It was once a place where thousands of passengers traveled to and from Binghamton, but today, the Lackawanna Train Station is now home to more than a dozen businesses. In this week's edition of Your Hometown, Alexa Green takes a look at how the historic train station is bringing in new business. 

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Built in the 1900's, the Lackawanna Train Station, is located right in downtown Binghamton, and back in the day, it was once bustling with passengers. 

"It was always the hub. If you look at all the old service men going off to war they're all going off to war at the Lackawanna Train Station, taking them off to wherever. So it's always played a vital role," said Broome County Historian Gerald Smith.

It continued that way until the 1960s, when passenger trains stopped and the building fell into disrepair. 

Over the years, it has had a number of owners, who have used it for commercial space. 

"You can still go in there and envision the ticket booth and the benches waiting for the trains to be called. It's had a variety of uses but it's a perfect example of how you can take an old building, leave it alone, keep it preserved and still make it viable in a commercial district today," Smith said.

 But it didn't always look like this. Current owners say they put a lot of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars to renovate it and bring it back to its former glory. 

"There was years and years of old renovations that people just continued to cover up and cover up, so we started right back to square one where we took everything back to its original condition," said Mark Yonaty, the station's co-owner.

Now the former train station is home to a handful of businesses including the ad agency Idea Kraft. 

The company's founder was looking for the perfect space to start her business, and also have a centralized location. 

"I was looking for a place with character and when I learned there was room at the train station, I immediately contacted the landlord," said Ewelina Zajac-Holdrege.

Currently, the former station is now 100 percent occupied and renovations on the interior are complete. Now, owners say they will now turn their attention to the outside of the building. 

"We have some focusing to do on the roof systems, and the mezzanines, and have some additional concrete work, and parking lots work but I think we'll be in good shape in another year and a half," Yonaty said.

While the passenger trains stopped long ago,  you still get a sense of what the Lackawanna Train Station used to be like as freight trains pass through. 

Other businesses also located in the Lackawanna Train Station include Ad Elements and Southern Tier HealthLink.