The Falmouth bus station is open to the public again, following a month-long hiatus after the departure of The Station Grill café in late December.

“We’ve tripled the access to the station,” said Wayne H. Lingafelter, executive director of Falmouth’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, which manages the station under a 100-year lease from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The station’s access was previously tied to the operating hours of The Station Grill. Mr. Lingafelter said that because the café’s equipment and food were accessible to anyone entering the station, the building was only opened when café staff were on-site. This limited bus patrons’ and bike path users’ access, especially during the winter months when the café operated on reduced hours, he said.

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By Elizabeth Saito Falmouth Enterprise

The state has given its preliminary blessing for a workforce housing development adjacent to the bus station on Depot Avenue. This conceptual go-ahead allows Falmouth’s economic development council to begin substantive discussions about what should be built on the two-acre wooded site.

Falmouth’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, a quasi-public agency, has a 99-year lease on the bus station property and has been thinking about building affordable housing there for the past several years. A major hurdle in moving forward was the uncertainty as to whether the state, which owns the property, would agree.

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By Elizabeth Saito Falmouth Enterprise

Workmen began repairs to the exterior of the Falmouth Station on Depot Avenue on Wednesday, November 8. The work is expected to wrap up by December, and the station will remain open throughout.

The joints between the bus station’s bricks are deteriorating, allowing moisture to seep into the bricks. The water then freezes and cracks the brickwork, a process known as spalling. Water is also seeping inside around the windows and causing the drywall to rot.

“It’s the first building that many people coming to Falmouth see,” said Wayne H. Lingafelter, executive director of the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, the nonprofit responsible for the historic structure’s upkeep.

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Someone has been relieving themselves frequently in recent weeks in the men’s restroom of the Falmouth Station bus depot—but not in the toilets.

“While it has not occurred nightly, it occurs regularly,” Wayne Lingafelter, executive director of the Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation, told his board on Tuesday, June 13.

The EDIC leases the station and surrounding property from the state Department of Transportation and oversees its management.

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Falmouth Economic Development and Industrial Corporation plan to undertake a market needs study as a precursor to a possible affordable housing development adjacent to Falmouth Station.

At its monthly meeting Tuesday, April 11, board members expressed willingness to commission an assessment of the site, which encompasses about two acres of wooded land bordering the bus depot and the Steamship Authority ferry parking lot. Buses that turn off Palmer Avenue to arrive at the station trace an outline around the northern edge of the prospective project site.

Economic corporation Executive Director Wayne H. Lingafelter described the study as a logical first step.

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Falmouth’s Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC) is hoping to make its leadership more diverse, but efforts have not proved fruitful thus far.

At present, five of the seven board members are white males, with one woman and one man of Hispanic origin. The board knows of up to three positions that will need to be filled by the end of June. EDIC executive director Wayne Lingafelter said he and outgoing EDIC chairman Christopher Land have both talked with potential female candidates, all of whom declined.

The EDIC is a nonprofit corporation with wider latitude than a typical government agency to usher along economic opportunity projects. Its portfolio includes the restoration of the Falmouth bus station, a solar array at the Falmouth landfill and the Falmouth Technology Park.

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In a meeting Tuesday, July 12, the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation discussed plans for the town to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Falmouth Station.

EDIC administrator Lynne Broderick said she was looking into getting a dessert food truck to park at the station on the day of the celebration. She said she had not yet found a truck to book because it was difficult to find one that specialized in dessert and was within the EDIC’s budget. There were also concerns from vendors about desserts melting, she said.

Because of this issue, the EDIC decided that it would not necessarily hold the anniversary celebration on the exact anniversary, which is Monday, July 18. The EDIC also discussed getting a banner to hang at the station in honor of the anniversary.

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On July 18, 1872, the Old Colony Railroad began railroad service to Falmouth with stations at North Falmouth, West Falmouth, Falmouth and Woods Hole. The arrival of the railroad transformed a small agrarian community and dying maritime economy into a commercial, business and tourist center.

Commercial businesses in Falmouth Village, including the Lawrence Grain Mill Company, Falmouth Coal Company and Wood Lumber Company, became dependent on the railroad service. Businesses in Woods Hole, such as Cahoon’s Harborside Fish Market and the Pacific Guano Company, were also dependent on the railroad service. In addition, other small businesses in East Falmouth, such as strawberry growers, welcomed the addition of the railroad to serve urban markets with their produce.

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The Falmouth Economic Development & Industrial Corporation has officially wrapped up its Community Development Block Grant Program after two years of providing COVID relief to small businesses in town.

Lynne Broderick, administrator for the EDIC, provided the board with a final recap at its meeting on Tuesday, June 14. The 16-month process began in December 2020 and closed out last month.

Former EDIC executive director Michael DiGiano, Ms. Broderick and EDIC member Michael Galasso represented the organization on the CDBG review committee. Michael Kasparian of the Falmouth Chamber of Commerce and Mark Lowenstein of SCORE were also members of the committee, which worked to facilitate the microenterprise grant program and distribute funds that Falmouth had been granted for COVID relief.

Ms. Broderick said the committee was active in reviewing and approving applications received from small businesses looking for relief. Ultimately, 13 businesses received grants of varying amounts for a total of $173,840 awarded.

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Falmouth Economic Development & Industrial Corporation has been asked to consider forming a citizens advisory committee for Falmouth Station that would be able to assist with maintaining and improving the property.

Town Meeting member Paul Dreyer (Precinct Two), who is also an elected member of the planning board, spoke about the Falmouth Station projects listed on the agenda and introduced the proposal for the EDIC’s consideration at its meeting on Tuesday, May 10.

“Most of the board members are not familiar with the development of this project and what really has happened since then,” Mr. Dreyer said. “I was an early proponent of the station. I stood here 10 years ago asking the select board to support the rehabilitation of the station. They encouraged me and really were very, very supportive of it, and I continue to be interested.”

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