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SCARSDALE, N.Y. As one of Scarsdales oldest buildings, the Historic Heathcote Train Depot is celebrating its 100th anniversary on Monday, where the public is invited to celebrate its long history.
Real Living Five Corners Real Estate, which now occupies the building, has restored the building to its original splendor and is opening its doors to the public. The centennial celebration will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday, at the former depot on 300 Heathcote Road.
Jonathan Lerner, owner of the depot and Real Living Five Corners Real Estate, said that they will have a train in the parking lot to honor the past and that a resident will be bringing an antique automobile from the time period.
When we took the building over about four years ago, we put it exactly as it was in 1912. We wanted to bring back its originality, he said. Were very much into historic preservation and it was a beautiful building done by a premier architecture firm. Its the same firm that ended up doing Grand Central Station.
The building has a very colorful past. When it was built in 1912 by the former New York, Westchester and Boston (NYWB) Railroads, it mainly served passengers travelling from New York City to their homes in the country. After being abandoned in 1937, the village of Scarsdale acquired it in 1943 through foreclosure. The village leased it to various businesses over the years until the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps claimed it as their home in 1971 adding a garage bay and a second floor. When Real Living Five Corners Real Estate took over the location in 2008, the company removed these additions and returned it to its original form in a two-year renovation project.
It was important to us that we restore it. We put back the front doors and windows and actually had to rebuild it, Lerner said. The building had really gone into disarray and it took two years to go through the whole process.
Lerner said he anticipates a few hundred residents at the celebration on Monday. Aside from the vintage vehicles, there will be pictures of the building through the years for the publics perusal, money from 1912 that they found in the basement and other items from the early 1900s.
Its fun to reflect on things like this, history is great. There are great things to be learned, he said. Its always interesting for people to get to know the history of Scarsdale.
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