Contributors, volunteers thanked for supporting Depot restoration project
Thirteen pledges, now unnecessary, allowed work to commence early

Staff photo by Barry Halvorson Wharton's leading advocate, Merrell "Doc" Barfield offers his thanks to those who pledged money toward the depot. City councilman V.L. Wiley is pictured at right.

By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

A gathering of volunteers and contributors to the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot project gathered Thursday night for an Honorary Thank You event recognizing those individuals who contributed the pledges that helped fi- nance the restoration effort.

Among the highlights of the evening was when committee member Phil Stephenson presented plaques to the 13 individuals who made the pledges along with letters canceling those pledges.

In his presentation, Stephenson said it took only one day to secure the pledges when the project was first being proposed.

He said the original owners of the property, the Tex-Mex Railroad, had promised to donate the building and the land it sits on to the committee, which planned to use the donation at part of the local match for an 80/20 grant from the Texas Department of Transportation.

The railroad property was later sold to Kansas City Southern Railroad, which said it would honor the promise, but could not immediately transfer the property.

The railroad did offer local organizers a 50-year lease in the meantime and the $63,000 pledged by local residents allowed for work to being in 2000.

Several of the speakers, which included Master of Ceremonies Larry Jackson, City Manager Andres Garza Jr., Merrell "Doc" Barfield and William Loocke, pointed out that without the pledges, the restoration work would not have started until just a few weeks ago, when the donation of the building was finally completed.

"The people who put their names on the line for the $60,000 just don't know how much love I feel for them for their passion for Wharton," Barfield said.

Stephenson said the project actually provided several benefits.

Those include making an investment and beautifying one of the city's older neighborhoods, providing office space for the Colorado Valley Transit, which provides bus service to the community and county; and providing potential office space for the city, including a possible satellite police office for the neighborhood. The depot is located in the 100 block of North Sunset Street.