Not only is Colbert looking at adding an awning to its 118-year-old depot, city leaders are also considering flooring repairs to the historic building that also serves as city hall.
The floor in the office area of the depot has been sinking for years.
“If you look from the outside, you can tell where the wall is beginning to sag,” Mayor Chris Peck said. “And if you stand over there, you can actually see outside where the bottom of the wall meets the floor.”
Peck believes the floor will have to be jacked up.
Former Colbert mayor John Waggoner, currently a city advisor, said this the flooring problem has plagued the building for decades.
“It’s been that way ever since we’ve had it (the depot),” he said.
Waggoner suggested that Colbert call Marvin Smith, who performed repairs at the city’s old school house, to evaluate the situation and determine a price.
“Just to find out what we’re looking at,” Waggoner said.
Then, the city could bid the project out.
As for the awning, the city wants to add some form of cover to remedy dripping and other problems present at the depot entrance during inclement weather. Colbert leaders heard from resident and city council meeting frequenter Ellyn Trinrud, who’s investigated different options on the city’s behalf.
Her suggestion to the council was to adopt a “walk out” plan with a roof with the same pitch as the depot’s existing roof. Essentially, her idea would recreate an outside waiting area that would have been available to train passengers in the early 1900s, further enhancing the depot’s vintage look.
“I don’t think it would be terribly expensive to build something like that,” Trinrud said. “It could have the same tin roof that we put on top of here (the depot), and then we just kind of match it to the trim colors and make it look like it was always there.”
Colbert leaders, however, are still undecided what course of action they take and will revisit the awning issue at its April meeting.
