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(erielack) Piermont, NY

Piermont station news posted to the RSHS Depot mail list.

Henry

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- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 08:24:29 -0500
From: Bernie Wagenblast
To: Rail Depot List
Subject: (rshsdepot) Piermont, NY

>From today's Journal News.


Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications

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Train station plan on track
By SULAIMAN BEG
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: March 15, 2005) 



     


Resting on Bill Elson's living room table is a 2-foot model of a green building with ochre trim that, aside from being pleasing to the eye, serves as a testament to the riverfront community's past. 
Its 19th-century counterpart - a train station on Ash Street - is the focus of the 6-month-old Piermont Station Historical Society. The organization was created by the village board to come up with plans to restore and renovate the building, which has been closed since the 1960s. 

"We needed some visual stimulation as to what it would look like in the future," Elson said of the model, "because what it looks like now is depressing." 

Elson, a village resident for five years and a member of the society, built the model last year, and the society will display it next week at its first public meeting. Members will also update residents on plans for the train station's renovation and restoration, and seek new volunteers and donations. 

"As Piermont has evolved in the last 18 to 20 years, there are few symbols of its origins, apart from the buildings on Main Street, but this is a real visual symbol of the small town," Elson said. "Piermont was and the railroad was intrinsic to the development of this area." 

In November, the village board informally decided to forgo a controversial plan to move the train station and convert it into a visitors center and museum. The decision came after many residents criticized the proposed move. 

The property was the only link missing in the Erie Path - a 4.5-mile walking trail and linear park from Sparkill to Nyack that was created in 1975 from the abandoned railroad line, which was once the longest railroad in the United States. 

In December, the county and Piermont purchased the land for $165,000. The village borrowed $95,000 and the county's open-space fund contributed $70,000 toward the cost. 

The society - which had proposed the move because, among other things, it would provide better parking - is now trying to raise money to restore the 600-square-foot building. The estimated cost to replace the roof and restore the building's interior and exterior is $160,000. 

Karl Knoecklein, who has lived in the village for eight years and is a member of the society, said the group would focus first on raising $30,000 to repair the roof and replace its cupola, which burned down a few years ago. 

"We want to protect the building and show everyone that something is happening," he said. "It's remarkable how well it was built and with very little care, it has not rotted and fallen down." 

The board intends to restore the building to its original condition and use it as a historical museum, where memorabilia that the village has stored is displayed, Mayor Edward Traynor said. 

Knoecklein said the society was considering knocking down about a dozen trees to create parking at the site. He said that also would restore the site's original openness.

http://www.piermontstation.org



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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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