservation Idaho
A divisive debate over the fate of a deteriorating railroad depot in northern Idaho is over. Last night the city council of Kendrick, pop. 350, voted to demolish the 1891 depot, one of the oldest buildings in town, to make way for a recreational-vehicle rental site.
More than 200 people have signed an online petition urging Kendrick's leaders to allow a local group to restore the building. Nonetheless, the depot will be dismantled in two weeks, weather permitting, says Brad Dammerman of Bovill-based Timberworks, Inc., who will pay the city $50 for the structure. The council and mayor voted 3-0 on Mar. 9 to accept Timberworks' salvage offer. "None of the wood will go to the landfill; 100 percent will be salvaged and used in newer buildings," Dammerman says.
That's little consolation for Carol Haynes, who formed a group last fall to save the depot and reuse it as a visitors center and museum. Her group, the Kendrick Depot Preservation Committee, offered the city council $5,000 for the building, and proposed signing a 50-year lease at the rate of $1 per year.
"We're willing to raise the money and do the work, and they won't let us," Haynes says. "It's mind-boggling."
Kendrick Mayor Dale Lisher says the building has long been an eyesore. "I'd like to preserve it, too, but it's too far gone," Lisher says. "It's not feasible to put that kind of money into something like that."
Last fall, the city hired a state building inspector to evaluate the building's condition. According to inspector Steve Meshishnek, "It's not structurally sound at all. The pilings are falling apart."
The Idaho State Historical Society expressed its support for the depot in an open letter dated Mar. 6. "The depot embodies Kendrick's railroad history and provides a physical link to the community's past," wrote Janet Gallimore, the society's executive director. "It is the last remaining building in town that communicates this heritage and can be viewed as worthy of preservation for that reason alone."
Trains stopped running through Kendrick in 1984, and the railroad line was converted to a bike trail that was dedicated in 2002, the same year the depot was donated to the city.
The depot isn't listed on the state register, and it's not eligible for the National Register because the Northern Pacific Railway removed its top floor in 1960.
Even if it were protected, however, town leaders have other plans for the city-owned land. Lisher says the city received a $23,000 grant from the state of Idaho's Parks & Recreation department to create an RV park. So far, four parking sites have been established near the depot. "We want to fix it up and make a little park right there," Lisher says. "We have to have it used up by June or we lose it."
"We're pretty sure that if we restore it, we'll get more people [to visit] the town," Haynes says. "But they're just determined to put in an RV site."
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Comments
Submitted by passing through at: March 31, 2011
90% of the time it is all about the money. The "leaders" are spending money just to show... look what we built, please re-elect me. Sad situation all the way around, knowing this it doesn't look like a place I would want to stop and spend any money.
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: February 3, 2010
The legacy of the Kendrick mayor and City council is they did not really try to work nything out with the people who wanted to preserver history, and that is wrong! I don't agree with refusal to come to fair agreements! Once the siding was removed the depot looked structurally sound to me, new vinyl siding would have been all it needed plus the repair of only one pier block support about five thousand dollars total for new siding and the foundation work I originally tought the depot was too far gone but now I know more and It could have been saved! It was not beyond repair!
Submitted by a tourist at: January 12, 2010
This is absurd. NO ONE is going to visit Kendrick, ID to see a barely salvaged building. On the other hand they may come for the camping. The potential tourism will certainly out weigh the $5,000 that was offered for the building. Be reasonable, the building is an eyesore and beyond repair.
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: May 1, 2009
even 'though the city no longer owns the depot , Mayor Lisher is still interefering with the owner of it who is moving it to another property. It is outrageous how much Lisher manipulates!
Submitted by everyone at: April 10, 2009
this is on the conscience of the Kendrick City government so please register to vote now if your not registered yet
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: April 10, 2009
Who is Gordon Maynard? I never met him!
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: April 10, 2009
THings are in the works, it isn't over yet
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: April 9, 2009
It would be nice to just see a paint job done on the existing freight room to see the depot look nicer just once I have never seen it look nice, I grew up as a military dependent all buildings were systematically torn down if any show of wear was noticed by the military, I HONESTLY NEVER EVER SAW OLD HISTORIC BUILDINGS UNTIL i FINALLY LEFT THE MILITARY RESERVATIONS. Old buildings do not exist on base!
