Historic properties open for weekend open house

A historic gem in the the heart of Corvallis was opened to the public this weekend for tours.

On Sunday afternoon, the Willamette Valley & Coast Range Railroad Depot at 500 S.W. Seventh St. and the Poultry Building and Incubator House, also known as Washington Hall, next door at 800 S.W. Washington Ave., were opened for an annual open house required by the National Register of Historic Places.

The buildings are owned by David Livingston and Gary Feuerstein of Endex Engineering Inc.

Livingston, a historic preservation enthusiast, was on hand to take the curious on tours of the Corvallis Depot, which, constructed in 1887, is the oldest of the three buildings.

“This one was a slam dunk. Everyone was hoping that it would get saved,” said Livingston of building which is the oldest two-story combination freight and passenger depot in Oregon.

It was in rough shape when he and his partner acquired in the early 1990s for $10.

As if to balance out the small price tag, extensive remodeling was needed. There had been no roof repairs between the 1950s and the 1990s. Water had seeped clear to the foundation. The whole building had settled unevenly.

“We just began at the bottom and started working up,” said Livingston. “It was a labor of love.”

The building now mingles antique features and modern amenities.

The Passenger Room, once used by railroad patrons to wait for trains, is now a multi-purpose conference room , with lots of open space and movable tables.

The railroad offices have been painstakingly re-decorated from open warehouse space into ornate conference rooms with antique rotary phones and high-tech drop- down projection screens for presentations.

Oregon State University departments often use the rooms for meetings, according to Livingston.

Upstairs are two executive suites, also carefully decorated with choice antiques found by Livingston and his wife at antique shops and sales over the years. The rooms are rented out for a minimum stay of a week to visiting professionals and others.

The building has little surprises around each corner, from a secret passageway to a large storage room completely encased in tin to protect important documents. Historic train cars which sit at the platform out back.

Livingston says the tracks are a real hit with railroad enthusiasts, and some have even organized excursions in speeder cars, vehicles that ride the rails, out to Toledo and back.

A tour with Livingston is full of history lessons and tales of the past. Everything has a story, from the marks gouged in the original hardwood floors by rail workers’ caulked boots to a metal grate salvaged from the original 1887 building.

“The inside always kind of surprises people because the outside is a little crooked,” said Livingston of the depot, “But we had a lot of fun with this.”

At a glance

To learn more about The Corvallis Depot and Washington Hall, see www.corvallisdepot.com or call 877-754-6506. To learn of upcoming Historic Register open houses in Oregon see www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/news_openhouses.shtml.

MORE HISTORY

To read a March 2, 2007 Gazette-Times article on the Poutry Building and Incubator House see:

www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2007/03/02/news/community/3loc01_historicbuildings.txt

To read a Sep.t 26, 1997 Gazette-Times article on the Corvallis Depot see:

www.endex.com/gf/personal/news/gt092697.html