Yuma, Arizona (AZFamily)-month One of Yuma's oldest and most historic buildings is being demolished after being set on fire.
The Southern Pacific freight station was Arizona's first railroad station and was destroyed in a fire in March this year in what was believed to be arson. The suspect, Angel Alvarado, is in the Yuma County Jail awaiting trial.
The fire was a major loss to Yuma's historic downtown.
“It's been an iconic Yuma landmark since the late 1800s,” said Cathy Douglas of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area.
The warehouse was empty, Plans to breathe new life into old garage.
“There was hope that it could be restored and contribute to some kind of major commercial development,” Douglas said. That hope is not entirely lost.
Mayor Douglas Nichols said the city, which owns the building and land, has plans in place for the area.
“All previous plans were dependent on the building that was there,” Nichols said.
Gallery: Historic photo of the Southern Pacific freight station in Yuma, Arizona, in the early 1900s
Now, city officials and private developers are replanning the site without the main building, and the current plan calls for redeveloping the south side of downtown Yuma, right next to the burned-out train station.
The city also wants to create an innovation hub to foster entrepreneurship in Yuma.
“This has been owned by the city of Yuma for over 20 years. It will be repurposed into a building that will be a hub for development on the south side,” Nichols said.
The innovation hub is still in the planning stages, and Nichols said the plans, which include the train depot building, will either be repurposed into an innovation hub or used as commercial space.
“There's a lot of history here. This used to be a factory that packed melons that went on the railroads. So this area is important to our past and we want to make sure it's important to our future,” Nichols said.
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