Submitted by Joyce Russell Brocke at: April 9, 2009
I care about this and other issues in my precinct however I am alarmed at the angers that have developed in this issue because life is short,the depot could look a lot nicer with paint and new pier blocks beneath it. as I work my precinct I am hearing that the voters do so want to preserve this depot and I hear folks upset at a city council they cannot influence or talk to this must change for it to be a democracy, my father spent 20 years in the Air Force and ten years in the Reserve and time in the Army air Force he helped start the US Air Force and served at the end of the second World War and in Korea and there was briefly a Prisoner of War, I took the oath of military service myself at age eighteen to defend my country, and have the National Defense Service medal, but Dad has tons of ribbons and medals, he defended the right to vote through his military service as I defended it through my military service during the VietNam era, I grew up in a war zone as a child in occupied Japan- Sasebo and Itazuke Air Force Base in occupied Japan, an occupied country is a war zone. I lived war all my life and I support the political process of voting in this nation as an honorably discharged veteran of the united States military, it is hard for me to accept the Kendrick City Council's leadership since the Mayor is not himself even a veteran and hs never taken the oath of military service to defend this nation from enemies foreign and domestic. I feel the recall process is merely giving the issues back to the voters, it is part of what my Father and others sacrificed for in the military and during wars. I believe in a democracy and a recall gives it to the voters; signing a petition only places the issues before the voters!
Submitted by Jennifer at: March 19, 2009
why can't they just dismantle and re-establish the depot building at another, more enlightened, town in Idaho. One man's trash is another's treasure.
Submitted by Dale Lisher, Mayor at: March 17, 2009
Why can't you all recognize that this is in the best interests of Kendrick?
Submitted by Joyce Brocke at: March 17, 2009
It concerns me very much also that a poor town turned down $5.000.00 for this Depot building, the town of Kendrick isn't a wealthy community to start with, I thought the city council would negotiate for a deal both sides could live with but the city feels this committee to preserve the Depot is trying to grab their land and one person referred to it as surplus land when facts is Kendrick doesn't really have any surplus land and not much land is owned by the city of Kendrick anyhow! The Rv sites would go nicely with a restored Depot building with the WiFi that would have been wonderful. I still feel the ballot box is the best place for this debate!
Submitted by Joyce Brocke at: March 17, 2009
I think this issue should have been put to the voters of Kendrick so a special election could have been called; since the depot and the land it sits on belongs to the registered voters of kendrick and to no one else
Submitted by Moonbeam at: March 14, 2009
I am so sorry that your city officials have voted to tear this wonderful treasure down. What a waste. When you have citizens who want to work with city and make this a part of heritage for years to come, it saddens me. An RV park will not offer the attraction that this depot will. Isn't there a way to build the RV park so that the folks who might stay there can see the depot. Could the depot be refurbished and used in the RV park as the office etc. It's the age old story of city officials needing to hold hands with preservationists and developers holding hands with preservationists. Shame Shame on you.
Submitted by Gordon Maynard at: March 11, 2009
Why not ask the residents of Kendrick to just leave town forever
Submitted by Anonymous at: March 11, 2009
Why not unincorporate the city of kendrick
Submitted by Bob Hassoldt at: March 11, 2009
Brocke and sons buildings fell down , so they should donate their land to the Depot Preservation committee and since I am Grangemaster they should remodel the Grange Hall and build me a luxury apartment in there plus thew Garden Club ought to walk my dogs daily.
Submitted by Carol Haynes at: March 11, 2009
Next our committee intends to tell each resident how to live in their homes, we oppose freedom , that is why we don't respect the duly elected Kendrick City Council! We should egg city hall! That is the reasonable way to deal with this and we should attack the handicapped and seniors for having issues that detract from our agenda, have a nice omelet!
Submitted by Carol Haynes at: March 11, 2009
We can attend city council meetings and glare at the Mayor and criticize the ones we don't like because we can, everyone knows that I want on the city council so I can control the city I have so many supporters hardly any are from Kendrick but still we can bitch our way into power
Submitted by Carol Haynes at: March 11, 2009
it isn't nice to cross our committee!
