Charlotte station (Seaboard Air Line Railroad)

The station was designed by architect Charles Christian Hook and built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The station opened on June 16, 1896,[2] and was extensively renovated and enlarged in 1916–1917. The red brick and pink stucco building consists of a two-story central section with one-story extensions. It features a wide umbrella shed that extends 300 feet along the trackside and is supported by 15 cast iron columns. It was 1 1/3 miles from the Southern Railway station of that time.[3] In its final years the station was the western terminus for daily streamlined diesel-electric passenger trains to and from the SAL's Wilmington station, via Hamlet and Monroe.[4] After 62 years, passenger service ceased on November 3, 1958, though the trackage remained in use for freight trains.[2]

The building subsequently housed yard offices for the Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, the Seaboard System Railroad, and CSX Transportation. It was renovated in 1966.[5] The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]

CSX Transportation, the successor to the Seaboard rail companies, vacated the building in January 1987, donating the station and leasing the property to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission that October.[2] Falling into disrepair, the station building and land were offered for sale in 1990.[6] On January 20, 1991, an electrical fire badly burned the upper story, causing $15,000 worth of damage.[6][7] The property's remote location and poor neighborhood, with a significant transient population, dissuaded potential investors, and the station became a target for vandalism and a stopping place for the homeless.[8]

In late 1993, a coalition of four local churches together with business and political leaders purchased and renovated the property for $850,000.[9][10] The former station opened on December 11, 1994 as the Charlotte Center for Urban Ministry, a soup kitchen and counseling and health services center for homeless people.[11] Due to growth, in March 2006 the center's kitchens and administrative offices moved into a new building nearby, with the former station becoming the center's art studio and classroom building.[12] The building was further renovated and refurbished in July 2012, with the benefit of a $50,000 grant from Maxwell House.[13]