Yuma’s historic train depot demolished months after suspected arson
YUMA, AZ (AZFamily)—Months after being set ablaze, one of Yuma’s oldest and most historical buildings is being demolished.
The Southern Pacific Freight Depot was the first train depot ever in Arizona, burned down in a suspected arson fire this past March. The suspect, Angel Alvarado, remains in the Yuma County Jail awaiting trial.
The fire was a significant loss to Yuma’s historic downtown core.
“It’s been an iconic structure in Yuma since the late 1800s,” said Cathy Douglas with the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.
Although the depot sat empty, there were plans to give the old depot new life.
“There was hope for it to be restored and contribute to some type of a larger commercial development,” said Douglas. That hope isn’t completely lost.
Mayor Douglas Nicholls said the city, which also owns the building and land, has plans for the area.
“All the previous plans relied on the building that was there,” said Nicholls.
GALLERY: Historic photos of the Southern Pacific Freight Depot in Yuma, Arizona, in the early 1900s
Now, Yuma officials and private developers are reworking their plans for the site without the main building. Current plans call for the redevelopment of the south side of Downtown Yuma, right next to the burned-down train depot.
The city also is hoping to build an Innovation Hub that will foster entrepreneurship in Yuma.
“That is something that the city of Yuma has owned for over twenty years. It’s going to be repurposed into this building and be the anchor to the development in the south,” said Nicholls.
The innovation hub is still in the planning stages. Nicholls said the plans that included the train depot building will either be reworked into the innovation hub or used as commercial space.
“There’s a lot of history here. This was the old packing houses for the melons that would get loaded on the rails. So this area is instrumental to our past and we want to make sure it’s instrumental to our future,” said Nicholls.
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