Submitted by Carol Haynes at: March 11, 2009
The city can easily get more RV site grants when land is made available by taking the depot down once and for all, we know it is the smart thing to do, but the depot preservation committee really wants to control the city of Kendrick and prevent it from serving the residents and citizens of Kendrick, why have a city council when we can bully and shove our way into controlling the city by disrespecting the Mayor and city council!
Submitted by Joyce Brocke at: March 11, 2009
The actual residents of kendrick aren't very interested in having that depot restored, those of us with children and Grandchildren growing up here worry about that peeling lead paint and most of that committee doesn't live in Kendrick but they want to dictate how our city is run by browbeating our elected Mayor and council. I say get the lead out!
Submitted by Aladia at: March 11, 2009
The city of Kendrick lacks peace because of outside agitators like those on the Depot Preservation committee who wanted to control the city property for the next fifty years. This is sad.
Submitted by Anonymous at: March 11, 2009
Sharon Harris had a noble idea if only this idea were put into place a very long time ago when the depot building was still viable. Perhaps now the city can move forward and deal with long delayed issues that affect the residents of Kendrick!
Submitted by Joyce Brocke at: March 11, 2009
The voters and residents of Kendrick would dearly like to have peace instead of this divisive depot issue, I picked up a take out order from Archie's tonight and the waitress didn't see why anyone would want to preserve that ugly structure. It is ugly and there is dangerous toxic lead peeling paint, the building slumps in the middle and has been abandoned for about 48 years. The city has other uses for their real estate. A few years back Uncle Dick came and they had to rent an RV site in Lewiston, we use our 38 foot RV as our guest room it would be nicer to be able to hook it on tro an RV site for the water and sewer. I think the enterprise that the Depot committee had in mind would have been like a carnival sideshow and that is not what kendrick is about at all. our family is expecting a Grandchild in a high risk pregnancy and that is our priority. The Mayor solemnized our son's marriage in his kitchen and it was a beautiful ceremony. Life is not about preserving the past, it is about the future, about babies, children and community. I think that is far more important, our family has many generations of my husband's family buried here at American Ridge cemetery. They are people who we knew and loved, my heart was broken when my Mother and Father in law died in the 1993 mudslide, we are the second generation living in this house and we kept this old house because the children wanted us to, we are Kendrickites for life. My husband took that train as a boy to Lewiston and then to New York to visit Aunts. I took the train through Lewiston and probablyt through Kendrick at age three after our family returned from Lajes Air Force Base in the Azores to Pontiac, michigan to buy a car that had no back door since it upset Mom so much when my brother Harold fell out the back door. Even my husband says the depot building is too far gone to be saved. I spent most of my life overseas in Europe and Japan near Nagasaki when I was growing up, my father was a POW in Korea, when repatriating to the USA between age 8 and nine the airplane I was coming home to the states on had two engines catch on fire, we had to make an emergency landing in Wake Island; as a child I had no say about being sent to occupied Japan, the Generals felt the Japanese would trust us more if we brought our families and children to Japan. I almost died for my country then and I hardly even remembered it, when I arrived in the states I didn't know the currency, and they had pay toilets, that was the first time I broke the law, not knowing which coin was for the slot, I had to "steal" lavatory services. I didn't think much of the USA then, but I have grown to love this country very dearly. I took the oath of military service myself in 1969, willing to lay down my life for this nation and earned the National Defense Service Medal,in the military when a building is old they tear it down and no protests are allowed, we had a terrible typhoon in Japan afterwards they tore down every house and building in Itazuki Air Force Base and rebuilt them from the foundation up. I loved that base , it was beautiful, not far from Nagasaki, just a few miles from Sasebo. My father was always gone to Korea in that war and I recall looking at a globe to find Korea, where Daddy was and I remember so many airplane crashes on the military bases I grew up on while the people of Kendrick lived in this safe town so far away I lived in occupied Japan, my Father's life was always on the line. When war comes here to the USA things will change, a country at war becomes very transient and would need all the RV sites available. I have evacuated many times and slept in the back of the car. I want peace more than anyone I know and Kendrick represents peace for me, I love my family here so much, and tourists might be nice but an old unsafe ugly building that has seen better days