Pere Marquette Depot, symbol of vibrant early Bay City, stands ready to greet visitors once again.

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Restored Pere Marquette Depot Opens Today with First Tenants in 39 Years

Public Can View Results of $6.2 Million Restoration Project at 3 p.m.

June 15, 2008
By: Dave Rogers

CHOO! CHOO!

You will hear the train whistles only in your mind, but the spirit of the golden days of the last century will awaken your senses.

Historic restoration at its best will be on display Monday in the heart of Bay City.

The Pere Marquette Union Station Depot, 919 Boutell Place, opens to the public with ceremonies at 3 p.m.

There'll be no rowdy lumberjacks arriving on trains, only well-dressed donors and community patrons browsing the freshly painted and marble buffed interior.

Where only bus passengers lounged four decades ago when the depot was a Greyhound terminal, now grant-makers and grant-seekers and tourists and tourism mavens will inhabit the cavernous station.

The depot will be home to the offices of the Bay Area Community Foundation (BACF) and the Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), a fitting setting for planning community growth.

The Rotary Club of Bay City has donated $150,000 toward landscaping the grounds of the magnificent prairie-style structure, built in 1904 in the essence of Frank Lloyd Wright's design concept that was sweeping the country.

Thankfully, instead of being torn down as are many historic structures that have failed to stand the test of time, financier Charles Curtiss of the Great Lakes Center Foundation and former banker Cliff VanDyke of the Bay County Growth Alliance adopted the depot.

Applying little-used (at least in this area) historic tax credits, grants and other financial instruments, the pair collaborated with the Bay Area Community Foundation executive, Eileen Curtis, and the CVB director, Shirley Roberts, and community groups, to restore the building.

The 15-month project won financial support from the Bay Area Community Foundation, the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation of Midland and other foundations, state and federal agencies and the City of Bay City.

Back on top went a replica of the station's picturesque bell tower, replete with ornate stone decorations. According to federal and state grant requirements, the building had to be restored as closely as possible to its original style and configuration. That included copper flashing, a pent roof and tile roof coverings, among many special features that were replicated.

"The renovation and rehabilitation of the depot maintained as many key features as possible from the original structure," said Mr. Curtiss. Windows and door openings were returned to their original configuration. Exterior awnings removed the 1950s were reconstructed and the interior waiting room has been refurbished and returned to its original two stories.

Mr. Curtiss credited Quinn Evans Architects, Ann Arbor, with achieving restoration according to historic guidelines. "Ilene (Rogers) Tyler, a former Bay Cityan, and Ann Dilcher from Quinn Evans worked with Gregory Construction to recover and reuse existing depot materials whenever possible," he said. "Significant work was put into creating new materials to match the early 1900s craftsmanship."

The original depot was designed by William T. Cooper, a Saginaw architect, and built by local contractors Matthew Lamont and J.H. Tennant. It is on the state and federal historic registers.

Now, on Monday, the old building will make some more history.###

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Dave Rogers
Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read, respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City. More from Dave Rogers

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June 15, 2008

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nd 07-26-2010