The Blue Mountains council wants full community input before it will possibly consider a name change for the Craigleith Heritage Depot.
At its meeting on July 10, council considered a letter from The Blue Mountains Library CEO Dr. Sabrina Saunders requesting the town consider changing the name of the facility from Craigleith Heritage Depot to The Craigleith Station.
“A 'depot' is considered a train yard where trains are parked, may be stored, and are often worked on mechanically. A 'station' is a stop along a route. The Craigleith station was first built by the Flemming Family,” Saunders said in her letter. “In the 1870’s the Craigleith station was a platform only and in 1886 the building construction was completed and opened its turret as the public ticket area and remainder of the original building as the home for the station master. This remained a station until the early 1960’s when it became a private cottage and then was abandoned until its refurbishment as a restaurant in 1965. It was at this time that the name was changed to “The Depot” as marketing of the restaurant.”
Saunders said the re-naming would be the last step of the recent renovation that updated and upgraded the facility.
The town purchased the heritage building after the restaurant closed and it was converted into a museum and later a branch of the library.
CAO Shawn Everitt explained that the town has a naming and renaming policy that requires extensive review before a name change can move forward.
Members of council were cautious about proceeding and wanted a full public consultation.
Coun. Gail Aridel said she was on council at the time the town took over the heritage building.
“We took great delight in calling it the Craigleith Depot,” said Ardiel, who asked that the wider community be consulted on the idea. “It’s a major change.”
Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon agreed.
“This is a very important part of history to the community,” said Bordignon. “It’s not up to the seven of us alone or the library board.”
Council agreed to hold off on any decision on the name change request until after the public has been consulted.
