Albany chef Matt Bennett plans to move his popular Sybaris Bistro to a former electric train station downtown next year, thanks in part to an Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant that covered a small portion of the restoration costs.
Despite decades of use as a pizzeria and video poker outlet for the Oregon Lottery, most of the 112-year-old railroad building's original craftsmanship remains.
“Fortunately for everyone involved, no one has permanently altered or upgraded the station,” Bennett said. After removing layers of paint, old wood, ceramic tiles and decorative ceilings were discovered.
Bennett, twice nominated as Best Chef in the Northwest by the James Beard Foundation, and his wife, Janel, have navigated their restaurant through good, bad and pandemic times while renting another space downtown for 23 years.
Thanks to financial support from Albany entrepreneur and philanthropist Buzz Wheeler and a $200,000 federal revitalization grant, the couple is now more involved in the city's history.
The Oregon Electric Railway station in Albany opened to passengers on July 4, 1912, and the Bennetts hope to reopen the restored and expanded building on July 4, 2025.
The train station at 133 SE Fifth Ave. was a connection on the Oregon Electric Railway's 122-mile Willamette Valley route.
On New Year's Day 1908, electric trains began running between Portland and Salem. According to the Oregon Historical Society, lines serving commuters, students and shoppers reached Forest Grove in 1908, Woodburn in 1909, and Albany and Eugene in 1912.
A final branch line between Albany and Corvallis ran in 1913.
After ridership peaked in 1920, electric train passenger service was forced to cease in 1933 due to competition from cars, trucks and buses, historians say.
Matt Bennett, who moved to Oregon from Michigan in 1994, knew the railroad building on a prominent half-acre corner lot only as Ciddici's Pizza. Now he sees it as a valuable part of history.
“This station, called the 'Jewel of the Line,' was built as a civic statement when Albany was a thriving lumber town, competing with Portland for the dominant city in the state,” Bennett said.
Special materials underline the quality of the building. Instead of bricks made in Albany, wire-cut bricks were shipped there during construction. “When the bricklayer saw the bricks, he lost his mind with excitement,” Bennett said.
Restoring the railroad building is expensive and costs for construction materials, labor and loan interest have increased since the Sybaris Bistro group, under Wheeler's Monteith Square LLC, purchased the property in May 2022 for $900,000.
The state's revitalization grant, awarded to building improvement projects that bring tourism dollars to downtown businesses, represents only a fraction of the rising renovation costs. Still, Bennett said, “there is no way we could have started this project without the grant.”
In April 2024, Bennett unsuccessfully applied for a $545,000 forgivable loan under an Albany revitalization program that had expired. Bennett told the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he “missed the train” on that show.
Bennett told The Oregonian/OregonLive in December that he and his wife remained committed to the project. “You just write a big check and improvements happen,” he said with a “what else can you do?” laugh.
From the beginning, Bennett and Lori Stephens of Broadleaf Architecture agreed to progress the final plans slowly to protect the original elements not yet visible to them and to achieve optimal use of space without costly missteps.
They waited until the pizzeria's decor and other cosmetic changes were removed “to see what the space wanted to look like,” he said.
Bennett hired Matt Pyburn of Pyburn & Sons, a family-owned construction and remodeling company that has been restoring historic buildings in Albany for three generations.
One day, Bennett, Matt Pyburn, and Pyburn's uncle, Peter Pyburn, stood in the middle of the train station, looking at a black-and-white photo of the original interior. Suddenly Pete Pyburn looked at the ceiling.
“He grabbed a ladder, climbed up, got out a pocket knife and started scratching at the ceiling,” Bennett recalls. “Pete let out a profanity and said, 'It's all here.'”
The decorative coffered ceiling was under beige paint, and what appeared to be bricks turned out to be red paint covering green tiles that matched the station's distinctive ceramic roof.
Another lucky discovery: the pizzeria kitchen was built into the original luggage compartment. “After we took out the kitchen utensils and scraped away all the dirt, we came to the original exposed brick,” Bennett said.
When Sybaris Bistro opens in its new location, visitors will be able to enjoy drinks in the stylish Luggage Room Lounge. Guests will sit at tables in the station's main room and in the former ticket area, and the bistro's kitchen will be housed in a new extension at the rear of the building.
Bennett will continue Sybaris Bistro's award-winning Northwest cuisine, with freshly prepared dishes and a monthly changing menu based on fresh, sustainably grown ingredients purchased from growers and producers in the Willamette Valley and other parts of the region.
“We really want to pay respect to the history of the building, but we’re not creating a train-themed restaurant,” he said.
Improvements were made to an original bathroom, which was widened six inches to make it accessible to those with mobility devices, like the rest of the main floor.
And a “terrifyingly steep staircase” that long ago replaced the original ship's ladder used to descend into the basement to fire the boiler has been removed, Bennett said. The location of the former sawdust mill is the new, safe route to the cellar.
Bennett said he was assisted by the State Historic Preservation Office, people in the community who provided information and craftsmen past and present who worked on the railroad building.
Each of the original ceramic roof tiles were numbered and placed on pallets while the rafters with wood rot were replaced and a new roof underlayment was installed.
“I have absolute respect for people who build beautiful buildings,” Bennett said, “and for people who protect historic buildings.”
He learned that in the 1970s there was a push to demolish old buildings in Albany to make way for a shopping center and other new buildings. But no-nonsense Mayor Platt Davis and young City Councilman Dick Olsen joined forces to save downtown, Bennett said.
How deeply did the Bennetts go into researching historical details to guide their restoration decisions? Three apple trees in a side garden are just the right variety — Yellow Newtown, Winesap and Baldwin — The city's founders, Thomas and Walter Monteith, planted plants on their homesteads in the 1840s.
Revitalization grant
Lise Grato of the Albany Downtown Association encouraged Matt and Janel Bennett to apply for the state's revitalization grant, and 28 were awarded in 2022.
Grato said the Oregon Electric Railway Station project meets a well-defined need and meets the grant's criteria of public and partner support and city support.
The Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant awards up to $400,000 in matching funds and can be used for the acquisition, rehabilitation and construction of buildings on properties in designated downtown areas.
Grato said that “a strong historic vision from the Bennetts, a competent team and the ability to complete the project on time in compliance with all Department of the Interior standards for historic restoration” were critical to receiving the grant.
Stephens of Broadleaf Architecture, who designed the renovation plans, said the project is a prime example of historic preservation through adaptive reuse. By relocating Sybaris Bistro to a landmark property that was once downtown Albany, “Oregon Electric station will re-establish itself as an anchor destination for downtown Albany, especially given the reputation of Sybaris cuisine,” she said.
More importantly, the restoration of the interior and original cargo loading area areas will give people the opportunity to experience spaces that have not existed since the 1930s.
Nicole Possert, executive director of the nonprofit historic preservation organization Restore Oregon, said the Oregon Main Street program helps communities find valuable, lasting uses for historic buildings that define a local legacy.
“Albany’s adaptive reuse of a former train station as a restaurant will bring economic investment and long-term vitality to downtown,” Possert said.
Further information: Oregon Heritage State Historic Preservation Office staff can answer questions and review applications for an Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant (503-986-0690, oregon.gov/oprd/OH).
A free online workshop specifically for the scholarship will be offered on January 9th from 1 to 4 p.m. Registration is required. The application deadline for the 2025 scholarship ends on March 13th.
— Janet Eastman reports on design and trends. Reach her at 503-294-4072, jeastman@oregonian.com and follow her on X @janeteastman.