The oldest railroad building in Alabama - Huntsville's Memphis & Charleston Freight Depot - has been saved from demolition and will be restored and preserved, the Historic Huntsville Foundation announced today at the site.

The freight depot, located next to the Historic Huntsville Depot on Church Street, was badly damaged in a fire March 11. With the few brick walls left standing deemed unsafe, depot owner Norfolk Southern Corp. had scheduled the ruins for demolition.

On March 25, an 11th-hour intervention by Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, ensured a stay of execution. But the future of the building, built in 1856 and until 1996 the second-oldest continually used freight depot in the world, remained uncertain.

Now Norfolk Southern has relented, agreeing to donate the depot and lease the site to the Alabama Historical Commission, and contribute $20,000 toward the estimated $35,000 cost of emergency repairs.

Norfolk Southern and the commission have already signed an official letter of agreement and are drawing up legal documents. Robert Gamble, the commission's chief architectural historian, said that basic work to secure the site would begin "very soon".

"After the fire, we were of the opinion that there really wasn't enough left to salvage," said Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman. "But the Historic Huntsville Foundation convinced us that there was enough of the facade worth salvaging, and that they would be able to do it."

Lynne Berry, director of the Historic Huntsville Foundation, said the depot had been saved because of cooperation among Norfolk Southern, the Alabama Historical Commission, the city of Huntsville and Cramer's office.

"At a meeting at City Hall on April 5, all of these parties came together to find a way to preserve this structure," she said. "Since the Historic Huntsville Foundation has no funds to devote to this project at this time, the Alabama Historical Commission volunteered to take care of the immediate needs of cleaning, shoring and fencing."

The commission will hold the property until the foundation is ready to take possession and restore the building.

"Huntsville is the only place in the nation to retain its pre-Civil War passenger and freight depots," said Lee Warner, the commission's director. "Its preservation and restoration means that a landmark will be retained. Demolition, which would have left nothing of the community's heritage on that site, was not an acceptable alternative."

The March 11 fire devastated the depot, but it may have helped its long-term prospects. The Historic Huntsville Foundation had been trying to take possession of the building for more than 10 years.

"The fire means we've been able to work out an even better agreement," said Berry. "Norfolk Southern is willing to donate all the property within the two active tracks, so if it is ever restored, there will be enough room for parking."

With restoration likely to cost "hundreds of thousands of dollars," it may be some time until that parking is needed. But Berry has big plans.

"This could become a very valuable piece of property," she said, adding that its simple structure would make conversion easy. "If I had a dream, I'd like to see it become a gallery for local artists."