Groveland is set to take ownership of its historic downtown train depot Friday, a transfer more than a century in the making that will finally let the city begin restoring the long-shuttered Craftsman-style brick building. An ownership transfer ceremony is scheduled for noon Friday at the depot, located at 122 State Road 19, marking the formal end of a process city officials say they have pursued since around 2007.
The depot itself turns 101 years old this year, having been rebuilt in 1925 as the second iteration of the station, according to WESH. The single-story brick structure measures just 1,085 square feet, per ConstructConnect, which also notes that market forces shuttered the depot for more than forty years. In its working days, the depot connected Groveland to Sanford and St. Petersburg and was used to export citrus, timber and turpentine, as first reported by WFTV.
A Site Tied to Civil Rights History
The depot carries weight beyond its architecture. According to the city, Charles Greenlee was arrested there at age 16 — he was later known as one of the Groveland Four, a case that remains a landmark chapter in Florida's civil rights history, WFTV reports. That history adds another layer to why city officials have spent nearly two decades working to secure ownership of the property.
Restoration Funding and Timeline
With ownership finally changing hands, Groveland has budgeted $500,000 for the first phase of restoration work, which is expected to begin in 2027, per WFTV's reporting. That figure aligns with separate reporting from CitizenPortal.ai, which notes the city's Community Redevelopment Agency reserved $500,000 from downtown infrastructure funding for the depot in its fiscal year 2026-27 budget. The broader vision is considerably larger — Groveland is planning a $2 million redevelopment of the depot altogether, according to the Orlando Business Journal, which describes the project as intended to turn the depot into a community hub at the heart of the city's rapidly growing downtown.
Future plans for the depot include an event space along with a historic brick pedestrian plaza surrounding the building, WFTV reports. That plaza is envisioned as a downtown gateway and trail hub, tying into the city's broader push to convert the depot into a trailhead and civic landmark, according to ConstructConnect's project listing. The city is also seeking a licensed Florida architect experienced in historic preservation and adaptive reuse to prepare construction-ready plans and permits, and is pursuing state funding to help revitalize the depot as an anchor point along the Coast-to-Coast trail network.
Not Everyone Agrees on the Approach
The scale and sequencing of the project have not gone unchallenged. Several members of Groveland's Community Redevelopment Agency board have favored addressing blight and structural issues before moving ahead with larger buildouts like an expanded event hall, per CitizenPortal.ai's coverage of CRA deliberations. The board directed city staff to prioritize roof and structural stabilization first and return with a detailed repair plan, cost estimates, funding sources and a procurement approach before committing to the fuller vision.
The depot has also become entangled with a separate downtown development saga. Avalon Park Group and Carabao International LLC had planned to return the currently defunct train station to the city at no cost as part of a mixed-use project, according to GrowthSpotter. That proposed transfer included additional land meant to accommodate a future public plaza at the site, and the original downtown plan called for restoring the historic station alongside an urban plaza. Separately, Avalon Park's planned apartments, work units and retail spaces for downtown Groveland had been expected to begin construction in fall 2026, according to News 13, though WESH's reporting noted construction on that project had not yet begun as of its publication.
A Model From Elsewhere in Florida
Groveland isn't the first Florida city to wrestle a dormant depot back to life. Inverness paid $1.3 million in 2014 to purchase its own historic train station, built in 1892 as a stop on the Atlantic Coast Line, as part of its Depot District project, according to the Citrus County Chronicle. That city relocated its depot roughly 200 feet so it would face the Withlacoochee State Trail, and the building reopened in 2022 as the Train Station Café and Game Room, complete with four lanes of duckpin bowling. Whether Groveland's depot ends up hosting anything as unexpected as a bowling alley remains to be seen, but the Inverness project offers a glimpse of how a century-old station can be reimagined once a city finally holds the keys.
