History of the Save the Depot Committee
There is a history to Northfield in Bloom’s involvement with the depot that has moved us to be a catalyst in the preservation of this historical building. Two years ago a group of stalwart courageous individuals brought America in Bloom to Northfield with the help of our primary funder, the Northfield Area Foundation. In that project there were 8 categories a city was judged on:
Heritage
Environmental Efforts
Floral Display/Beautification
Turf and groundcovers
Landscaped areas,
Urban forestry
Tidiness
Community involvement
Three of those categories had us turning our eyes to the old ‘Milwaukee Road’ Northfield depot now part of the Canadian Pacific Railroad: Heritage, tidiness (now under the purview of the Clean Team) and Beautification, and Heritage being the strongest.
The Garden Club joined us and purchased the walking bridge hanging baskets and provided many additional plants for the Floral Display category, and Northfield in Bloom documented what the community had accomplished in all 8 categories.
America in Bloom gave Northfield the award for heritage preservation because of the community’s strong approach to preserving historical buildings. The judges' quote about the "special" heritage initiative they found in Northfield was:
"Many architecturally significant buildings exist in Northfield. The Main Street historic district has been refurbished over the years and lately many private residences have been upgraded. Preservation of these important buildings has led to a greater awareness of the importance of heritage in the area and how proper historic preservation can have a long term beneficial effect on a community".
Under the Tidiness and Heritage categories we were drawn to the Depot. It was a mess, with graffiti scrawled all over the side of the building, trees growing right next to the foundation, weeds and debris all over the grounds. After several attempts (without much luck) to reach the proper authorities for permission to clean up the grounds, we even considered sneaking over there in the dark of night to pull up weeds, rake the grounds clean and maybe even plant some flowers. Cooler heads prevailed, and we enlisted the help of the city administrator.
A number of conversations were held between the City, Northfield in Bloom, and the railroad over the two year time period that included both the past and the present City Administrators, the outcome being that the Railroad could sell the building to the City for $1.00, and with the City transferring ownership immediately to another group as it is (understandably) not able to take on additional costs or the operation of the building.
For the past two years Northfield in Bloom has had many discussions with various community members about how to Save the Depot. A great number of organizations in Northfield, among them the Heritage Preservation Commission, the NDDC, the EDA, the Northfield Historical Society, the Chamber of Commerce, Northfield in Bloom, the Garden Club and the City have voiced an interest in this project. City Fathers and Mothers in the discussion have included Lynn Vincent, Pat Allen, Chip DeMann, Brett Reese, Jim Machacek, Rob Martin, Bob Will, Judy Code, Alice Thomas, Steve Edwins, and others are willing to give of their time and talent to this most worthy community project.