Train depot to serve Cleveland, Tenn., again

A TriCon, Inc. demolition crew begins work on the old Southern Railway Passenger Depot in downtown Cleveland, Tenn. From left are, Greg Rudder, David Barbee and Allen Harden. Rick Fogwell, site superintendent for the demolition, said early summer is the projected completion date for the project.

Photo by Tim Barber.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- More than a century after it opened as a Southern Railway Depot, the old depot building here is reopening today as the home Cleveland's public bus service.

An 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony is set to mark the event at the intersection of Edwards and Inman streets under the management of the Southeast Tennessee Human Resource Agency.

SETHRA's local Cleveland Urban Area Transit System now is headquartered in the building.

The depot was built in 1908 at a cost of $17,400, said Mayor Tom Rowland. There was a change order in 1910, he said, to add more space and heating.

"I doubt that was HVAC," Rowland joked. "More likely a potbellied stove."

The bottom line for the depot's current renovation is more than $604,000. Renovating the depot, which was placed on the National and Tennessee Registers of Historic Places in 2008, is part of the Five Points redevelopment.

Tracy O'Connell, gift store manager at the Museum Center at Five Points, said the museum was designed to resemble the depot.