Sale Depot - "We interrupt your scheduled podcast for a train update...No quiet zone yet."

Transcript

Welcome to Coffee Talk Summer Series, all about local venues.

I'm Sarah. And I'm TJ.

Coffee Talk

Summer Series is a podcast about venues in the Bryan, Texas area.

Our onsite visits will give you a visual look at the venues

along with meeting the staff member,

hearing about what they can offer and information on how to book them.

Each venue offers a unique aspect to any event you might be hosting.

Each week, we're here to share, educate

and enlighten with what is available to you in your area.

Welcome, welcome.

Where we at?

The Sale Depot, which I didn't realize was a venue you could rent. Neither did I. Yes!

I thought this was like an office space or a pick up place for the train.

And then I realized, well, they don't, actually, these are not like passenger trains.

So we're here

with Abby and Mo from Destination Bryan. Which you've met before

Hopefully, if you watch our podcast. If you don't,

shame on you.

Yes. Yes.

So Sale Depot, the building itself that we're in,

it's only been here about a year and a half.

And so but Sale Park, which is behind us, has been here

oh, man. For a few decades.

I would say.

Sale Park is actually the Gloria Stevens Sale Park,

so named after a prominent member of the Bryan community from years ago.

Her family had the Coca-Cola Bottling Company in town, actually.

So there is an endowment fund set up to do community projects.

And one of the projects out of that fund was Sale Park.

So it's a great little park here on the edge of downtown Bryan, it's got a

splash pad for the kiddos.

Is this the place you were talking about? Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. At the other end, like by the half circle wall there.

That's the splash pad.

So, yeah, it's always- when the splash pad's on,

it's like always full of people, which I don't blame them because it's hot in Texas.

But then the family of Gloria Sale

wanted to add more to this park and to have something else going on.

And so they came up with this concept of the Sale Depot

So there actually was a train depot here years and years and years ago

when downtown Bryan was actually- when real passenger trains would stop yeah.

Back in those days. I'm not too far off. Yeah.

And if my history serves me correctly, it was here until like the early nineties,

and then the depot was torn down.

And then that's kind of when, you know, like the late nineties, early 2000s,

when the revitalization of downtown started.

So then the park was built and all that kind of stuff.

So history came in full circle.

They wanted to add a depot looking building, but it's just a meeting space.

So it's really cool because you can obviously see all of downtown around you.

You can see the train actually like coming towards you.

Like, at first it freaks you out for a half minute,

but then you're like, Oh, it's good.

It's turning. It's fine.

It's true.

Real adrenaline rush in the middle of a boring meeting.

Yeah, just watch for the train.

We're all going to die.

Everybody run. It's totally fine.

You know, there's one about every 30 minutes or so it feels like.

So, yeah, there's that. It's really cool space.

It's managed by Bryan and Bryan Parks and Rec Department.

Destination Bryan has utilized

it for different meeting events

and just conference space and that kind of thing too.

But the table is really special.

So the family, the Sale family had this table in their possession.

And so from what I've heard is that a lot of the building was designed

around this table actually,

because it's such a prominent piece of furniture, really.

And I would say like bold, I would say it's a bold table

that's I'm going to go with. They picked the table then built everything around it.

That's kind of how it went in a sense. Yes. But in a good way.

So it's a great area. We really appreciate that

it's down here and it's kind of cool.

Adds a little something to downtown.

I know I shouldn't say this, but I feel like when you're in a meeting

and the two people that dislike each other

most should be on the points so they can't reach each other.

Yeah. Yeah.

Or like down there.

That's good strategy. Yeah.

Throwing stuff at the other end.

So what I like is

when you walk up, you can't see everything that's inside.

Like the outside windows are very well tinted.

You can't really see what's going on.

Exactly.

If you're gonna have a private event it's nice.

Yes, yes.

Yeah, yeah.

It's really cool. You're more observant than I am.

You're welcome.

Thanks, buddy.

So if somebody rents this space,

can they also rent the outside space?

Or is that public?

That's a public park. First come first serve. Yeah.

Because I know the city does like you can rent like, a gazebo

and some as well, you know.

Right. You can rent what? The gazebo.

I thought you said busy boats. I was like, what is that?

No.

And from what I know, I don't think you can rent the rest of Sale Park.

I could be wrong.

I could look that up and let y'all know, but

you obviously have access to it, like when you have this space.

So it could be cool.

If you wanted to have a birthday party out here,

you could rent this as the indoor space and let the kids play on the splash pad.

And that kind of thing. I mean, you know, if you're gonna have a meeting in here,

but say you want to have lunch outside. Yeah, yeah, right.

Absolutely.

I mean, it's- not during the summer.

You know, in the fall. A nice fall meeting.

Yeah, yeah.

Around the table and go out on this concrete area.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. Thank you.

See I'm not crazy.

You are, but it's okay. So what's capacity

in here?

Without counting the chairs.

20, I believe is capacity. Yeah.

