Driver of pickup crashes into depot causing extensive damage
The driver of a pickup truck crashed into the Whitefish Depot building Sunday morning heavily damaging the deck around the building. On Monday morning, large pieces of wood and twisted pieces of the metal railing remained scattered around. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The driver of a pickup truck crashed into the Whitefish Depot building Sunday heavily damaging the deck around the building. Large pieces of wood landed on an outside staircase on the second floor of the building. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The driver of a pickup truck crashed into the Whitefish Depot building Sunday heavily damaging the deck around the building. Large pieces of wood were scattered along the east side of the Train Depot building including almost to the railroad tracks on the opposite side of the building from the crash. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The driver of a pickup truck crashed into the Whitefish Depot building Sunday morning heavily damaging the deck around the building. (Courtesy photo)
Law enforcement officials are investigating a Sunday morning vehicle crash that heavily damaged the wood deck around the historic Whitefish Train Depot downtown.
According to witnesses, a black Ford-F150 driven by Courtney Holler, who resides north of Whitefish, was seen driving northbound on Spokane Avenue at a high rate of speed at about 7:40 a.m., according to a release from the Whitefish Police Department, according to a release.
The driver crashed into the corner of the decking of the building that faces Depot Park.
Holler, 27, was transported to Seattle via air ambulance and her condition is unknown at this time, according to a release.
On Monday morning caution tape was still up around the area where the truck hit the deck, taking a large chunk out of it. A few pieces of red painted wood was all that remained of the sign that had said Whitefish Depot, and appeared to have been directly in the path of where the truck hit.
The damage was largely confined to the decking and the infrastructure, and by Monday electricity had been restored to the baggage building, according to Stumptown Historical Society Executive Director Jill Evans.
The Stumptown Historical Society has owned the historical building since 1990 and operates the Stumptown Museum in the depot.
Evans was at the building much of the day on Sunday assessing the damage. Some of the timber in the decking was about 100 years old and will take months to replace, she noted.
“This is just heartbreaking,” she said. “This is significant because we can’t just go out and patch the area that was damaged. The decking has to be milled — the spruce cut down, dried and then milled.”
Evans said it was too early to know the cost of the damage, but that a large portion of the deck would likely have to be completely replaced including the infrastructure for the deck. The area also included a ramp for accessing the building.
Evans said there was only minor damage to the depot building itself.
“The response from first responders was steller,” she said. “We are so lucky to have them.”
Great Northern Railway constructed the depot building in 1928 with the design in the Alpine-style reminiscent of the lodges in Glacier National Park. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
Following Sunday’s incident, large pieces of wood were scattered around including on the opposite side of the building closest to the railroad tracks. Broken pipes beneath the decking were visible and twisted metal pieces from the railing around the deck were scattered around the area.
A few pieces of wood were also still sitting where they came to rest on an outside staircase on the second floor of the building.
The Whitefish Police, Montana Highway Patrol and Flathead County Sheriff's office continue to investigate the incident.
