Metra’s Main Street stop in Evanston will be more than a way station when it finishes undergoing its first major refurbishment.

The ongoing $3 million renovation project at the station will reinforce the building’s basic structure, expand the passenger waiting area, replace train platforms and make the platforms more accessible to the disabled with a new elevator and ramps.

But the station’s transformation is not only structural.

“Part of the renovation entails making the station more of a community center,” said Metra spokesman Dan Schnolis.

When renovations are complete, the station house will reopen as the Evanston Arts Depot cultural center, said John Szostek, executive director of Evanston Festival Theatre, Inc. The nonprofit organization, which leases the building from Union Pacific railroad, runs the Piccolo Theatre professional ensemble company and the annual Custer’s Last Stand street festival, both of which will have headquarters in the renovated station.

Upgrades will include construction of a 50-seat theatre, studio space and a set construction shop. The Arts Depot will offer a variety of programs from a number of local organizations, Szostek said, including performances, an after-school theatre program for teenagers and even tai chi classes.

Besides providing south Evanston’s first dedicated cultural center, restoring the Metra station should also draw more people to the Old Town Evanston area near Main Street, Szostek said.

“I think it will generate a lot of interest,” Szostek said. About 1,000 people use the Main Street station each day, and Szostek estimated that commuter usage will increase by as much as 25 percent once the renovations are finished.

“We can take care of a lot of areas of need with one project,” said Szostek, who also serves as president of the Old Town Evanston business association.

Plans to restore the building after decades of neglect began about six years ago, when Evanston Festival Theatre was offered space in the building for offices.

“The initial plan was all ours,” Szostek said. Funding for the work, which is being overseen by Metra, came from a combination of federal, state and local government grants, as well as individual donations.

Only about one-third of the building’s space was in use previously, in part because of damage from a 1960s fire. The damage was never repaired because of financial constraints, Schnolis said.

The remodeling is also intended to restore the historic building, built in 1908, to its turn-of-the-century appearance.

“In our situation, external appearance is the most critical,” Szostek said. Much of the interior woodwork, plaster and flooring is being restored.

About a third of the work has been completed since the construction began last summer, and Metra expects to finish the project by the end of the year, Schnolis said.

Szostek said his group expects to be able to move into the building by October.

The station will continue to operate during the renovation in order to minimize the effect on passengers.