Now it’s official: Janel and Matt Bennett, owners of Sybaris, are buying the historic Oregon Electric Railway station in downtown Albany and plan to move their world-class restaurant there.
A downtown Albany landmark, the historic Oregon Electric Railway depot, will change hands if a pending sale goes through as intended. But there’s no word yet on how the building will be used after it is sold.
On the social media app Nextdoor, someone asked whether Ciddici’s Pizza in downtown Albany would ever reopen. I had wondered about the same thing and this week tried to find out. The short answer is: Who knows?
If they ever get around to repaving central Albany’s old streets, I hope they don’t tear out this rusty reminder of the city’s history in advanced — for the time — passenger rail.
The Pirtle transfer station of the old Oregon Electric Railway used to be half-hidden by tall trees. Now the trees — cottonwoods, I think — have been mostly cut down, and this concrete relic of our railroad history stands out there in plain view about 150 yards south of Pirtle Drive.
At the old OER depot, envisioning the future
It’s hard to imagine now what the old Oregon Electric Railway depot in Albany will be like once it has been fully restored and Sybaris Bistro has moved in. But Matt Bennett can imagine it very well, and he explained his ideas to me this week.
Tags: Albany Revitalization Agency, CARA, Fifth Avenue, Matt Bennettt, OER depot, Oregon Electric Railway, Sybaris, urban renewal