Cairo to start work on train depot interior

Published 12:21 pm Thursday, December 17, 2020

CAIRO — Cairo City Council members haven’t yet decided what to do with the vacant train depot located in the heart of downtown Cairo, but the first step in converting the building to a new purpose will be to gut the structure entirely.

Council members voted unanimously Monday night to begin seeking bids for a contractor to clear out the South Broad Street building, formerly the home of the Cairo Police Department. The process will involve knocking down interior walls while keeping the structure itself intact.

“We’re taking it down to the walls, since that would be done anyway while we’re in the process of looking for an appropriate architectural plan and developer,” said Mayor Howard Thrower.

After that, the 115-year-old building’s future is up in the air.

Marketing the building to developers will be much easier once the building is gutted, city officials say.

“I think this is a first step we’ve got to make to then determine later down the road whether we design it or we have someone else design it to find out want we want to put in that depot,” said Council member Jerry Cox.

The process of converting the building to serve its new function will be overseen by the Downtown Development Authority.

One potential avenue the council could pursue is to convert the structure into a multipurpose community food hall, similar to Krog Street Market in Atlanta. The depot’s conversion would be part of a four-phase plan to revitalize downtown Cairo.

City officials are quick to note that the request for bids they sent out this week is not necessarily an endorsement of the concept, which was created by town designer Lew Oliver following an intensive four-day planning session.

“We’re not saying at this point that we’re approving Lew’s whole plan,” Thrower said, “we just want to get started on something that will have to be done anyway.”

Council member Jimmy Douglas said he’s not in favor of any retail concept for the building that wouldn’t see it open at least six days a week.

“Open for Saturdays or Fridays and Saturdays is not going to bring folks downtown on the weekends,” he said.

Council members plan to meet in late January or early February to review Oliver’s plan in greater detail.