The City of Whitewater’s iconic, 121-year-old train depot will have to wait until 2012 to get its long-awaited renovation.

Plans to renovate the depot this year were delayed after construction bids came in over budget.

Plans to renovate the depot began in October 2008, when the city received a $320,000 federal transportation enhancement grant to cover most of the estimated $400,000 project.

The Whitewater Historical Society raised $40,000 by selling memorial bricks, and the city pledged the remaining $40,000. The city had tried for the grant in 2006 and did not receive it.

“We sold around 100 bricks,”  Whitewater Historical Society President Ellen Penwell said. “I feel bad for the people who purchased them and haven’t seen them displayed yet.”

The commemorative bricks will be displayed on the sidewalk between the fountain on Whitewater Street and the front doors of the depot once construction is complete.

Two feasibility studies were done in 2006 and 2008 to gauge the work needed on the structure.

The city received two bids, both which were significantly over the allotted $400,000 budget.

Penwell said the city will ask for itemized estimates during the next round of bidding so project leaders can determine what items are most important and affordable.

“We really feel promise about how [the city] can go forward and get [the project] done and get the building we want,” Penwell said.

Penwell said the city will accept bids again in January and hopefully construction will begin in February. She said she hopes the renovation will be complete by the city’s Fourth of July celebrations.

According to Penwell,  the building isn’t structurally damaged, although water damage in the basement has caused the upper floor to buckle and the renovation would bring the depot up to city health codes.

Most of the renovations would involve services, like plumbing and electrical, and making the building handicapped accessible and adding a unisex bathroom, she said.

“The historical components of the building will be brought back to its original look,” Penwell said.

Other renovations would be to the original ticket office and smoking room. Both would be used to display the Whitewater Historical Society’s collectables, which detail the city’s past, such as photographs, archived documents and textiles from Whitewater’s pioneer-period history.

Penwell said renovations to the ticket office and smoking room can wait and the historical society may put off less important renovations in the interest of getting the renovation complete.

Madison-based Isthmus Architecture is helping with the design of the depot’s renovation. The company specializes in historical preservation and has aided in the in redesign of the Racine State and Richland Center Railroad Depots and is also planning the West Bend Railroad Depot in addition to the Whitewater depot.