HOLLY — Months after successfully relocating Holly’s historic Union Depot, village officials have entered the next phase of the decades-long preservation effort: determining what, exactly, everyone should do with it now.
The Village purchased the 1886 depot in 1998, beginning a project that would eventually require grants, fundraising, engineering studies, restoration work and the relocation of a 140-year-old brick structure before anyone became overly distracted by the comparatively minor issue of what would happen inside it.
Officials are now revisiting a use plan developed roughly 20 years ago and gathering new public input. Suggestions have included historical exhibits, visitor information, community meeting space, an event venue and, in one particularly ambitious proposal, a train station.
Officials did not immediately comment on the train station proposal, which planners described as “extremely depot-specific.”
The new suggestions will be reviewed alongside the previous plan to determine whether additional study is needed before officials can begin developing an updated plan for deciding which ideas should receive further consideration.
Local kindergartners have also begun receiving introductory materials on the Depot’s acquisition, relocation and planning history so they will not lose valuable time getting up to speed when appointed to the Depot Use Committee sometime around 2046.
Village officials said they hope to identify a permanent use well before the Depot’s 200th anniversary in 2086, though planners cautioned against establishing unrealistic deadlines this early in the process.