Old depot broken into, vandalized

By Paul Sloth

Saturday, August 12, 2006 2:13 AM CDT

STURTEVANT- Sturtevant police are investigating a break-in at the old Sturtevant depot that occurred days before the building is to be vacated.

Amtrak will move its Hiawatha service to the village's new Renaissance Park station next week.

A Canadien Pacific Railway employee early Friday morning reported that the station had been broken into and vandalized sometime during the night.

Vandals broke a door and set off a fire extinguisher inside the building, which is more than a century old.

Sturtevant Public Safety Director Art Scola said the building has been vandalized before. He said the damage inside the building was minor.

"I would think the way it was done it was probably kids. It was malicious stuff," Scola said. "There really isn't anything of value in that station."

In addition to breaking a door and trashing the inside of the building, the vandals stole a few No Parking signs from the parking lot across the tracks from the depot.

Steve Whedon, a section foreman for Canadien Pacific Railway, said at least two Amtrak signs were taken off the station. He also said people have started taking bricks from the old platform in front of the depot.

Canadien Pacific Railway owns the old depot and the surrounding property. The fate of the old structure is still uncertain.

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