Craft Center Acquires Historic Railroad Station As Part Of Expansion/Renovation

BROOKFIELD — Exciting plans are underfoot at the Brookfield Craft Center as it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2004. The center recently purchased the landmark train station facing it on the opposite side of Route 25. This is the first step in Phase Three of an ongoing capital campaign to renovate and expand the historic campus, which includes a gallery, gift shop and multiple studios for classes and workshops.

“When the railroad station came up for sale, it was an opportunity not to be missed,” said John Russell, the executive director of the craft center since 1980. “The station will provide much-needed parking spaces as well as additional studio space. The generosity of the craft center’s trustees and friends has made this possible. We have already raised nearly $100,000 for the purchase and renovations – an incredible show of support.

“Actually we are just continuing the tradition of historic preservation,” continued Mr Russell. “When Brookfield Craft Center was established in 1954, it preserved a historic mill complex built in 1780. Now we’re doing the same thing again by saving the old railroad station, an important part of the town’s heritage.”

Future plans call for a total renovation of the building to restore its original architectural details. Funding is currently being sought for specific parts of the renovation.

“The station is historically significant,” says Jacqueline Salame, an architect, preservationist, and a trustee of the craft center. Ms Salame is also chairman of Brookfield’s Historic Commission.

“The railroad came to Brookfield in the mid-1840s. This station was built in 1914 to replace a smaller station. It was used mainly for freight and like the old mill, and it was an important center of commerce and socializing when Brookfield was an agrarian community and farmers would receive their tools and seed by train,” added Ms Salame, who also says the station is structurally sound.

“Some changes were made over the years; the eaves under the roof were closed in and windows were rearranged. We will uncover the eaves, rearrange the windows in some form of historic order, and open up the interior.

“Eventually it will be similar to the antique railroad station in Kent. It will help tie the whole craft center together; it has the potential of making the place more of a community center with parking and a picnic area, and interior space for special events such as the center’s popular Annual Holiday Sale, which always needs more space,” she said.

David Scribner, State Representative for the 107th district and current president of the craft center’s board of trustees, said, “The day [the board] voted to do this, nobody hesitated. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. People like to be part of something that’s positive and growing. The feeling was, ‘It’s an investment, not a contribution.’”

For the present, the craft center will manage the two rental spaces in the former railroad station while raising funds for all the projects in its capital campaign, including renovation/restoration of the railroad station, according to Mr Russell. Begun in 1996, the capital campaign, which seeks to “create a craft center for the 21st Century,” has fostered completion of several projects including a new roof for the historic mill building, renovated and expanded gallery spaces and relocation of the administration offices to the second floor, renovation and expansion of the former weaving studio into a multiple purpose facility for classes and events, plus major landscaping/masonry work on the east side of their campus.

In addition to the railroad station purchase, Phase Three of the capital campaign calls for extensive renovations of two of the center’s core buildings that are located on the west side of the Still River: the “Barn Building,” which contains a pottery studio, a woodworking studio and a Paper/Books Arts Studio; and the “Faculty House,” which will become a new Student/Faculty Center with additional teaching studios, a research library, a student/faculty lounge and gallery, and improved accommodations for visiting faculty.