(rshsdepot) Howard City, MI

["Jim Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

=46rom the Montcalm County, MI Daily News...

HOWARD CITY - Volunteers are working on giving the historic train depot i=
n
the downtown area a facelift.

A 24- by 20-foot open shelter is being added on the south end and the
building is getting a new roof. They also hope to restore the wood siding=
 to
give the depot an original look.

Helping the group are teen-age volunteers in the Learn and Serve America
program through Montcalm County United Way.

When completed, the structure will equal the size of the original waiting
room. The village government, which owns the building, would like to
eventually use the space as a community room.

Mike Scott, coordinator of the depot renovation committee, who is also th=
e
village president here, said the footings of the original depot were
unearthed during the restoration project.

"At one time, the depot ran the whole block. There were two railroad line=
s
that ran through here," he said.

This town once catered to the Detroit, Grand Rapids and Western. In 1871 =
the
trains were running from Detroit westward to Howard City, with 164 miles =
of
track.

Another line was the Grand Rapids and Indiana, which later became part of
the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Rich Stevens recalls when the last steam engine came through town. "I was=
 a
kid and that was 40 years ago."

Stevens and Scott have been working together on a another project that wi=
ll
one day be a neighbor to the depot.

Just north of the depot is the site for the proposed Reynolds Township
Library.

Stevens, library board chairman, said board members would like to have th=
e
new library reflect the design of the depot. To what extent that comes ab=
out
will be left up to the architects, he said.

The library board hired Dennis Johnson of the Grand Rapids firm Design Wo=
rks
to design the building.

"We still need to come up with the exterior designs. We will have communi=
ty
input but we're still working on a needs assessment for a library," Steve=
ns
said.

Library director Janice Williams said Tuesday the Michigan Department of
Natural Resources has approved moving the White Pine Trail further west a=
t
the building site to make room for a library building.

"We're waiting for the trail to be moved. It's expected to be completed i=
n
this construction season," Williams said.

The White Pine Trail State Park, a 92-mile park corridor, travels what us=
ed
to be the railroad right-of-way extending from Cadillac in Wexford County=
 to
Comstock Park in Kent County.

Stevens also chairs the Downtown Development Authority, which appropriate=
d
funding for the depot project.

The library board will meet Nov. 12 to explore several different funding
options for the library construction, including a bond sale.

Around $400,000 has been raised, so far. Stevens said planners hope to st=
ay
under the $1 million mark for the project.

Williams adds donations are being accepted, although a capital campaign w=
ill
be kicked off at a later date.

=A9The Daily News 2001

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