A year after the Hope Station House was relocated, restoration work is underway at its old location on Old Hope-Princeton Way. 

"We鈥檙e excited to announce that after a 10-month archaeological delay, the long-awaited site remediation project is set to begin (on April 7)," the District of Hope said on social media. "Once the work is completed, the district will begin the process of withdrawing from stewardship of the site."

The work will take about 14 days to complete. 

"This is a significant step forward, and we鈥檙e excited to see the site restored."

The goal is to restore the site back to its natural state before the station house's arrival. The current work is being guided by on-site archaeologist and cultural monitors, hired by Chawathil First Nation, to ensure that "all steps are taken with respect and care."

The station was moved to its current location, on 919 Water Ave, on Feb. 15. That was the building's second relocation.

The first move took place in 1985 following a fundraising campaign headed by the Village Arts and Crafts Society, to save the building from demolition. After raising $17,000 the arts community was able to purchase the building from CN Rail and have it moved from the train tracks to Old Hope-Princeton Way. 

Recently, Hope council agreed to authorize $100,000 towards covering the cost of an archaeological assessment/study at the Water Avenue location. The assessment must be done before further work can be done at the site.