David Old believes the unsightly state of the Hantsport railway station needs to be addressed before the building is beyond repair - Date unknown Ashley Thompson.

23 August 2012

Keeping Up Appearances

Hantsport Nova Scotia - A local man feels it's time the Hantsport Railway Station gets some TLC.
 
The station, a designated provincial heritage site, dates back to 1944, a time when the high demand for rail services made keeping trains on the tracks a profitable business venture.
 
Times have changed.
 
David Old, of Hants Border, says the station may not be functioning as it once was at the prime of the railway industry in Nova Scotia, but it continues to be an important part of history.
 
Standing in front of the closed railway station, contending with weeds inching close to his shoulders, Old said it seems the value of the heritage property, situated amid overgrown grounds and abandoned rail cars, has been long forgotten.
 
"The actual building itself is beginning to show signs of deterioration and, if it's going to be left for any length of time, it's only going to get worse," he said.
 
"Unless somebody does something, it's just going to go from bad to worse."
 
A quick look at the privately-owned station reveals chipped paint on weathered beams that appear to be in the early stages of dissolution, lifted or broken shingles, and loose-fitting chimney bricks.
 
"This is a heritage building and it's got to be looked after... it's a crying shame what's happening here."
 
Old, who served as a town councillor in the United Kingdom for two terms before moving to Hants Border four years ago, says it's time for the local government to make a move.
 
"Town council should get involved here and perhaps put pressure on the owner and say, look, clean your act up, literally, clean it up," he says.
 
"As you come into town, for instance, over the Halfway River Bridge you'll see a sign advertizing the train station. This is an embarrassment to the town. If you've got tourists coming in, they're going to be well impressed with this, aren't they?"
 
The Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company purchased the tracks and station from Canadian Pacific in 1994. The need for the railway diminished when the Canadian Gypsum Company closed its Windsor plant indefinitely in 2010, due to a severe decline in the demand for wallboard.
 
Mayor Wayne Folker says Hantsport's town council has been in touch with the Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company, requesting they improve the state of the neglected railway station property, but they were told nothing would be done there for at least a year or two.
 
"We have been looking into the issue, and have written the railroad, and they haven't given us any promise of doing anything, so we'll have to look at the next step as to unsightly premises, and see if we can make them clean it up."
 
Folker, who remembers the days when the station was a focal point of the town, says council members will discuss the matter further when they reconvene in the fall.
 
A page dedicated to the Hantsport Railway Station on the Nova Scotia Historic Places Initiatives website says the original station, built in 1893, burnt in 1943 and Dominion Atlantic Railway promptly built another to replace it.
 
Folker remembers when the station welcomed visitors staying in one of Hantsport's hotels, or cottages, lining the waterfront.
 
"It was a pretty nice looking little building."
 
Owner Hanging on to Assets
 
Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company owner Bob Schmidt says he'd be interested in temporarily leasing the railway properties in Hantsport and Windsor out, but he plans on hanging on to the assets for at least another four to five years.
 
"As an entrepreneur I'm eternally optimistic, so I believe that one day there will be a demand for gypsum out of the mine in Windsor and Miller's Creek and the best, cost-effective, and economically advantageous, environmentally-friendly, means of transportation is rail, and that would be viable for anyone wishing to use that mine and wishing to use that port," the American businessman said.
 
"Until such a time as that... officially goes away, my hope and plan is to do everything possible to preserve the railway."
 
Schmidt says resources are limited with no trains on the tracks. The Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company that once had more than 30 employees at its prime, now has one local working out of the headquarters on Water Street in Windsor.
 
"We're working to get our expenses down to a minimum level so we can have the revenue equal the expenses and wait to see what the future holds."
 
At its peak, Schmidt says the company was bringing in $4 million in gross revenue, but, even then, maintaining the railway's infrastructure consumed a good portion of their profits.
 
Now, with the company largely relying on lease agreements to stay in business, Schmidt says he'd entertain the idea of renting the railway station out to someone who can put it to good use.
 
He says he'd also consider loaning out the railway company's assets in Hantsport in exchange for in-kind donations of labour for necessary maintenance.
 
"It's easier to maintain things as they go along rather than have them fail and rebuilding them," he said, noting that the station's heating system was repaired last winter.
 
"There's been no mandate to not repair things."
 
He says he has no intention of ripping up the rails, or allowing the station to be reduced to shambles.
 
"That would be a lost opportunity."
 
Ashley Thompson.

The Hantsport railway station - Date unknown Ashley Thompson.