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'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot

'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot
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REED POINT — Reed Point is known for its annual Great Montana Sheep Drive happening Labor Day weekend for the last 35 years, and this year, the Reed Point Community Club is hoping to complete a majority of the exterior work for the revamp of the historic depot as the sheep fly through the streets.

“It’s a point in history in Reed Point," said Audrey Ott, one of the six members of the community club. "But it hasn’t been used in years and so it's kind of just sitting here wasting away.”

'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot

This is why the community club is trying to keep it alive, creating even more history for the generations to come.

“It’s such a beautiful community and I think that the community deserves a community center,” Ott said. “It's not airtight, it gets extremely cold, there’s snow that comes in when it’s windy in the winter.”

'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot

Lev Ott, Audrey Ott's cousin, is another member of the community club raising money for the renovations. They hope to let clubs, such as 4-H, use the building for meetings or events, and let people rent out the space.

'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot

“We’re getting new doors and windows, and we’re just going to get it painted later this summer and just try to make it a usable building for our community,” Lev Ott said.

'Wasting away': Reed Point Community Club renovating century-old train depot

They have received around $7,000 in grants, but they are still short $1,200 for the siding and are also looking for manpower for the inside work.

“It’s going to be a lot of grunt work and we’re hoping that the community can help us out to clean things up, to paint, to help with the floors,” Audrey Ott said.

The community club is holding a raffle through the summer for a quarter beef. Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20.