By Steph Wiechmann
Long after the whistle of the last train out of Lexington faded into the wind, the historic Lexington train station has stood as another nostalgic reminder of just how far the city has come. Now the train station’s silent walls could soon be filled with the pitter-patter of little feet.
Washington and Lee has offered the train station to Yellow Brick Road, a local daycare center in Lexington. The university hopes the station could be used as a new permanent home for the business, which must move out of R.E. Lee Episcopal Church by the end of the year.
“This would be an effort on the part of W&L to provide support for an on-campus daycare center for W&L employees along with others from the Lexington community,” said Joe Grasso, W&L vice president for administration.
Yellow Brick Road is currently considering many different proposals for a new permanent space, including the use of the train station.
“No final decisions have been made as yet,” said Nannette Partlett, Yellow Brick Road’s executive director.
The daycare center must consider various things before making a decision, Partlett said. One factor would be if the building meets state and local codes for a daycare facility, or how much it would cost to update the historic building, which still has marks of long ago, including a “Whites Only” waiting room.
“There are other ideas we have for the train station as well, but we will not seriously consider those ideas until the Yellow Brick Road possibility is known,” Grasso said. By Thursday afternoon no decision had been made.
Fine Arts in Rockbridge (FAIR) also approached Grasso about using the building for office space for its arts conservation organization.
“We had one meeting with Joe Grasso,” said Trina Welshheimer, FAIR president, “but later found out that he was offering use of the building to Yellow Brick Road. So, we have not pursued anything more on that site.”
Washington and Lee has owned the train station since 1971. Rail service to Lexington was stopped in 1969 because of damage to the railroad from Hurricane Camille, according to a report in Leyburn Library Special Collections. W&L purchased the station, built in 1883, and 8.78 acres of land from the Chesapeake & Ohio railroad for $31,500.
In April 2004, W&L moved the train station 400 feet across McLaughlin Street to begin building the new arts and music building next to the Lenfest Center. Since then, the station has served as construction headquarters for the new building. The construction companies plan to be out by this September, leaving the station ready for a new set of occupants.
When a final decision is reached, Lexington will join many other cities around the country that have been restoring dormant, historic train stations by making them part of the community again.
A 1999 article in American City & Country profiled several cities that have undertaken the task. Many train stations, like those in Nebraska, California and Ohio, are being used as museums or homes for historic preservation societies. St. Louis, Mo., and Scranton, Penn., have opened hotels in their historic stations. And a few, like one in Anchorage, Alaska, have been turned into restaurants and microbreweries.
Before making a final decision, W&L intends to let the city of Lexington have a say in who the next tenant of the train station will be.
“We want to work closely with the city to make sure uses are compatible with city plans,” Grasso said.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Editing supervisor: Prof. Pamela Luecke
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd