B&O Railroad Station, Willard Hotel sit vacant as reminders of Grafton's past

“Our plans for the station include leasing the main level to a qualified operator who can host special events, rentals and handle the food service,” Kuhns said. “We envision a live music venue on the track level, which features the old baggage scale and ticket booth.

“The upper level can be adaptively reused as either office space, which we would build to suit, or as residential rentals, for which we have conceptual plans,” she added.

The Willard Hotel next door has been mothballed for future development, Kuhns said.

“It is eligible for historic tax credits, which would help fund the extensive renovations it needs in order to be productive again,” Kuhns said. “The Willard has potential for a small boutique hotel or residential rentals.”

The Vandalia Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit historic preservation organization.

The three-floor railroad station, or depot, was built in 1911, Kuhns said.

Vandalia has restored and renovated the main level and exterior of the station, including facade restoration on the Main Street elevation, Kuhns said.

The train station’s windows and interior finishes also have been restored, and there has been nearly $1 million in environmental remediation done, Kuhns said.

There are three wings on the main level, Kuhns said. They are the Grand Hall in the center; the East Wing, which now features a commercial kitchen; and the West Wing, which formerly housed the Grafton B&O Railroad Heritage Center and some small office and retail areas.

The upper level — the second story from the Main Street elevation — and the lower level facing the railroad tracks are ready for additional renovations, she added.

Constructed in 1913 after the B&O station was completed, the Willard Hotel features the Beaux Arts architectural style and includes similar ornamental terra cotta on its brick facade, Kuhns said.

The six-story hotel was once a passenger hotel and later accommodations for railroad employees, Kuhns said.

In the late 1990s, the roofs of both the railroad station and Willard Hotel were replaced with funding secured by former Congressman Alan Mollohan, she added.

Grafton City Manager Kevin Stead said the railroad station has potential.

“They have done substantial work in the building over the years,” Stead said. “Unfortunately, it sits idle. We’ve tried to utilize the building a few times, but there are some issues regarding water in the building.”

As for the Willard Hotel, Stead said he thinks attracting a developer to restore the building would be difficult.

“Are they going to come in and spend millions of dollars on this building and look at the return?” he posed. “It all boils down to dollars and cents.”

Stead said he would like to see both buildings put back to good use.

But each year building codes become more stringent and expensive to implement, Stead said.

“It makes these projects that much more difficult to fund,” he said. “I’m not saying it could never happen, but you have to find a developer who’s willing to say: ‘Yeah, I can get a return on an investment.’”