The City of Richmond will spend almost $2 million restoring a significant piece of Stevestons history.
City council agreed this week to allocate the cash to bringing the former Interurban Tram back to its former glory and building a state-of-the-art barn to house the tram and serve as a museum.
The argument over what to do with the 100-year-old tram has been tossed back and forth for many years by council and local historical organizations.
The construction on a new wooden, red car barn for the tram is expected to get underway early in 2012.
It will be built next to the current Steveston Park playground, where the tram can be rolled out on tracks for display purposes.
In its heyday, the tram, which ran on electricity, carried passengers direct from Steveston to downtown Vancouver in less than 45 minutes.
It has sat dormant, gathering dust in Steveston Park since 1995. The city acquired it from Steveston Interurban Restoration Society for $400,000 in 2006.
The new house for the tram will also have a meeting room for community use.
