WESTMINSTER — Mayor Derek Hodgin announced Friday at the Westminster Rotary Club Luncheon, on word from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), that the city will receive its requested second round of grand funding for its historic depot renovation project.

The grant will be identical to the previously allocated money in the first round of depot renovation funding.

The funding process had hit a snag when the city, which already received a $160,000 grant from the SCDOT with $40,000 in matching funds, was denied a second grant because the SCDOT requires 50 percent of the first grant to have been spent before a second round can be allocated. Westminster could not meet the requisite spending requirement because the SCDOT also required Westminster to provide an assessment of what parts of the structure could be salvaged before moving forward. A cost assessment had to be performed after the burned depot was gutted in order to accurately ascertain the level of structural damage. The renovation of the building was dealt a major setback when Charles Zachary Sharpe set fire to it in 2006, broadly expanding the scope of the project.

While the grant approval has not yet formally come in writing, Hodgin said he received assurance from South Carolina Secretary of Transportation Buck Limehouse that the grant has been given the go-ahead.

“We’re now ready to roll on the depot renovation,” Hodgin said. “It’s not only a historical icon, but it can help catapult downtown investment that is going on.”

Greenville-based architectural firm DP3 partnered with Trehel in designing the renovated depot, which is planned to feature a historic exterior similar to the original, with an updated, technology-driven interior. Hodgin’s next order of business is to meet with DP3 and Trehel to “aggressively move forward” with the renovation.

“I’m going to sit down with those parties involved so we can get moving on this as soon as we can,” he said. “That depot has been sitting in its dilapidated and burnt state for way too long. It can be the centerpiece of downtown Westminster, and it will serve as the catalyst of development there.”

Hodgin said he also thought aggressive action on the project was warranted in order for the city to be good stewards of the people’s money, as their desire to see a renovated depot was evidenced when the Westminster Chamber of Commerce quickly collected $40,000 in private donations to match the SCDOT’s first grant.

“You’ve got a lot of people who really want us to start working on that depot,” he said. “After nothing’s done for a while, people start to question whether or not it’s going to happen.”