New tenant may be on the horizon for train station

Jan. 12, 2022  |  By  Lisa Scagliotti 

The Waterbury Train Station now sees activity twice daily with Amtrak passenger rail service but the popular café has been closed for nearly two years. File photo by Lisa Scagliotti

UPDATE: This story was updated Jan. 14 with more detail on the tenant. Information on the RW budget request was also corrected to reflect the entire request. An earlier post had figures referring only to its economic development funding request.

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There’s a glimmer of news on the horizon for a possible new tenant for the Waterbury Train Station.

Leaders from Revitalizing Waterbury, which owns the historic station, on Monday night told the Waterbury Select Board that they last week signed a letter of intent with a potential new tenant to lease space that’s sat shuttered since March 2020. 

Asked about specifics later, RW board chair Theresa Wood said that a lease is being drafted. “We are hopeful for a summer 2022 opening after building modifications to suit the new prospective tenant,” she said. 

The identity of the tenant so far is confidential, Wood said. “It is a business that will be open to the public; however, we won't be making any further announcement until a lease is signed.”

While Wood couldn’t comment on what the new business is, on Friday she did comment on what it is not: “It is not a cannabis-related business,” she said, after speculation on social media following this initial report.

RW Executive Director Karen Nevin said she hoped to share more details soon. “We are excited to be moving forward and we will share the news when it can become public.”

The train station currently is in use with twice daily Amtrak passenger train service which returned to Vermont in July. 

But when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, not only did train service halt, but Keurig Dr. Pepper closed the popular Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Café and Visitors Center that occupied most of the building. Last January, Keurig announced that the café would not reopen as the company returned to more regular operations when pandemic restrictions eased. 

The announcement was a blow for downtown Waterbury where the station and the café were a hub attracting thousands of people each year including local residents, downtown workers and tourists. 

Keurig continues to pay rent on the former café space, however, under a 20-year lease that ends in 2026, Nevin said. A commitment from a new tenant would allow for that to be handed off to the business that would occupy the space going forward, she said. 

Nevin and Wood attended the meeting Monday as part of the select board’s work to prepare the 2022 budget that will be presented to voters on Town Meeting Day on March 1. Revitalizing Waterbury receives funding from the town annually for beautification projects, marketing and economic development. 

The nonprofit organization, which has three paid staff and numerous volunteers, is requesting just over $87,000 in town funding for 2022, including $54,765 for its economic development director position, an increase of 3%. An additional $32,600 would support general operations, marketing and beautification projects that it oversees for the downtown. That request amounts to a net increase of $13,600 in town funding. Nevin noted that this is the first time since 2014 that the organization has requested a funding increase for general operations.

A large portion of the increase - $9,600 - would be directed to contracting for help with seasonal downtown beautification such as caring for hanging flower baskets and hanging and taking down holiday decorations, tasks until now done by volunteers. “Someone else is going to be climbing those ladders,” Nevin said. 

Taxpayer funding represents about a quarter of RW’s overall annual budget. RW’s budget summary shared with the select board shows 2022 revenue of $364,568. Rent from the train station accounts for $70,000 or 19%, with the bulk of the rest coming from corporate sponsorships and individual and business memberships.

The select board on Monday also heard from others representing spending categories in the budget including representatives of the Mad River Resource Management Alliance, the Waterbury Area Senior Center as well as department heads including Recreation Director Nick Nadeau and Fire Chief Gary Dillon.

The board is meeting weekly this month to review budget requests with the aim to approve the final version that voters will see on March 1. 

Next week’s meeting will cover the Planning and Zoning Department and the Highway Department. Town Manager Bill Shepeluk said he has met with Library Commissioners to incorporate their input.  

Shepeluk said he hopes to have a draft budget with input from all departments to possibly wrap up by Jan. 24. 

The meeting ended with a lengthy discussion of a proposal to merge the Edward Farrar Utility District into town government including steps to address debt the Ice Center holds with a loan fund the utility district oversees.

Select board meetings are recorded and available to view on Orcamedia.net.