(rshsdepot) Guilford, Connecticut

["James Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

=46rom the Guilford Shore Line Times...

Train station blueprint features more brick
By: Kyle Stock, Staff Writer June 13, 2001

Selectmen have approved the DOT's plan and construction is scheduled to
begin as early as December 2003.

While they have not entirely crossed over the tracks, the Department of
Transportation has yielded to community opinion with regard to a new trai=
n
station in town.
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to endorse the DOT's revised pla=
n
at a regular meeting last week.
The project is part of a large campaign by the state organization to brin=
g a
rail transit renaissance in a number of shoreline towns. Similar renovati=
ons
have been planned for stops in Branford, Madison, Clinton, Westbrook, Old
Saybrook, and New London.
In response to the DOT proposal, the Guilford Board of Selectmen appointe=
d a
Train Station Improvement Oversight Committee in August 1999. When the st=
ate
department submitted their first architectural plan for the new station, =
a
design homologous with that proposed for neighboring town, the committee =
and
a number of residents took exception.
"They objected not so much from a functional point of view, but from a
community character point of view," Town Planner George Kral noted. "It
lacked any connection to Guilford's character and architectural heritage.=
"
"It was basically all glass...A lot of people were saying it was too big,
too ugly, etcetera," committee member Bob Gordon added.
In response, the committee, with the help of the Guilford Preservation
Alliance, commissioned the services of New Haven-based architects Alan
Organschi and Lisa Grey. Organschi and Grey, both Guilford residents,
designed an alternate plan free of charge.
"Their idea was to make the station less-intrusive by simplifying it. The=
y
incorporated a lot of wood and gave it an agricultural/barn-like feel,"
Gordon said.
Despite the lobbying of State Rep. William Aniskovich, DOT refused to acc=
ept
the revision. However, they recently completed another revision, which
incorporates some of the elements Organschi and Grey proposed.
The latest plan includes more brick than the original, while maintaining =
a
high proportion of glass for increased lighting and visibility into the
station.
Functionally, the proposal calls for an entry-way on each side of the tra=
cks
and a raised crosswalk linking the two. Primarily, the design will save N=
ew
Haven-bound travelers from having to walk from the parking lot on the sou=
th
side of the tracks, over Whitfield Street to access the other platform. T=
he
station will be equipped with an elevator, making it completely ADA
approved.
The committee has also suggested relocating an old octagonal brick
water-tower which sits 75 yards east of the current station. The ivy-stre=
wn
structure, along with an adjacent engine house, was given to the town by
Amtrak last year. Selectmen and committee members have suggested restorin=
g
the tower and attaching it to the DOT station for use as a waiting area o=
r
small retail store or restaurant. The town would incur the cost of such a=
n
undertaking.
Kral believes the new station will revitalize the area to an extent.
"I think the most significant thing is that it will lead to an increase i=
n
use of the train," Kral said. "Hopefully it can lead to a redevelopment o=
f
the whole area down there, a neighborhood-scale where people will walk an=
d
back and forth from their homes to the train to go to work, or some store=
s
of workplaces that will bring people into Guilford on the train."
The track is currently operated by Shore Line East, a division of Amtrak
servicing New London, Old Saybrook, Westbrook, Clinton, Madison, Branford=
,
and New Haven. A monthly pass from Guilford to New Haven costs $67.
A computer-generated image of the latest station plan is on display in th=
e
community center and the town clerk's office in the town hall. Selectmen
expect construction to begin December 2003 or January 2004.


=A9Shore Line Times 2001

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