STEAP money will go to depot contract

NORTH CANAAN — A $200,000 STEAP (Small Town Economic Assistance Program) grant has been awarded to the town to be used toward restoration of Canaan Union Station (the depot).

The funding comes just as the town is preparing to sign a $320,200 contract with a consultant on the final design. That contract will include all work needed to finish the rebuilding following a fire that occurred nine years ago next week.

Half of the 1872 depot, a designated historic landmark and likely the longest continuously operating railroad station in the country, was destroyed in the Oct. 1, 2001, fire set by a group of teenagers.

The building is now owned by the Connecticut Historical Railroad Association. Funding has come from earmarked federal money; grants; donations of cash, labor and materials; and through fundraising events.

The remaining work includes finishing the interior to create a restaurant, retail and office spaces and a railroading museum, as well as restoring the platform and landscaping. The cost is estimated at more than $2 million and will be covered by the promised federal funding held by the state Department of Transportation.