Major Historic Piece of Mechanicville New York Being Auctioned Off

A historic piece of Mechanicville, New York, is going to go to the highest bidder. Once thought to be restored with government grants, now being auctioned off.

Growing up in Mechanicville, New York, we always heard or saw trains. I grew up on Railroad Street. There were train tracks in front and behind my house. My grandfather worked on the railroad, and my grandmother would cross the street to get on the train at the train depot so she could go to work in Cohoes.

The North Second Avenue depot was built in the late 1800s and once carried passengers to Albany, Saratoga Springs, and beyond. It closed in the late 1960s and has been boarded up and crumbling ever since.

According to the Times Union, after years of planning and nearly $150,000 in grants, the Mechanicville City Council voted to auction off the historic train station instead of turning it into a museum. The auction is set for May 2nd with a starting bid of $30,000. The city bought the station in 2012 for just a dollar, once calling it a key part of their revitalization plans.

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William Connors, who led a 2006 revitalization committee, said he was upset by the decision, especially since no public input was allowed. Supervisor Tom Richardson said they managed some basic repairs, but funding dried up. Connors said poor leadership and a lack of vision have left the city squandering a major opportunity.

Sadly, the city couldn't revitalize the building and create a museum. That was the original plan, but unfortunately, that plan is dead. Now, for just a mere thirty thousand dollars, someone will most likely level it and make it into a parking lot or garage.