MACHIAS, Maine — The Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce will begin restoring the inside of the former Machias train station this fall in hopes of moving in before Christmas.
The work will “keep the interior as original as possible,” chamber Director Sharon Mack said this week.
The chamber is “in the midst of a capital campaign” and has raised more than $15,000 toward the $50,000 renovation effort. The organization will start with that money and use a line of credit that it will pay back in monthly installments to cover the costs.
Chamber officials hope some of the needed funding will come from one of six grants totalling about $110,000 that have been sought.
“You always apply for six or seven [grants] and you might get one,” Mack said, adding that the chamber will hear about whether it won any of the grants sometime in the spring.
The town officially owns the former train station, which is empty, so the town needs to be the one to actually apply for the grants, Mack said. The chamber has a 99-year lease on the building for $1 per year, but the renovations are needed before the organization can move in.
She said the contractor who will begin work soon — 10:31 Builders of Jonesboro — will build a bathroom, reconstruct damaged walls, and install lights, insulation, wiring and a heating system.
“The walls are damaged and contain many coats of lead paint, so we’ve been given permission to enclose them inside a replica wall,” she said. “[Where] original pieces of wall or molding are missing, we must replicate them.”
Once renovation is complete, the station will serve as an office of tourism and a meeting place. The interior will include a community room in the original waiting room, a public handicapped accessible bathroom, and a tourism and chamber office in the original station master’s office.
“Our intent is to return [the station] as a landmark and a hub of activity for this community,” Mack said. “They deserve a place that will serve the tourists because this is a tourist-based area.”
Chamber officials believe its restoration will send a message that Machias offers beauty, enrichment opportunities and a sense of community to businesses that might decide to locate here.
The station, built in 1898, was one of 24 railway stations built by the Washington County Railroad, said Christi Mitchell, architectural historian for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
In 1904, the station was leased to Maine Central and, in 1911, Maine Central absorbed it, she said.
Passenger service was discontinued in late 1957 and the station was abandoned in 1985, Mitchell said.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places Oct. 2, 1992.
Mack said restoration efforts actually began in 1994 but faltered when the organizer died. After a succession of leadership turnovers, the chamber got involved a few years later.
When Mack came on as chamber director three years ago, “the directors made it clear that this was a priority for them,” she said.
Over the last several years, the station has received a new roof, a new foundation and exterior painting. It also received new, historically accurate windows placed in historically accurate locations.
“Maine Historic Preservation guides everything we do to this building because it’s on the National Registry of Historic Places,” said Mack. Beginning in 2013, the chamber launched a series of events including the Harvest Fair, Christmas Celebration and outdoor summer movies as fundraisers for the station.
This year’s Harvest Fair is set for 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at the Lee Pellon Center. The event will include a flea market with crafters and farmers, a stage with live music noon-5 p.m., a color dash at 9 a.m., and a wine and beer tasting 2-5 p.m. For more information, call the chamber at 255-4402.