Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

TRYON—A room in the historic Tryon Depot building is once again available for rent for private events. Local businessman Andy Millard, who leases the building from the town, is once again renting out what’s known as the Depot Room.

“We’ve had wedding receptions in here, lots of meetings, lots of community groups have had meetings, so there’s tons of stuff this room is suited for,” said Millard. 

The depot building was built in 1906 to serve trains and passengers traveling between Saluda and Charleston. When trains stopped running through Tryon in the 1990s the railroad transferred ownership of the building to the town and it sat idle for over a decade. In 2009, the town leased the depot to Millard for a nominal fee in exchange for him funding its renovation. Millard ran his financial services business on one side of the building and rented the Depot Room on the other side until 2016 when Parsec Financial bought his business and sub-leased the entire building from him. Parsec sometimes allowed the public to use the Depot Room for free but when Parsec merged with Moderna Wealth Management in 2023 the new firm wanted to let go of managing an event space. 

“My understanding from them is it took up so much time for some of their employees just to try to manage the bookings and keep it clean and assuming the liability if something were to happen in here, not to mention the costs of just keeping it maintained and all of that. It just became too much for them,” Millard said.

Millard is now once again renting out the Depot Room for private events with a discount for non-profit organizations. To inquire about leasing the space, text Millard at 828-817-2999 or e-mail him at camillard@mac.com.