Everglades City Railroad Depot gets donations, owner invited to Code Enforcement meeting

Everglades City is inviting the owner of the dilapidated Railroad Depot to attend a code enforcement meeting Sept. 19 to discuss his property.

Bill Odrey, who lives in Atlanta, has owned the 1928 building since 2014. Hurricanes Irma and Ian lashed the building, making it unusable without major repairs.

“If he comes up with a plan and an engineer that says structurally it can be rebuilt” and can come into compliance, city officials will be pleased, Mayor Howell Grimm Jr. said in a phone interview Friday. “He’ll come to the meeting, and we’ll see how things unfold.”

The Depot won't be torn down soon

The building won’t be torn down tomorrow, that’s for sure, Grimm said. The city has never had to tear down a building because of code enforcement issues, he said.

“It’s a process. Nothing happens overnight,” he said. Grimm said. “We don’t want to do it. It would cost the city money.” But the building needs to be safe and in compliance with code enforcement, he said. “Our code enforcement has always been about bringing people into compliance.”

Odrey said he wants the building to be preserved and to be a restaurant, along with an event center and let Everglades City use it as a community center while the city works to build its own. He hasn’t been able to come up with the money to make the repairs. Several holes in the roof remain uncovered, the docks are falling into the water and the back patio is falling apart.

A bit of panic ensued by Odrey and some locals trying to help save the historic building after letters were sent to Odrey from Code Enforcement and an inspection by Collier County that said the building is dangerous and in need of immediate repairs or demolition.

Glenda Hancock, who lives in Chokoloskee, stepped in to get the property mowed and to have safety netting placed around the building. She also attended City Council meetings for Odrey.

Donations and volunteers

Since then, she started receiving donations – one for $500 from a Marco Island resident, Hancock said.

“We had around nine to 10 volunteers wanting to come over and do some volunteer work. But we aren’t set up for that right now.”

Hancock said she is working to set up a P.O. Box for donations. For now, interested parties can go to https://savetheevergladescitydepot.com/ to inquire and contact Hancock.

“We just want the building saved,” she said.

The depot was used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, which opened the depot in 1928, according to historical records. The railroad line ran from Immokalee to Everglades City from 1928–1956.  It carried freight and passengers.  The station was closed in the 1956.  Later, it was converted into a restaurant called the Old Station Restaurant.  After that, other restaurants used the depot, including Everglades Seafood Depot and Restaurant and Everglades Outdoor Center.

Mayor Grimm has suggested Odrey donate the building to the Everglades Society for Historical Preservation, a nonprofit that can get grants to help save it.

“That’s the man’s livelihood,” Hancock said. “He will have a business in there of some sort, I’m sure.”

Historical society has 'hands full' with bank building restoration

The historical society has too much on its plate to take it on right now, anyway, said President Patty Huff in a phone interview. The group has been working for two and a half years on the preservation of the local bank building – a nearly $5 million project, she said.

The Bank of Everglades, built in 1927 and donated to the historical society in 2021, is to become the Everglades City Visitor Center, Huff said. The group obtained a $3 million federal grant and is looking for another almost $2 million for the project.

“We would love to take on this project if we didn’t’ have the bank building right now to complete and we’re just encouraging other people to support Bill’s efforts,” Huff said “We just support any effort at all by the public or the private sector to help Bill with this project.”

Mayor Grimm said Odrey has been talking about trying to get money for the building for eight years. Even when Odrey was running a restaurant business there, repairs were needed and he was doing it a little at a time, Grimm said.

“I would love to see it saved and restored back to where it was. It’s been eight years. We can’t let it sit there and continue to deteriorate. Something has to be done,” Grimm said. “… And it’s dangerous.”

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Everglades City railroad depot owner asked to attend compliance meeting