Friends of the Weston Depot take possession of station

Friends of the Weston Depot members Alicia Primer, Lenard Zide, Al Aydelott, Adrienne Giske, Nick Steedle and Phyllis Halpern celebrated the donation of the Weston Depot from owner John Corcoran, second from left. Town Manager Leon Gaumond, center, delivered a check to the Friends. (Chris Larabee/Weston Observer)

With its namesake in hand, the Friends of the Weston Depot will spend the early part of 2026 preparing to stabilize the structure and soliciting residents’ input on the future of the building.

In a brief celebration of the ownership transfer on Dec. 30, members of the Friends of the Weston Depot joined now-former owner John Corcoran and Town Manager Leon Gaumond at the station. The handover to the Friends ensures the 144-year-old train station on Church Street remains in town. Corcoran, an Essex resident, had been prepared to dismantle it and move it to a new location if it wasn’t feasible to keep it in Weston.

“I was so hopeful that we wouldn’t run out of options here,” Corcoran said.

Friends of the Weston Depot member Alicia Primer accepts a check from Town Manager Leon Gaumond while John Corcoran, the property’s former owner, and Friends member Lenard Zide look on. (Chris Larabee/Weston Observer)

The Weston Depot was constructed in 1881 for use by the Central Massachusetts Railroad, which connected passengers and freight from Boston to Northampton. The station remained in passenger operation through 1971 and in freight service until 1980, after which it fell into disrepair. The building was included on Preservation Massachusetts’ 2022 Most Endangered Resources List.

The ownership transfer comes after residents at the October 2025 Special Town Meeting approved a transfer of $18,750 to finish a land-use study for the building. Residents appropriated a total of $30,000 for the study three years earlier, but only about $12,000 had been spent because interior access was limited.

Corcoran purchased the building in December 2024 with the goal of preserving the depot. He had offered the structure to the town in March 2025, but the Select Board declined the gift, as there were concerns about maintaining another historic building with no clear use.

The Select Board, though, encouraged residents to form a grassroots effort to secure funding if folks were interested in preserving the building. The Friends of the Weston Depot was formed, and efforts to get a citizens petition on the October 2025 warrant began over the summer.

In all, it took almost exactly a year from Corcoran’s purchase to the handover to the Friends.

Ahead of the transfer, the Friends of the Weston Depot had already erected supports for the building and are currently finalizing emergency stabilization plans with an engineer. Alicia Primer, a member of the Friends, said a main priority will be restoring the roof.

*The Friends of the Weston Depot have erected temporary supports for the historic train station. (Chris Larabee/Weston Observer)*

As restoration efforts continue, Primer said the group will begin soliciting ideas from the public on how the building should be transformed.

Preliminary ideas for the depot focused on creating an amenity for residents and users of the abutting Mass Central Rail Trail. Those early options included an equipment rental shop or a place to serve refreshments to the public.

For more information on the Weston Depot, visit westondepotfriends.org.