Carol Fisher-Linn
Dedicated in 1910, she’d be 114 years old. She wasn’t around to witness Pop Warner (the father of Pee-Wee football) becoming the only Griffith Institute football player to become a college All-American in 1901, or the installation of the cannon in Fiddler’s Green Park in 1902. She didn’t see the opening of St. Al’s school in 1904, or George Schuster of Springville winning, in 1908, the New York to Paris Race in his 1907 Thomas Flyer (169 days: 13,341 land miles). But she has held firm her prominent position in Springville history ever since.
The beautiful gal was built for $25,000 – the CPI inflation calculator calls that equivalent in purchasing power to about $811,623.68 today. It was a BIG deal! The brick-red old Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Depot was a bustling railroad center, handling both passengers until 1955, and freight until the last freight train left Springville Depot in 1977. Alas, there she sat, abandoned but still beautiful.
Linda and Leo Lubke purchased her in 1991 for $55,000, restored it and created a gift shop and travel agency. In 1993, this authentically restored depot was added to the state and national registers of historic places, awarding the Lubke’s with a state Historic Preservation Award. This writer’s last recollection of the building was when it was used as a drug store.
And then, along came Valarie and Matt Retzlaff who, with their young son, were ready for a move from their residence in Eggertsville when the garage Matt was working in for his metal artwork was bursting at the seams. They began looking for a place with a garage and stumbled upon the old Depot in the summer of 2022. No garage, but they fell in love with it instantly, and knew they had found their new home. By September, they owned a historic railroad depot and needed a plan. Valarie worked from home for Hilb Insurance Brokerage as a liaison between clients and carriers, so topmost was a place for Matt to do his art when he wasn’t working his day job as a Supervisor for Manufacturing at Eaton Aerospace in Orchard Park. The priority was art, yet they had no idea what a vibrant Arts community was waiting for them to become part of!
First, they built a barn for Matt to work in and create a place to sell items on line while rehabbing part of the building to be their new home. The online selling turned out not to be their first love, so they made some inquiries as to what the town needed. People were always curious about the building and wanting to see the inside. Since tourism is such a large part of every community’s offering, they decided to turn the back part of the building, with its own private entrance, into a boutique hotel – vintage style. Although many of wonderful wooden floors were damaged and replaced, they stayed true to the original. The wood walls and windows are all original with as much of the station preserved in its 1910 form. The walls are decorated with period artwork, maps, replicas of original blueprints and enlargements of original photos. Staying at the Inn is like a gentle step back into time, but with all modern amenities including tech, a private deck on the old platform next to a walking trail, and the ability to bring your pet.
You may have seen a sculpture of a beehive and bee made from common hardware nuts. Matt created and copyrighted this signature piece, which is now found around the world! No stranger to the art scene, Matt’s work has won many awards from shows like the Allentown and Lewiston Art Festivals with a first-place winner named “Huffy” exhibited for nine months at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo. What was so thrilling for the Retzlaff’s was the discovery that they serendipitously landed in the middle of a growing Arts Community in Springville. They mentioned their appreciation and gratitude to Seth Wochensky, Executive Director of Springville Center of the Arts, who helped them get a grant for a sculpture that will be placed on the walking trail.
Check them out online at springvilledepot.com or on Facebook @SpringvilleDepot. To rent the beautiful two-bedroom Boutique suite go to 716vacationrentals.com. To see more of Matt’s work go to www.mattretzlaff.com, Instagram @mattretzlaffart and Facebook @MattRetzlaffArt.