Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Wants to Move Train Depot

The area surrounding the former Ahnapee & Western train depot building in front of Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding along North 3rd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay is now being used to park equipment. Photo by Kevin Boneske.

Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding is looking to move the former Ahnapee & Western train depot building offsite as the company plans to further develop its property along North 3rd Avenue, said Bay Shipbuilding facilities manager Troy Walter.

He said the building doesn’t have any value for Bay Shipbuilding to make use of, so the company wants to get it moved off the premises by someone else interested in preserving the historic brick structure.

Walter said it’s “speculation” at this point as to where the train depot could end up, because nothing has been finalized – including financial costs for the removal and who would bear those costs.

The train depot, which dates back to 1914, sits on a half-acre parcel Fincantieri has owned since the 2015 tax year, according to Door County property records that currently list the land as being assessed for $120,500 and the improvements at $167,000. 

The building had been previously used as a tavern, microbrewery and restaurant – when it housed the Railroad Inn, Cherryland Brewing and Dal Santo’s Restaurant – after train service was discontinued in Sturgeon Bay more than 50 years ago.

Wisconsin Historical Society records indicate the train depot is not listed in either the state or federal register of historic places, and when the Common Council approved a resolution in 2016 to vacate portions of North 1st Avenue and Jefferson Street for use by Fincantieri, there were no conditions put on the train depot that those vacated roads surround.

Just south of the train depot, a vacant retail building previously used over the past several decades for various business ventures – such as for a Gambles store, restaurant and mini-mall – was recently torn down for Fincantieri to make use of the site in the future for parking, Walter said.

He said Fincantieri would like to develop the site where the building was razed at the same time as the area where the train depot now stands, but what the area might be used for hasn’t been determined.

The company has improved the area north of the train depot, which previously was vacant space, as a paved parking lot.

Walter said it would be “the sooner, the better” to move the train depot building, and he would welcome that happening this year, but Bay Shipbuilding doesn’t have a specific date set for that to take place with nothing finalized for someone to move it.

Facilities Upgrading

Over the past two years, Fincantieri’s upgrading of its Bay Shipbuilding facilities has included constructing a new 65-foot-by-300-foot building on the north end of its property along North 3rd Avenue for a machine shop to service the entire Sturgeon Bay yard’s machining needs.

The company also received approval last fall from the city’s Aesthetic Design and Site Plan Review Board to build a 90-foot-by-58-foot addition to a blasting/painting building located north of Jefferson Street behind Bellin Health, but has yet to begin constructing the addition.

Though the addition is intended for containing sandblasting for both Department of Defense and commercial work, Walter said the company is currently determining whether that addition will be needed based on future workload.

He noted that addition, if built, would facilitate the use of steel shot for blasting, where that work could take place indoors and not be affected by inclement weather.

Beautification Plan

As part of Fincantieri’s development of the Bay Shipbuilding property, the city required the company’s beautification plan to extend north along North 3rd Avenue to Florida Street.

Walter said the company is now finalizing its expanded beautification plan, which will continue the use of trees and river rock along North 3rd Avenue.

He said those aesthetic improvements should begin this spring and be completed this year.