Vestal Museum Move Will Take Short-Cut Across the Parkway

Broome County's most unusual and ambitious upcoming relocation project will involve transporting the historic Erie-Lackawanna Train Station across the Vestal Parkway.

The old depot has served as the Vestal Museum for more than four decades. The building started life as a railroad station in 1881.

According to the museum's website, the train station was used for rail service between New York City and Buffalo until 1959.

The building was moved from its original site east of Main Street to its current location near the Vestal Library just over 50 years ago - on December 19, 1972.

In recent years, the town has been developing plans to relocate the building to a spot near where it had been in the first place.

Museum director Cherese Rosales said efforts are continuing to coordinate the planned move with the State Historic Preservation Office.

The upcoming move will take a different route from the one used a half-century ago when the building was hauled on a trailer down the Vestal Parkway. The plan is to hoist the structure above power lines with a crane and then cross the parkway to move it west along the rail trail.

The state has awarded $360,000 for the relocation project. But that amount will only cover part of the cost of the move.

Rosales said efforts are continuing to raise more money for the project. She noted things have gotten more expensive in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. She said the latest estimate indicates the relocation could cost about $2 million.

The museum's new location will be about 100 yards from the old Coal House near the Vestal Rail Trail.

It's still not known when the move will occur. Rosales said "it's possible" it could happen this year - but she's not certain it will happen.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.

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