Laconia asked to help in old train depot case
By VICTORIA GUAY
Staff Writer
The Citizen
LACONIA - The Laconia Airport Authority has asked the City of Laconia to take over responsibility for the Lakeport Train Depot if the current owners do not move or destroy the structure by Jan. 31.
"The presence of the structure on airport land has created an impediment to development of the property," writes Diane Cooper,
airport manager, in a letter to the interim city manager, Eileen Cabanel. "The Airport Authority also has serious concerns regarding
the safety and liability aspects of the structure. Please be assured that it is not the intention of the Authority to prevent anyone
individual or group from "saving" the train station. However, we think eight years is certainly ample time in which to determine the
feasibility of such a structure."
Cooper notes representatives from the Plymouth and Lincoln Railroad examined the building in September and told the Authority on Oct. 31 they had found it too costly to move and restore the structure.
She also noted that on Dec. 5, the state Department of Environmental Services surveyed the station and discovered the roofing tiles are
made of asbestos.
The current owners, Rick Miller and Don Leavitt of Red Hill Inn, bought the train depot from the city in 1992 and have been storing it
at the Airport ever since. Miller and Leavitt had hoped to incorporate the circa 1900 former Boston and Maine train station into
a renovation plan for Kimball's Castle.
The Airport requested the station's removal by Aug. 31 of this year, but the deadline has been extended several times. The latest round
extended the Nov. 30 deadline to Dec. 8, then to Jan. 31, 2001.
Miller wrote a letter on Dec. 3 to the Authority stating he would commit to having the station removed on or before Jan. 30, 2001; but
the Airport Authority said in its letter to the council that is highly likely this deadline will be missed.
Leavitt told the Citizen recently that he and his partner fully
intended to have the station moved and that a few serious offers for removing the station have been made.
"I appreciate that the airport allowed us to store it there for so many years. The issue is that now they want it gone as fast as
possible so I have hired Speare Brothers Salvage Co. to tear the building down at the end of January if it hasn't been moved,"
explained Leavitt in a Dec. 8 interview.
Leavitt could not be reached Monday for comment on the Airport Authority's letter to the council.
The possibility of using it as a burning project for the Fire Department was discussed by the City Council, the subject being brought up by Councilor Rick Judkins, a former fire chief.
Judkins said he realizes the historical significance of the structure, but he said he also realized the city does not have the
money to take on such restoration project.
The council made no decisions but said they would think about what to do with the building and could be prepared to destroy it if the Jan. 30 deadline is not met by Miller and Leavitt.