Union Statiom, Paris, TX [Archive]

friscobob

March 30th, 2003, 12:52 AM

Here's some news on the grand opening for the CofC offices, plus a little bit on the renovation.

With the renovation of the Texas & Pacific depot across town, Paris is now 2-for-2 in depot renovations. Shame the Paris & Mt. Pleasant depot/offices are long gone (around the early 1960s).

Hundreds turn out for depot opening

By Jeff Parish
The Paris News

Published March 28, 2003

Linda Su Suarez’s office in the Santa Fe-Frisco Depot building isn’t any larger than the one in the old Lamar County Chamber of Commerce building, but that didn’t keep her from being excited about the new location.

“I think it’s cooler, by far, in a historical building,” said Suarez, director of the Visitors and Convention Council. “I can’t tell you how gratifying it has been to be involved in the rehabilitation of such a historic structure. This building is so awesome.”

Suarez got to show off her office Thursday as the chamber held an open house to mark the grand re-opening of the depot.

Chamber President Gary Vest estimated that more than 200 people were on hand when Mary Lou Coe, chairwoman of the Paris Ambassadors, cut the ribbon.

“We had a real good turnout,” Vest said. “I don’t know how many hundreds of people we had running through there, but we had a lot.”

The Lamar County Genealogical Society, whose library occupies one end of the depot, reported a successful day, signing up several new members. The library is open to the public from noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

For nearly 20 years, the library had occupied a much smaller space at Paris Junior College. Genealogical Society President Ron Brothers said the college didn’t have anything larger available and the space was greatly appreciated.

“A lot of our stuff has been in people’s homes all these years,” Brothers said. “Until the last few years, we never dreamed we could have this much material.”

One person touring the depot asked what was in the library’s large filing cabinets.

“Anything we can find,” Brothers responded. “Basically newspaper clippings, but if anyone sends us family group sheets or information on a family, we’ll put it in there. I’d say most of it was obituaries.”

The library also includes old newspapers, histories from other states and several Texas counties, Civil War and Revolutionary War records, Census data and death records.

At the ceremony, Dr. William Hayden talked about the history of the depot, which was built in 1910.

When Suarez started work at the Chamber of Commerce in 1979, the chamber was located on Lamar Avenue near the Plaza. That old office is now the home of Star-NET Online Systems. While going through the attic, Star-NET Chief Executive Officer Larry Rhea found several old chamber documents, including the original charter. He had the charter framed and presented it to the Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

The Paris Stamp Club was on hand for a commemorative postal cancellation. Those touring the depot could get an envelope reading “Union Station, Paris, Texas, Restoration Dedication, March 27, 2003” and bearing a photo of the depot in one corner. Postage on the envelopes was canceled with a stamp bearing the depot’s silhouette and information on the dedication.

“I think the community appreciates having the building restored,” Vest said. “Once we get it finished — the parking lot and landscaping and all that — it’ll be a real showpiece.”

Chamber Chairman Don Wall talked about the history of the project, which started about seven years ago.

At the chamber’s urging, Paris applied for a Texas Department of Transportation grant designed for traffic-related projects near highways. Kiamichi Railroad donated the depot to Paris in January 1997 so the city could rehabilitate it. TxDOT awarded the city a $1 million grant for the project that July.

Keystone Architects in Austin was hired to develop plans and a set of job specifications. Rather than hiring a contractor for the entire job, Paris decided to use a construction manager and have the City Council award bids for each part of the project.

Only one bid came in the first time at about $500,000 more than budget. After several trips to Austin for discussions with the architect, project specifications were made clearer, divided into six specific categories and sent out for more bids. When the bids were opened in August 2001, they came in less than budget for a total of about $628,000.

American Restoration won the contract for concrete and masonry, carpentry, finishing work and other miscellaneous projects. Phoenix I Restoration was awarded the electrical contract. Jamar Contractors, a local business, performed mechanical work, such as air conditioning.

The city had saved some money in the project prior to that by using inmates from the Buster Cole Unit in Bonham to remove the tile roof, repair the decking, replace gutters and broken tiles, and reinstall the roof. The move saved about $250,000.

“It was a good thing we were able to pull all the entities together,” Vest said.

Paris Mayor Pro-Tem Richard Manning presented two proclamations Thursday, one thanking TxDOT for help and the other thanking the Buster Cole Unit.

“We love our facility. It’s great to be here,” Suarez said. “It was nice to see it come to a finish.”

© 2000 The Paris News. All rights reserved.