Granite blocks, a steep hipped roof with deep eaves, and an extra story of stone on the track side that the original plans never called for. For four years the building at 70 Union Street, next to the Newton Centre Green Line stop, sat dark. Then in late September it reopened as Lockheart, a restaurant whose doors now open at 4 p.m. each day. Wicked Local reported on September 30 that the 19th-century station had "come back to life after four years of vacancy."
The building went up for morning commuters, and for decades the food businesses inside were coffee bars and a diner. Lockheart's doors open as the afternoon ends. To see why this station is still around to take on a new use, start with the stations that are gone.
A Richardson commission finished by someone else
Many people in Newton credit the station to H.H. Richardson, and a 2011 Patch story did too. The City of Newton's survey of Newton Centre's history says Richardson was commissioned to design twelve suburban stations for the new rail line, Newton Centre among them. He died before the project was finished, and his successor firm, Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, built the station in 1890.
The SAH Archipedia entry on Newton's Boston & Albany stations, written by architectural historian Keith N. Morgan, adds the part that explains why Union Street still has its station. Richardson designed five passenger stations for the Boston & Albany in Newton:
- Chestnut Hill: demolished for a parking lot
- Eliot: demolished for a parking lot
- Waban: demolished for a parking lot
- Auburndale: demolished for a parking lot
- Woodland: still standing, now used as a storage shed and visible only from the train or from golf club property
The same entry credits Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge with two Newton stations: Newton Highlands at 18 Station Street, built 1886 to 1887, and Newton Center at 68 to 72 Union Street, built 1890. Both are granite with steep hipped roofs and wide overhanging eaves. Morgan writes that their massing and detailing "lack the distinctive treatments that were evidence of Richardson's genius."
So of all the 19th-century station buildings described there, the two plainer stations by the successor firm are the ones still standing in daily view, and both have been converted to commercial use. Newton Centre's station has lasted because it has never stayed one thing for long.
The 1906 story you can see from the platform
The first big change came only sixteen years after the station opened. SAH Archipedia records that in 1906 the tracks through Newton Centre and Newton Highlands were lowered to eliminate grade crossings. To keep the stations working, each building gained an extra granite story on the track side.
That explains the building's two faces. From Union Street it looks like a one-story depot under a large roof. From the trolley platform below, you can see the added story built in 1906. The entry also notes that, despite the conversion to commercial use, both stations kept their original interior woodwork.
The building also has official protection. The city's 2009 heritage report says Newton's railroad buildings, including the Newton Centre station, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 as the Newton Railroad Stations Historic District.
A morning building, tenant by tenant
After its railroad years ended, the station became a place to eat, and its tenants mostly ran on commuter hours. A 2011 Patch story lists the food businesses that came before: Coffee Connection, then Starbucks, then Deluxe Station Diner, which opened on January 6, 2011.
| Tenant | What it was | When |
|---|---|---|
| Coffee Connection | Coffee bar | Before 2011 |
| Starbucks | Coffee bar | Before 2011 |
| Deluxe Station Diner | Diner | Opened January 6, 2011 |
| Jamie's on Union | Restaurant, same ownership as Deluxe | Opened September 2020, closed 2022 |
| Lockheart | Southwestern restaurant and bar | Open by September 30, 2026 |
Boston Restaurant Talk reported in September 2020 that Jamie's on Union had replaced the diner, and reported its closing in August 2022. The building had a different kind of change in between. Fig City News reported that the MBTA sold the station in 2012 and that a company called 70 Union LLC bought it in September 2025 for about $2 million.
What the four dark years were for
The station was vacant for four years, but work was going on inside for much of that time. Fig City News traced the permits. There was a demolition permit in January 2024, then a restaurant fit-out valued at about $1.2 million that March. In June 2026 came a fire-protection system acceptance test, which the outlet described as typically one of the last steps before opening.
The plans in that reporting show how different this tenant is from a coffee counter. They call for 86 indoor seats, a seasonal patio, and hours as late as 1 a.m. At the June 16 licensing hearing, Fig City News reported, the applicants' attorney said the kitchen would serve until at least 10 p.m. She said the 1 a.m. closing time was mainly for occasions like World Cup matches or late West Coast baseball games. The applicants also agreed to close the patio by 10 p.m.
Boston.com's September 17 roundup of openings listed Lockheart for the week of September 20, and the patio was described there as a planned feature.
On the new clock
Lockheart is the second location of a southwestern-style restaurant that first opened in Wellesley in 2022. Co-owner Mark Hicklin told Wicked Local how he wants the room to feel:
"Lockheart is, I'd like to say, a place for everybody. We want people to feel comfortable walking in the door."
The posted hours on the restaurant's own site, as of early October, follow the evening schedule laid out at licensing:
- Sunday through Thursday: 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday: 4 p.m. to midnight
- Kitchen: closes at 10 p.m. every night
- Weekend brunch: listed as "Coming Soon"
- Reservations: through OpenTable, linked from the site
The menu is built around tacos: rib-eye steak, tuna poke, smoked carnitas, short-rib birria, and a lobster BLT. There are also street corn, lobster guacamole, wings, bowls, and vegetable enchiladas.
So the building that once sold coffee to people catching the morning train now opens around the time many of those riders are heading home. If weekend brunch arrives as promised, the station will have morning hours again, but only on Saturdays and Sundays.
One of several Newton rooms relit this year
Lockheart isn't the only Newton opening this year that brings an established space back into use. Fig City News's August roundup noted that The Biltmore Tavern at 1205 Chestnut Street in Newton Upper Falls reopened on July 27, now run by the owners of Needham's Blue on Highland. Moments Cafe also held its grand opening on August 7 at 1284 Washington Street in West Newton.
Of these openings, the Union Street station has the longest record of finding new uses. It was built in 1890 and given a lower level in 1906. It outlasted four of Richardson's five Newton stations and has held two coffee bars, a diner, and a restaurant. Now its rooms, with their original woodwork, open at 4 p.m. a few steps from the trolley platform.
Homes in Newton Centre come with this kind of history, from granite stations to Colonial Revival storefronts. Telling those stories well is part of how a property finds the right buyer. If you're thinking about a home near Union Street or anywhere in Newton's villages and want an advisor who knows the history behind the address, Amy Mizner would be glad to talk it through. Contact Me.
