BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. (AP) - Town voters are going to be asked to spend $12,000 to evaluate the condition of an historic train station with an eye toward its eventual purchase.
The money would allow the town to evaluate the condition of the historic Bellows Falls train station, which is now owned by Vermont Rail System, Rockingham Development Director Gary Fox said.
Fox told the Rockingham Selectboard last week that any purchase of the train station would not include the land under it, the Brattleboro Reformer reports. The land is suspected of being contaminated.
The rail station, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1922-23. It replaced the original 1852 station which burned in 1921.
If the town owned the station, it would send a signal to federal grant agencies that it wants to maintain a transit station in Bellows Falls, a village within the town of Rockingham, Fox said.
The long-term goal is to attract a tenant to put either a cafe or brew pub in the building.
If the town isn’t interested in the train station project, the Bellows Falls Area Development Corp. would step in, Fox said.
The funding proposal will be on the March Town Meeting Day ballot.
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