While the Green River URA/Main Street organization continues to finalize its plans for the new year, there is one event it hopes will continue public support for a downtown property.
Jennie Melvin, administrator for the organization, said it plans to host a dinner at the Union Pacific Depot building in May. Melvin said she hopes the dinner will help convince residents and potential businesses the building would be a viable location for commercial development.
“The whole point is to showcase the depot,” Melvin said.
Tours of the building were guided by the Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s Executive Director, Brie Blasi, during the city’s 150 anniversary celebration in September.
The tours proved popular enough with residents to extend the initial offering, with more than 600 residents estimated to have toured the depot.
Prior to the tours, the city worked towards removing asbestos and lead-based paint inside the depot, utilizing grant funding to pay for the work.
Melvin said the dinner would need to be catered as the building doesn’t have infrastructure to support a kitchen. She also said the organization is discussing if it should host tours of the building during the dinner. Melvin said Blasi has signed on to help with the event, providing the depot’s historical background to guests.
The building has been on the city’s radar for the past several years. The depot was donated to the city by the Union Pacific Railroad and the city secured a $1 million grant from the Wyoming Business Council to renovate the building, with the city required to provide another $2 million needed to fulfill the grant conditions.
However, shortly after the grant was awarded, the city’s revenue from sales tax began to decline and forced the city to return the grant money.
A number of potential uses have been discussed over the years as well, with ideas ranging from using it as an artists’ workshop and leasing space to a restaurant to the building being used to house a brewery.
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