I think there's 14 around here and some extra chairs around the perimeter,

which is what we did for our board meeting for Destination

Bryan. We set up around a table and we had some visitors

that were doing presentations and so they just set up right here

on those chairs on the outskirts of the table.

Yeah. Like a fishbowl. Yep. Yeah.

Good. I gotcha. Yeah.

Cool. So through Parks and Rec.

Bryan Parks and Rec, right? Yes.

So how do they like, do they have anyone that comes in

and locks it or they just hand keys over? Like, how does the process works?

So you actually go

pick the keys up from their office and then they have like a key drop box.

So when you're done, so of course, you rent it for your hourly time

that you want it for and then you coordinate with them.

So it's pretty simple.

Is it a pretty reasonable price

since it is through Parks and Rec? Yes.

It's okay. You don't have to know it off the top of your head.

Yeah, it's a very budget friendly option.

And then the nice thing too is there are restroom facilities.

They're not located on the inside.

They have to kind of walk out and it's a covered pathway.

And so there are restroom facilities that are dedicated to this space.

Okay.

Yeah, they are not open to the public unless the space is being utilized.

So you just have access to it. Right.

Which is nice.

Yeah.

It's $100 deposit and for residents it's $20 an hour for a three hour minimum.

And for non-residents is $25 an hour or for a full day from 7 a.m.

to 11 p.m. it's 100 bucks.

Wow. Budget friendly what did I tell you?

That's what I'm saying, when she said the city, parks and rec

and I was like there's no way.

That's great.

But yeah, yeah.

Then lock the door and go have lunch over there and come right back.

Yeah exactly.

Yeah.

It's walking distance to so many different restaurants in downtown.

So yeah and I think if you're looking for a meeting that you do

you have a tight budget.

This is a great facility because you're not paying a lot in rental fees.

Right.

And then you can either, you know, people can go off on their own for lunch

and then meet back up here or you can obviously, you know, coordinate

with someone here in downtown and say, hey, we're coming at this time

with this many people, you know, 14, 20 people.

So it's a lot of there's

a lot of flexibility and again, just a budget friendly option.

And for AV.

Yeah.

Like you can hook your laptop up to the TV.

Yeah. Yeah.

Full AV capabilities I don't think there's wi-fi.

That was actually going to be my next question.

I don't think there's wi-fi because we haven't had it when we've been here.

So that's something that we had talked about

for those who want to rent this space and they go through us, Destination

Bryan, that's something that we could help facilitate is to

make sure that there's Internet access out here, right?

Yeah. How do you do that? A hotspot.

Yeah. Yeah.

Not gonna give you my secrets.

I was just curious.

If you book with me, I'll let you know.

Okay.

There's a 10% commission on that.

I feel it.

Yeah, well, that's interesting because that thermostat over

there is a Wi-Fi thermostat. It looks like I mean, there is.

So at one point, I know when we first- Maybe they've added it.

Lies. Lie on camera.

This is how she's making her extra commission people.

So when we first

Maybe they can get the password for you. We were the very first meeting, meaning Destination Bryan

So we hosted

our board meeting in here and the Wi-Fi and internet had not been set up yet.

And so I was actually talking to a client who wanted to host something in here

and that was what we were having to do as Destination Bryan.

We'll figure it out. Yeah. Yeah, And we did.

Well, I will tell you this.

I have that same thermostat at home and it worked perfectly fine

before I got wi-fi hooked up in my house.

Well,

I'm pretty sure that Jamie said there was wi-fi on there it's just password locked.

Well, yeah, that's fine.

I'm just saying. The wi-fi network is Sale Park. Oh, see.

They have added wi-fi since we were here.

Look at all the things we're teaching them today that they

didn't know. I love this. What would we do without y'all?

Are y'all this subject matter experts?

No, no, no.

Are we switching jobs? Freaky Friday?

Oh, that would be interesting.

That would be interesting. We should do that one day.

Switch jobs and put a go pro on them?

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. So lunch on y'all today?

Yeah.

Did you bring our card? Probably.

We'll send Dubey to go get it.

That's really far for Dubey to drive.

Is it?

I like how she just laughs. I know.

She's the intern, it's her job.

We don't do that to our interns.

I know. I'm putting it on camera, we don't treat our interns like that.

Only if they volunteer. Yes.

Shout out to Hope.

Yeah. Volunteer or voluntold? No volunteer.

So we used to have an intern, our marketing intern.

She had, what, so many dining dollars? And they can use it at Starbucks on campus.

And so she would come and be like, Does anybody want Starbucks?

And she would go use her dining dollars.

She's like, it's almost the end of the year.

Like, yeah, I need to get rid of them because you don't get a refund.

A plus plus on that intern.

So how does parking work out here? Is just open parking?

Yeah, open parking.

So everything in downtown is free parking.

Yeah. So really just wherever you find a spot. The lot right across the road from us

is completely free as well.

That's kind of your best option if you're like wanting to be super close

and not have to battle. But anywhere in downtown is free to park.

The parking garage,

it's a little bit of a track, but it is an option too, but that is paid parking.

Oh. And down at Carnegie Alley, there's parking back there.

