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Show f Mm, fen, , - "Vv ? - .i; , v it t 'Y,;', - -T TT W ' - X " 'J - - :::iHr ... v-Ny S , Fireman peers in through west window of what remains,ot sonth wing of Depot at dawn Sunday, photo by Nan Chalat I What's left to save? by Nan Chalat When the brand-new Union Pacific Depot opened in October 1886, the Park Record described it as "one of the finest buildings in the Park." According to the Record, the design was "modern and tasteful and brilliant paint adorns it on all sides." The color was yellow and for the next 90 years the gabled clapboard structure with its hand-carved wood trim served the town's social and commerce needs as a bustling railway station. Local mining concerns depended on the Union Pacific to deliver materials and transport ore, while citizens depended on the trains for contact with the outside world. During its heyday, the passenger pas-senger lobby of the depot gave citizens a chance to gawk at the high fashions touted by the wives of the mining moguls. It is even said William Jennings Bryant once delivered a speech about the silver standard from the steps of the Depot. But even after the last train chugged away from the freight dock in 1977, the Depot remained a focal point of the Historic Main Street district. Painters set up their easels around the building, mime artists performed in its shadow and various receptions for public functions were held on the wood-planked deck. The scalloped scal-loped shingles and Victorian arches at the foot of Main Street were a graceful reminder of the town's history. Last Sunday moming, however, how-ever, the Depot became a fire-scorched ruin. But no one seemed surprised. The record shows fire is not a new story in Park City. From the Great Fire of 1898 to the loss of the Coalition Mine Building in July 1981, carelessness and arson have claimed several local monuments. monu-ments. And after each the Park Record has printed outraged editorials suggesting how to punish the perpetrators and save the dwindling number of historic buildings. But now, Parkites wonder, is there anything left to save? During the last 10 years the ; abandoned Depot had begun to deteriorate, and, while passersby uniformly shook their heads sympathetically, it appeared no one could afford to renovate the historic building. It received its due of lip service but never a fresh coat of paint. And in the wake of Sunday's fire the reaction has not been the usual one of shock, disbelief and sorrow. Whereas traffic passed . slowly by the site of the Coalition Building for days after the fire, this week commuters are still zooming down Heber Avenue with barely a nod at the blackened Depot. The consensus is that it was only a matter of time before that old spectre of fire took her. J ; L ' ' ' f ' 4 8 1 V I ' MX:;.. v fv .. :s:;..;:: ':::.':: .4' . -"a':. '- . - , . as?' :. The second floor of the Depot was already engulfed in flames when the first fire truck arrived, leading firemen to suspect that an accelerant had been used. Phot "y Fletcher |