Hamilton Accepts Donation of B&O Depot

The city council of Hamilton, Ohio, voted 5-2 this week to take possession of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station.

But the building’s fate is far from decided and some council members are opposed to spending city funds to move and preserve the depot that is more than a century old.

Preservation supporters have urged the city to move the building 500 feet away and renovate it into a community and business center.

However, moving the building is estimated to cost $600,000 and the cost of renovating the station and the site on which it would sit has been put at $1.5 million.

“I struggle with the cost to relocate the historic depot,” Hamilton mayor Pat Moeller said. “I really, really struggle with the loss of a historic building that connects Hamilton to Lincoln, Truman and Eisenhower.”

Council member Susan Vaughn argued against spending city funds to move and preserve the building, but seemed open to some sort of city matching donation.

 “We received thousands of signatures on petitions,” she said. “Maybe if each one of those came with a $100 commitment, maybe we would’ve raised $200,000. Maybe that would help with the moving.”

Another council member, Carla Fieher, said the money that might be spent on saving the depot would be better used for other purposes.

Yet mayor Moeller countered that no other building in town has the history the depot has. “We seem to get more and more convenience stores, but less and less historic buildings.”

The council ultimately voted to accept the depot as a donation from owner CSX, which no longer uses the structure located along the Toledo Subdivision.

The council will discuss at its next meeting what to do with the depot it has now agreed to accept.

Tags: B&O depot, Baltimore & Ohio, CSX, Hamilton Ohio, Railroad depots, Railroad stations