Hurricane damage to the roof of what is expected to become one of downtown Vicksburg’s biggest draws was being repaired by city workers Monday.

The Levee Street Depot, just north of the main entrance to City Front, was having shingles replaced to prevent further water damage to the building.

Plans are for the building, a former train depot, to be transformed into a transportation museum with exhibits on rail, road, river and air transportation by January 2008.

The building is owned by the City of Vicksburg, and renovation is expected to cost about $2.5 million, said Lamar Roberts, the executive director of the nonprofit corporation planning the museum for the former Yazoo & Mississippi Valley R.R. Station.

The work by city crews in the aftermath of Katrina damage last August is temporary.

Two grants are being sought by the corporation. Word is expected around September on at least one of them, he added.

Matching funds are expected to be required for at least one of the grants. Fundraising is planned, but some of the matching requirement may be able to be met with contributions of items or work or both, including some the museum may have already received, Roberts said. If fundraising is needed it will be done after the corporation receives word of whether it’s needed, Roberts said.

The inside of the 1907 building is in disrepair and will require extensive work, Roberts said. Time to install the museum exhibits is also figured into the January 2008 estimate, he added.

The museum is to have about 12,000 square feet of exhibit space, Roberts said. The building has three stories, and the bottom two are to be occupied by exhibits. Museum offices and a reference library are planned for the third floor.

&#8220It’s not something you’ll be able to walk through in 30 minutes,” Roberts said. &#8220It’s going to take a while to see it.”

One room of the museum is to be occupied by a model-train diorama with 20 trains on interconnected track, Roberts said. About 200 models for buildings for the diorama have already been built, Roberts said, adding that models of trackside industries are still needed.

The museum is also to feature photos of old trucks, towboats and riverboats, Roberts said.

&#8220I’m down here a couple of times a week taking pictures of current towboats,” Roberts said.

About six to 10 full-size rail cars are to be outside the museum.

City officials are working now on a plan to encourage a flow of pedestrian traffic among the museum and the other planned or existing attractions in the area, including Art Park at Catfish Row and a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers interpretive museum.

&#8220Something we overlook is how important transportation has been in Vicksburg,” Roberts said. &#8220And that’s what we plan to highlight.”