Yeah, yeah.

There's parking back there.

Yeah. There's lots of options.

Yeah, yeah, it's awesome.

This is nice.

So the train, I know you mentioned the train coming by.

Is it really loud in here?

Like, everybody gets like a break, though, like, okay, everybody.

Yeah, yeah.

You kind of have to pause your conversation.

Can you imagine the middle of someone you didn't want to hear talking,

and the train comes by, and it's like, oh, wait, I didn't catch that.

Yeah.

You have to pause your conversation and then keep going.

That's ok though, it's like a meditation break.

Yes, exactly.

The experience that comes with it.

And you said it felt like a roller coaster

when it goes by.

It really did like I turned around and it looked like it was coming head on.

Do you feel it? Like, does it shake at all?

Not really.

No, no, no.

It's just more the noise. Yeah. Yeah, which is normal. Yeah.

I mean, it's like. Right there.

So you kind of would expect it to get

somewhat loud, but there is quiet zone coming in downtown

Bryan, they're working on it.

It's a long process between the city and Union Pacific

and federal, whatever, whatever that's involved with all that, too.

So they've started pieces of it.

But I think the plan is it to be completed within two years.

So at some point,

then the train will actually have like blow the horn, like coming

through the crossing.

So you'll still feel the rumblings, but it won't be as in your face.

That and the wi-fi in two years? Whoo!

Coming along quite nice.

Yeah, I really enjoyed bringing my kid down here.

There's the water.

See? It's really fun.

And well, in the afternoons, it's busier afternoons and evenings.

If you come in the mornings, it's not, which is very nice.

So yeah, it's a good spot.

As an adult, I would enjoy being in a meeting and going,

We need to take a break, we need a water break.

And don't disclose what that water break means.

Yeah. Did y'all bring your swimsuits today? Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, very cool.

And very reasonably priced.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

And something different.

Yes. Like, who has that in a glass box next to a railroad?

A very neat experience.

Yeah, yeah.

Do you know the history behind the train?

The train sitting here on the table?

I don't.

I don't know if there that was a replica train.

I don't know.

But it's been here ever since it opened. It's a good accent. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm here for it. Just curious.

This would be a good in order to I mean, like, add trains, the library

should get involved

with the union.

I mean, you see that big old train sitting in front of the museum,

and that's not uncovered.

But yes, they do a lot of the stuff.

Well they have to build a building first.

Yeah. How's that going? Beats me,

I'm not fundraising for it.

That's not my job.

Yeah,

they should do a little mini event out here. They should have a little thing.

Have their people call our people.

This would have been great for Union Pacific when they came to our building.

They could come here instead.

Not that I don't want the business, but- I'll clarify that.

We'll share an event. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. So.

So catering,

Do they have any rules on catering or bringing food in?

Just do whatever you want? Yeah. Potluck.

They don't care. As far as I know,

yeah, it's just, I mean, there's obviously. You have two outlets.

So you can only bring like two crock pots.

Limited space

but yeah, I mean, you can just cater from a downtown business

and they can easily set up some box lunches or

Yeah, harvest could bring coffee in. Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah. Coffee

okay. Rest.

That's all over my shirt.

Yeah, I promise. It's okay.

This point, Michael can just edit it out, including me talking about it.

So how many events do you think have been in this space?

Like y'all had your boardroom.

Yes. Yes, I since it opened, I don't know.

I would say 30 or so.

Yeah, I think I think, you know, what we're still trying to do

is educate that this is space that can be utilized.

You know, you live in this area and you didn't even realize this was

an option for a meeting space. Right.

I drive by it all the time.

So I think that that's what we're having to do within the community.

Is really just show, hey, this is an option.

And it's you know, we we want the community to come and use it based on

that pricing.

So I think there's there's a lot of room for growth.

But at this point in time, it's

still, like Abigail said, maybe 20 or 30 in a variety of events.

Yeah.

Honestly, when we came down here for that art show,

we actually parked up here and I actually thought this was a welcome center.

Yeah.

Well, that's what we were talking about. I know the welcome center in Hearne,

it is very similar to this setup.

And so that's what I associated it with as well, just in visual.

So I can see how a lot of people think that.

Yeah, especially if you don't know.

Yeah, it's pretty.

I like the view.

Lots of natural light.

Yes, I love it.

Yeah. Well,

thanks again for being on our podcast. Of course, always.

We must have left a good impression.

We're going to have to go to their office and record them there with all the other

tenants in their building. Do like a shadow day where

we just follow them around.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Like Office style.

I never watched that show. You're missing out.

I tried one episode. I can't. I just can't get into it.

It's not my humor. I tried it.

I keep getting told that, but I won't.

We'll just judge you.

Okay, well, thank you again. Yes.

So much for showing us the space.

It's awesome.

Thanks. I mean, we're. Yeah.

Water break.

Sale Depot - "We interrupt your scheduled podcast for a train update...No quiet zone yet."

Morgan Key

Abigail Noel

Sarah Chrastecky

Tracy "TJ" Hefti

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