START NEW DEPOT IN NEAR FUTURE. So Says Contractor Kreatz Who Returned Today From St. Paul Where He Bid On Its Construction. Only Bemidji Man To Bid. No Other Builder From this City Requests Contract for Erecting Great Northern Passenger Station. Work to Start Within Month. Building Will Be 217 Feet Long and 32 Feet Deep – Will Have All Conveniences. Bemidji’s new Great Northern depot will be started some time during the next month. This fact was made known today when George Kreatz, the Bemidji contractor returned from St. Paul, where he had gone to enter a bid for its construction. Mr. Kreatz states that he was the only Bemidji builder to bid on the erection of the station, and that the successful bidder will in all probability receive the contract some time this week. If this is done, and the promise of the railroad company to start operations as soon as the contract is let, is kept, it means that work on the depot will be begun within the next month. This, according to Contractor Kreatz, is the present plans. The building will be 217 feet in length and 32 feet deep. It will have all modern conveniences, ladies and gentlemen’s waiting rooms, ticket and express office, telegraph office and baggage room. “The plans for the depot call for one which will be a credit to Bemidji,” said Mr. Kreatz this morning. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Tuesday Evening, June 25, 1912, Volume 10, Number 50, Page 1)
DEPOT PLANS CHANGED. It was rumored today that new plans have been drawn for the Great Northern depot and that new bids are being asked for. It was found that the original plans called for more money than the railroad was willing to spend and that some retrenchment has been made. Engineers for the railroad were busy laying out the site of the new depot this morning. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Friday Evening, June 28, 1912, Volume 10, Number 53, Page 1)
Great Northern Fill Started. Workmen on the Great Northern yesterday started the fill to be made before the new depot is completed. It is estimated that it will take a month to raise the low ground to the level of the tracks used at present. The fill is being made with sand and gravel hauled in on flat cars. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Tuesday Evening, July 2, 1912, Volume 10, Number 56, Page 8)
ORIGINAL DEPOT PLANS TO STAND. Carl R. Gray, President of G. N. Writes that $40,000 Structure Will Be Built. Based on Population of 20,000. Specifications Call for Station Which Is of Type Usually Erected in Much Larger City. Grounds to be Beautified. Approaches to Be Laid Out With Flower Gardens and Small Triangle Park. According to a letter received today by H. C. Baer, secretary of the Commercial club, work on the Great Northern depot will be delayed no longer and the structural work started within a short time. The letter was from Carl R. Gray, the new president of the Great Northern railway. When J. J. Hill was here in the spring, he promised Bemidji a depot of which it could be justly proud and the Great Northern architects at once started work on the plans and specifications. When finished, these were looked over by several Bemidji business men and found acceptable in every respect. The plans called for a $40,000 structure. It was learned a few weeks ago that the Great Northern considered the plans as calling for too expensive a depot and ordered new ones drawn on a basis that would materially lessen the cost. The matter was at once taken up with the higher officials with the result that President Gray writes the original plans will stand. Men who have seen the plans say that they call for a depot the size customarily built in a town of 20,000 – called Permanent Type A – and it is taken as an indication of the faith of the Great Northern in Bemidji’s future.
The plans call for a depot better than that at Fargo, a city much in advance of Bemidji at the present time. For three years Bemidji men have been urging the Great Northern to build a depot to replace the frame building put here when the town was a lumberjack trading post. These men had been put off from time to time, but never impatient, kept working steadily to attain their object. The result was that when Mr. Hill was here in the spring he saw easily that the present depot is wholly inadequate. He also became impressed with the fact that the prosperity of Bemidji was based on substantial industries and promised a depot which would not only handle the present traffic and that which will come but one to which the city may point with pride. Contrary to the first impression, Minnesota avenue is not to be straightened. Instead, the present curve is to be left but a new approach built to the depot. In the center of the street there will be a small triangle which will be beautified with flower gardens and it is said the Great Northern will improve the depot yards as they are in St. Cloud. These improvements will give visitors and through passengers a favorable first impression of Bemidji. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Wednesday Evening, July 24, 1912, Volume 10, Number 74, Page 1)
PILE DRIVING FOR NEW DEPOT STARTED. Machine Was Put in Place This Morning and Began Work at Once. Workmen started driving piling for the new Great Northern depot this morning. A special work track was laid to the depot some time ago and during this week, the road hauled in several cars of piles to be driven for foundation purposes. Since the visit of J. J. Hill to Bemidji in the spring, it has been an assured fact that the Great Northern would build a new depot. The real point of interest has been as to how good a depot he would have built. When Mr. Hill was here he was struggling into his overcoat as his special pulled into the city. The first building he saw when he stepped from the coach was the Union depot. “What depot is that,” he asked of T. J. Burke. “That is the Union depot, of the Soo and M. and I. roads,” replied Mr. Burke. Mr. Hill looked for a moment longer and then looked at the Great Northern depot. He turned to Mr. Burke and said, “We will build a depot and a good one.” Later in the evening he repeated his promise. Those who have seen the Great Northern plans say that they call for a first class structure and one which will be large enough to care for traffic for some time. It is to be built at the foot of Minnesota avenue and the curve triangle platted for a flower garden. The approach to the depot has been filled in but the grading is not complete. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Saturday Evening, August 3, 1912, Volume 10, Number 83, Page 1)
Contractors Are at It. To Libby and Nelson, Minneapolis contractors, was awarded the building of the new Great Northern depot. The unloading of building material and lumber began in earnest this morning, and Bemidji’s dream of a new modern station is about to become realized. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Monday Evening, August 5, 1912, Volume 84, Number 84, Page 1)
START ON SUPERSTRUCTURE. Work on the New Great Northern depot has reached a point where the contractors are about ready to start on the second floor. The window casings for the first floor have been set in and much of the brick work has been finished. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Thursday Evening, October 10, 1912, Volume 10, Number 141, Page 1)
ARE ROOFING THE DEPOT. Contractors building the Great Northern depot are putting on the first cross boards of the roof. The building should be under cover within a week. Last night the water tank was moved from its old location to a point several hundred feet east, where it will be permanently located. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Wednesday Evening, October 23, 1912, Volume 10, Number 152, Page 1)
FINISH DEPOT BY JANUARY 10. Instructions have been received from St. Paul to the effect that work on the construction of the new Great Northern depot be rushed to completion by January 10. The exterior work on the building is practically completed and workmen are putting the finishing touches on the interior. (The Bemidji Daily Pioneer, Saturday Evening, December 28, 1912, Volume 10, Number 207, Page 1)