Fill out the Short Survey and Offer Suggestions
The City of Carrollton and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) are asking residents to fill out a short survey to offer suggestions for future adaptive reuse of the Carrollton Rail Depot building (1175 N. Denton Drive).
Historically known as the Union Depot, the building was constructed in 1924, and is the last of three railroad depots built in Carrollton. DART owns the building, and moved it in 2008 to its current location to make way for DART’s Green Line light rail service. Now, one of the oldest pieces of City history sits abandoned on the DART Downtown Carrollton Station property.
Help Carrollton bring the depot back on track in the 21st century with its long-term railroad ties.
The survey can be accessed at surveymonkey.com/r/CarrolltonDepot.
What is Adaptive Reuse?
Adaptive reuse is the process of renovating and repurposing existing structures for new purposes, while preserving their original architectural features and historical and cultural significance.
Depot Background
The Carrollton Rail Depot was built along the rail bed of the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (the Katy). In total, since the early 1900s and until 1935 when passenger rail travel ceased, the depot served the Katy, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (the Cotton Belt), and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (the BNSF Railway). Because of its more than three decades of service to freight and passenger trains, Carrollton’s City Council, in December 2010, dedicated a marker designating the depot as a historically significant building in the City.
The railroad has had and will have again a significant impact on Carrollton’s population growth and commerce. Upon completion of DART’s Silver Line Regional Rail, which is taking advantage of the Cotton Belt Route from Addison in the east to the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Regional Airport in the west, the City of Carrollton will again be the most connected City in North Texas.
The 26-mile Silver Line segment will traverse seven cities, including Carrollton, Addison, Coppell, Dallas, Grapevine, Plano, and Richardson. At DFW International Airport, the Silver Line will connect to the 27-mile Trinity Metro TEXRail commuter rail line providing access to Fort Worth and the DFW Airport Skylink. The Silver Line will also interface with the three DART light rail lines, the Red/Orange Lines in Richardson/Plano, the Green Line in Carrollton, and the Orange Line at DFW Airport. One rail stop north of Downtown, at Trinity Mills Station, residents will also be able to take the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) A-Train commuter service to Denton.
So, as it sits today, the Carrollton Rail Depot building is on the NE corner of the Downtown Carrollton Station lot with the two Silver Line Regional Rail Station tracks being built right beside it and the Green Line light rail station on its other side.
Help the City of Carrollton and DART reimagine it as an integral part of Carrollton’s Downtown Expansion.