is not worth all these quarrels, it is time to move on so we as a city can deal with far more important matters, in Kendrick the city owns the water rights they can cut struggling families off their water if they cannot pay. I want this stopped but the depot has dominated the agenda for so long these issues have yet to be heard, it is a tree city but in our yards the trees die for lack of water, the lawens turn brown, the shrubbery dies, only the wealthy can pay the price for water, yet our city got a grant for a new water tank that does not leak, we were losing 12,000 gallons a month from that old concrete leaking water tank so we have reclaimed 12,000 gallons a month, we can now easily afford to give some of that water to the community for the poor, the elderly and struggling families since the city cannot store it. The depot is not as important as the issues of seniors who must choose to pay their Kendrick City water sewage and garbage bill or pay for their medicine! We don't need that building as much as we need each other, the way folks have been biting at each other and quarreling over this depot they forgot how special America really is. As a girl I didn't want to come back to repatriate to a country I didn't remember, they had to bribe me with funny books to get me on the airplane. I am ashamed that Kendrick has divided so deeply over this issue because we do have many far more important issues! Plus my Father risked his life daily for the democracy this country represents, it is wrong to fight with each other on this stupid matter! People should be coming together in these hard times.
Submitted by Joyce Brocke at: March 11, 2009
On the petition the Depot preservation committee had online they did not allow for hearing the other side of this issue; which is too bad for everyone concerned because these preservationists had many years to at least add vinyl siding on this structure in order to protect our community from the peeling lead paint that is a large concern to parents and Grandparents in Kendrick, the city council represents the qualified voters of Kendrick and the decision that they made was a difficult one there is rat and raccoon damage in there which can mean Hanta virus deadly to the public and this committee wanted to hang sheetrock over that and drag the public in there and endanger them. It could have been very hazardous. If someone had torched and burned this building down the dangerous lead would be in the air and smoke, it would be toxic. I am an asthmatic and I don't want any fires in Kendrick like that and I would like to see the building with the lead paint gone for the safety of the children of kendrick plus the city council has dealt wit this issue far too long, I am on the handicapped committee and so I have to attend the meetings and listen to these selfish people who dominate our council meetings while most of them don't even live in Kendrick; some of the far more important issues involve that the city should cut a break for struggling elderly, families with children, and the disabled on the utility bills and not shut water off for families in these hard times but should instead put liens on wealthy landlords instead when the water bill isn't paid. Our children are the greatest heritage we have and this building sits on property that does not belong to thisdepot preservation committee, this has been a land grab effort and nothing more, it belongs to the city and not to everyone interested in stealing the use of Kendrick's real estate!
Submitted by SavetheDepot at: March 10, 2009
First built in 1890 by the Northern Pacific Railway, it is the only remaining depot of its kind of the total of 34 built in WA, ID, OR, MT and ND using the Standard 1890 freight and passenger wood design. It may very well be the last in the entire northwestern United States. PLEASE HELP US SAVE THIS HISTORICAL LANDMARK! The city council of Kendrick, Idaho, is planning to destroy what many believe to be a historical landmark and treasure. Please help prevent this from happening by emailing, posting, and otherwise directing people to this website where visitors can read more information regarding our efforts to preserve this bit of history for generations to come as well as sign our on-line petition. The following can be used for purposes of emailing, posting etc.; Dear ____________ I have just read and signed the petition: "PETITION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE KENDRICK DEPOT". Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 500 signatures - please sign here: http://thepetitionsite.com/160/petition-for-the-preservation-of-the-kendrick-depot Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well. Any and all efforts in helping us save this historic train depot will be deeply appreciated. If you are interested in reading more about our efforts to save this Idaho historical landmark, please visit the following website; http://savethedepot.blogspot.com Thank you! YOUR NAME You can also contact the Kendrick City Council and let them know that you support the preservation of this historic depot - by email at: cityofkendrick@tds.net or by phone at: (208)289-5157. A special thanks to all those who are supporting our efforts! Kindest regards, Scott Thurston KDPC Member