Westminster Depot and Chamber... Get Aboard!

We Need Your Help to Rebuild the Depot and the Chamber!

Like all landmarks we grow up with, many of us simply took the Depot for granted, as an unshakable anchor, a center where community activities were born of joined minds and brought to fruition. Garden clubs, Bridge clubs, private parties, Apple Festival planning, countless City and Chamber functions came and went on a daily basis, with hardly a thought to the unthinkable... a night when the Depot would succumb to intentional flames to cover the tracks of a burglar.

Not only did this event take our Depot, the fire wiped out our Chamber of Commerce office and records as well, which were not insured. But to a person, people are clear they want the Depot and the Chamber back, and donations and in-kind help are already coming in to the Chamber Office for both causes.

The SCDOT's Enhancement Grant award of $167,000 is the keystone in the restoration initiative. The grant requires that $42,000 in matching funds be raised locally, but it is already clear that because of the fire, the grant and matching funds, coupled with the insurance settlement, will fall short of the funds necessary to restore the Depot. Donations and fundraising efforts will have to make up the difference.

The City and Chamber are hard at work making plans to begin the restoration to the exacting requirements needed to maintain the Depot's "National Historic Register" designation. A "Depot Fund" has been established through the Chamber to accept your tax-deductible donations for rebuilding the Depot structure. Donations to help reestablish the Westminster Chamber can be made directly to the Westminster Chamber of Commerce.

Please help! No donation is too small. A form with several suggested giving levels is attached, but every donation is appreciated!

Send your tax-deductible donations earmarked for the Westminster Depot Fund and/or the Westminster Chamber of Commerce, in care of Sandra Powell, Executive Director, Westminster Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 155, Westminster, SC 29693.

You Can Make a Difference!

The Westminster Chamber of Commerce is now seeking and asking that donations be made immediately to help rebuild the Westminster Depot and assist the Chamber in its efforts to revitalize our business center.

Our goal is to raise $150,000 to restore the Depot, and $75,000 to support Chamber activities. Contribute under one or more of the classifications below. Gifts to rebuild the Depot should be made to "Westminster Depot Fund." Gifts to the Chamber should be made to "Westminster Chamber of Commerce.

Special Recognition
In Honor or Memory of Someone Special

Station Master $25,000
Dispatcher $10,000
Telegraph Operator $5,000
Ticket Booth $1,000

All Aboard Club

Conductor $200
Engineer $150
Fireman $100
Brakeman $50
Passenger $25

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For More Information Contact:

Westminster Chamber of Commerce
P. O. Box 155 ~ Historic Main Street
Westminster, SC 29693
(864) 647-5316
E-mail