By CATHY VON KINTZEL - Truro Bureau
TATAMAGOUCHE The Train Station Inn oozes railway history and is now on track for heritage designation.
Colchester county councillors got on board with the idea and gave the 119-year-old Intercolonial Railway Station in Tatamagouche municipal heritage status Wednesday.
"I think this is great for the railway history in Nova Scotia," innkeeper Jimmie LeFresne said after council's monthly meeting.
"This is the first step in our plans to go for provincial and then federal designation, although we know that may take years."
Mr. LeFresne, whose family home was a stone's throw from the railway, was only a teenager when he acquired the two-storey brick building in the early 1970s and prevented its demolition.
He and his wife, Shelley, turned the Gothic-revival style station into an inn in the late 1980s and over the years have added to its rural charm with colourful, restored cabooses and rail cars. The property, nestled at the end of Station Road, attracts 10,000 visitors annually for accommodations, dining and a gift shop.
The couple's request for designation was supported by county's staff and heritage advisory committee as well as by the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society.
"It's one of the oldest stations in the country and one of the few that has survived," society president Jay Underwood told councillors.
He highlighted the role the station played in development of rail service in northern Nova Scotia, while large black and white images of the station over the years appeared on a screen behind him.
The LeFresnes sought the municipal heritage designation for sentimental, not financial, reasons.
Registration is designed to preserve the building now and in the future from demolition or substantial alterations in appearance.
Mr. LeFresne said there isn't much to be gained financially in terms of grants for businesses in heritage buildings, especially at the municipal level.
The inn's success is already more than the couple ever dreamed.
"It's come to the point where we've reached our main goal," he said.
"We've restored the station to how we remembered it . . . maintaining the ambience of the railroad. We're happy with the size of the inn. This was the next logical step."