The old Brookhaven Train Depot building is receiving somemuch-needed repairs.

Bill Farmer and his father, J.C. Farmer, have been workingthrough the rain this past week to replace rotted soffit boards andcracked roof shingles on the facility.

“Some of these boards have been here since the place was built,”said Bill Farmer, owner of Bill’s Construction, as he pointed to ajagged piece of black, crumbling wood within the building’seaves.

The building is home to the Military Memorial Museum and alsohouses some offices for Brookhaven Recreation Departmentpersonnel.

Military Memorial Museum volunteer Paul Jackson said the soffitdamage was caused by a leaking roof.

“Those leaks have caused the soffit boards to decay,” he said.”I reported the problem two years ago. They’re getting it fixednow.”

Brookhaven Building Inspector Chip Gennaro elaborated on thedamage.

“Over the years, some of the grout that holds the Spanish tilesin place has washed away,” he said. “Those tiles have cracked andslid out of position, and rain water has seeped in and rotted thesoffit boards.”

Gennaro said no interior damage has been caused to the depot orthe museum, and the work done by Bill’s Construction will stop theleaks before any occurs.

Both Gennaro and Jackson said the buildings need more work, suchas painting all around, but replacing the rotted wood is all thatcan be done for now.

“The facility doesn’t charge anything for its services, sothere’s not much of a budget to work with,” Gennaro said. “We’vebeen trying to get somebody to get over there and fix thosesoffits, and we’re finally going to get the work done before theweather comes in.”

Aldermen awarded the construction contract to Bill’sConstruction, which had a low bid of $8,500 to do the work. Thelumber for the job was donated by Brook-Lin Moulding andDesigns.