BEVERLY SHORES, Ind. — One of the last surviving vestiges of the interurban era will continue to serve South Shore Line passengers in its current state, thanks to a recently-announced partnership.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, Indiana Landmarks organization, and the Beverly Shores Depot Museum and Art Gallery recently announced renewal of a 100-year lease that will ensure preservation and its continued use as a station along the Chicago to South Bend, Ind., electric line.
The Spanish Colonial Revival-style depot was typical of many buildings built in the 1920s for the Sam Insull-owned interurban empire that included the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee. The station almost met its demise before preservationists secured its place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. In addition to a waiting room, it now contains a history museum, art gallery, and gift shop.
To ensure the building survives another century, the lease renewal includes a partnership between NICTD, the museum, and the Indiana Landmarks organization, which will provide access to grants and other assistance. Significantly, the rail operator will provide an initial $50,000 grant for needed repairs and an annual contribution to assist with ongoing maintenance.
In a statement on the press release, Mike Noland, NICTD president and CEO, says, “Preserving this historic piece of our history and the Samuel Insull era of the railroad takes a group effort. This strategic partnership brings Indiana Landmarks into the fold to help secure much-needed resources for this community and regional asset, and we are most grateful.”
The Beverly Shores building isn’t the only feature that harks back to a time when electric railways crisscrossed much of rural America. Along with NICTD’s Hudson Lake and Gary-Chicago Airport stations, trains not scheduled to bypass the station in the timetable (currently three eastbound and six westbound don’t stop at Beverly Shores weekdays) will only stop for boarding passengers if flagged down. The South Shore’s previous flag stop protocol has been replaced by a system in which passengers waiting to board activate a strobe light that signals the engineer.
