News

Decatur & DDRA receive Main Street 2015-16 Award of Excellence for Adaptive Historic Preservation for restoration of the Decatur Union Depot

Great things are happening in the River City as its downtown has just received a major achievement award! On August 23, Main Street Alabama, representing the downtowns of 47 affiliated cities and towns throughout Alabama presented the City of Decatur and Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority its 2015-16 Award of Excellence for Adaptive Historic Preservation for restoration of the Decatur Union Depot into a satellite police station as well as a public railroad museum.

This was the top award presented by Main Street Alabama for the restoration of a building into a new and modern use and was the only such award statewide for restoring a transportation, commercial, or governmental building.

This is a major event for the city and its downtown and is a professional recognition of the ongoing progress in the city center. Main Street Alabama is a major part of a nationwide downtown revitalization effort. Its focus is based not only on preservation, but also on economic development and job creation. The award presented for the Union Depot restoration recognized this fact as the award presentation stated that this project has not only saved a culturally and historically important building, but also has provided additional downtown parking and has encouraged the announcement of the future creation of two major housing developments in addition to its main purposes of providing crucially needed office space for the Decatur Police Department and an interesting future railroad museum for the enjoyment of the public.