When life gives you lemons ...

Efforts to stabilize the fire-damaged Virginian Railway passenger station have been on hold since the bidding process ran afoul of red tape last fall. But restoration committee chairman James Cosby said they hope to rebid the project in the coming months with a broader scope.

"We believe that we'll be able to do the entire roof structure, including tile," Cosby said. Last fall's aborted bid process was only for a temporary roof and stabilization work. "We're compressing two phases."

Cosby said they will put out a call for bids on environmental work on the project at the same time. The historic station contains asbestos and lead-based paint.

The new timetable calls for the project to be put out for bid in May, with bids opened in June. "That's an optimistic schedule," Cosby said. "We have some momentum with this project now and we want to keep the momentum."

The Virginian Railway operated in Virginia and West Virginia in the first half of the 20th century. Its Roanoke passenger station was built in 1909. Fire gutted it in 2001, and it has been deteriorating ever since. Norfolk Southern Corp. donated the building to the local chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 2003.

The society has been awarded more than $500,000 in federal funds to renovate the building. Last fall, it sent out a call for bids to put a temporary roof on the station, but the Virginia Department of Transportation, which has oversight responsibility for the funds, said the bidding process was flawed. The society disagreed but elected to rebid the project rather than risk losing the funds.

The silver lining, project backers say, was that last fall's bids were lower than expected, leading them to re-evaluate how much they can accomplish during the first construction phase of the project. They now believe they can complete the roof, and not simply stabilize it, Cosby said. The next phase of the project would be interior renovation and landscape.

"Given the concerns that VDOT had with the bidding process, and the possibility they can get more of the work done with the money they have available, it's probably for the best that they actually will rebid it," said VDOT spokesman Jason Bond.

The rail society plans to rent out the station once renovations are completed. An adjoining small baggage and express building will be used by the society, and include an exhibit to "memorialize and honor the Virginian Railway and its employees," said Cosby, who is also the society's treasurer.