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Keith McCord ReportingHere's a story about a community really coming together. The town of Mendon, in northern Utah, has a population of 1,000 -- give or take a few, and more than a few of them are working to preserve a piece of the town's history.
In a small town you might not have to worry about as many things in your every day life, but these Mendon residents do worry about keeping their community identity.
Richard Watkins, Project Committee: “We've lost a number of, in my opinion, valuable public buildings."
So to give a belonging to residents, a few history buffs wanted to restore the old Mendon Train Station which went out of service almost 58-years ago.
Sydney Larsen, Mendon Mayor: "We want them to have experiences that ties them to the community."
"This is our last public building and if it's torn down or destroyed then we have no buildings at all
So last year it was decided that this almost-century-old station should be renovated to its previous glory.
"We've been talking about it for some time. This building has been used for a verity of purposes."
Earl Doolittle, Former Mayor: "It's been a train station originally, since then it's been a post office, a carpet store, it's been a restaurant."
The town has changed little, but this old building changed a number of times, seeing changes that many remember and few will never forget.
"Used to call This the Leaping Lenna, I guess it used to do this on the tracks."
And it is a true community effort; hundreds of volunteers are taking part rebuilding everything from the foundation to the roof. This labor of love is saving a lot of money. The restoration project would of cost up to a quarter million dollars.
"The whole project was estimated at 206-thousand and we right now need 27-thousand to complete that."
"When you see the building done it's gonna be a beautiful building."
The renovation will be completed early next year.
