GREENFIELD — More than a year since Bob Cartelli bought his newest auto body shop, the former bus maintenance station at 382 Deerfield St., renovations of the 17,000-square-foot garage have unearthed a roughly century-old walk-in safe and crown molding from the 19th century, among other historic features.

Until the collision repair business purchased the site in August 2023, the brick garage was owned by the city and overseen by the Greenfield Montague Transportation Authority, which Steve Ellis, Montague’s town administrator at the time, previously referred to as a “largely defunct organization that has existed for the sole purpose of maintaining” the garage. GMTA had been leasing the Deerfield Street facility to the Franklin Regional Transit Authority (FRTA) up until it opened its new maintenance and operations facility at 3 Sandy Lane in Turners Falls.

Cartelli, on a tour of the garage Monday morning, said he had spent roughly four years working with former Mayor Roxann Wedegartner to buy the building, which took him roughly another year to renovate before it opened as Cartelli’s Collision Center in April. He said there were many “complications” involved in organizing the sale, and later, in the renovations.

“I knew that there was going to be a change with the bus station moving to Montague. But in the meantime, we had to make plans for that move. More importantly, in dealing with the town,” Cartelli said. “When we finally got to the point where they were moving out, then we began to take a look at this project in terms of, what did we get ourselves involved in? Because everything from the roof collapsing or falling apart to underground tanks and the concrete floors — there were just a lot of things that I hadn’t anticipated.”

Part of the site’s more than $500,000 restoration, Cartelli noted, included the construction of a new annex in the garage that is used for painting vehicles.

Using only local contractors and companies, such as the Clayton D. Davenport construction company, Eli Painting and Suburban Propane, all of Greenfield, Cartelli said keeping the project local was as important to him as preserving its history.

Cartelli said he preserved the building’s exterior to the best of his ability, as well as some of the 1895 Connecticut Valley Street Railway Co. station’s design features, such as its walk-in safe in the garage’s lobby, antique doors and, underneath the ceiling panels, its crown molding.

“A lot of people are very pleased that Bob retained the historical significance of the building,” Cartelli’s Collision Center Manager Steven Moore said. “When we first announced this project, I had a lot of people messaging me, ‘You’re not going to tear it down and redo it, are you?’ No, it’s history. We like the history of it and just want to make it current, upgrade our business and upgrade our employment opportunities for the town and everything else that comes with it.”

Cartelli said the business still uses its 7,000-square-foot space at 38 Hope St. as a reconditioning center. He said he feels a sense of pride in the completion of the Deerfield Street garage renovation and he hopes that his neighborhood does, too.

Alongside the Greenfield companies that were involved in the garage’s renovations, Cartelli hired Complete Concrete Co. of Easthampton, Climates by Pomeroy of Colrain, Morin Electric of Deerfield, M.D. Tree Service of Leyden, CDA Roofing of Agawam, Peter Burakiewicz of Northfield and Hale Custom Signs of Gill to work on the project.

“This is something in Greenfield they should be proud of,” Cartelli said. “This part of town was in decline and it doesn’t need an empty property.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.