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Re: (rshsdepot) Bay Street, Montclair, NJ

Another classic example of taxpayer's money gone down the toilet.
If you've ever been to Bay Street, you know that the new station is located in the heart of a depressed area of Montclair (although the track realignment did clear out some of the tenements on it's way to the connection with the old Erie Greenwood Lake Branch). I hope NJ TRANSIT or the township plans to guard this new "edifice" 24 hours a day, or the only artists that will will be on future display the graffiti lads with the spray cans.
If you think that Montclair has any concept of art or history, take a ride down and see what's become of the old DL&W terminal at Lackawanna Plaza. It's enough to make you puke.

>From: Bernie Wagenblast<BRWAGENBLAST_@_COMCAST.NET> 
>Reply-To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net 
>To: RSHS Depot<RSHSDEPOT_@_LISTS.RAILFAN.NET> 
>Subject: (rshsdepot) Bay Street, Montclair, NJ 
>Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 06:12:48 -0500 
> 
> Lining Up For The Bay Street Station 
> 
>Wednesday, February 13, 2002 
> 
>By KATIA RAINA - The Montclair Times 
> 
>It was once a simple site - a roofed shelter, standing on a small 
>asphalt-covered area over the railroad tracks. But in just a few months, the 
>Bay Street Rail Station will complete its transformation into an artsy spot, 
>taking on a new role as one of Montclair's stops on the much-anticipated 
>Midtown Direct rail route to and from Manhattan. 
> 
>Two brick-color towers already rise over the train station, connected by a 
>glass-covered overpass stretching across the tracks. Each tower holds an 
>elevator and an adjacent staircase, and will enable pedestrians to traverse 
>the rail line between the eastbound and westbound platforms. 
> 
>Dark green fence around the station, matching canopies, and 52 light poles 
>are already in place. Finishing touches are all that's left, said NJ Transit 
>officials, and as soon as the Montclair Connection is ready to go, Bay 
>Street Station will be ready, too. 
> 
>"What you see is pretty much what's going to be there," said Fred Schultz, 
>an engineer with NJ Transit. 
> 
>The station's look was meant to capture the unique character of Montclair, 
>said Virginia Seminara, an architect who was commissioned by NJ Transit to 
>design the project. 
> 
>"What we tried to do was to use some of the materials that were 
>characteristic of the neighborhood," Seminara said. "Like the cut-stone look 
>and the 'orangy' color brick, we picked that up from the church around the 
>corner in the neighborhood." 
> 
>NJ Transit and township officials promise more glamour, once the station 
>opens. At the insistence of the township, three artists have been 
>commissioned to do some work for the station. 
> 
>"One of the goals of the Montclair Arts Plan is public art," said Paul 
>Ellis, the township's director of arts and cultural development, referring 
>to a town-wide cultural program, now in the works, to foster the Montclair 
>arts scene and promote the township's cultural identity. 
> 
>"And this is one of the first opportunities for public art that's come 
>along," Ellis said. 
> 
>The art projects commissioned by the township for Bay Street Station include 
>50 concrete stools with ce-ramic tile bands to provide seating for 
>passengers, ten circular medallions to be placed on the walls, and cylinders 
>of glass, which will be embedded in spiral patterns on the concrete floor. 
> 
>On the westbound side of the tracks, right where the platform ends, instead 
>of traditional railing, there will be a 12-square-foot screen made of 
>stainless steel and adorned with railroad-related images - everything from 
>wheels, to lanterns, to conductors. A Montclair sculptor, Tom Nussbaum, has 
>just started work-ing on that piece. 
> 
>"There will be a real variety of stuff, just a lot of objects from the 
>history of train travel," Nussbaum said. "In a way, it is reminiscent of a 
>big-pieced quilt." 
> 
>Several plaques may accompany the work, providing the description and 
>historical significance of each object on the screen, he added. 
> 
>The concept is for all the station's public art pieces to be connected 
>thematically and artistically. 
> 
>The pieces are placed strategically around the station, so light would 
>bounce between them in "all kinds of crazy light patterns," according to 
>Ellis. 
> 
>"So the air itself becomes a piece of art," Ellis said. "This is going to be 
>outrageous. I think people are going to come just to look at this station." 
> 
>The makeover of the Bay Street Rail Station has been a long process. The 
>township spent decades fight-ing the state's plan to establish the so-called 
>"Montclair Connection," which will link the Boonton Rail Line with the 
>Montclair Branch of the Morris and Essex Rail Lines in the area around Pine 
>Street, Bay Street and Glenridge Avenue. Opponents and proponents have long 
>debated the impact of the Montclair Connection on the surrounding area and 
>the whole town - a discussion that continues to this day. 
> 
>Almost four years ago, Montclair and NJ Transit reached an agreement in 
>which the town assented to the Montclair Connection. The township then got 
>actively involved in the station's design. 
> 
>"We worked with the town every step of the way," said NJ Transit's 
>spokesperson, Michael Klufas. 
> 
>Township Manager Terence Reidy said the government's involvement was 
>essential, because NJ Transit's original proposal did not match Montclair's 
>aesthetic standards. 
> 
>"The design wasn't imaginative," Reidy said. "When you looked at it, it just 
>didn't say Montclair. 
> 
>"But they graciously accepted our feedback," he added. 
> 
>Today, Montclair government has more plans for the station. 
> 
>Karen Kadus, director of planning and community development, said the 
>township will provide a 225-space parking deck near the station, along with 
>a covered waiting area for Montclair Connection commuters. Kadus said the 
>project, which is part of the Bay Street redevelopment plan, will be 
>financed in part by NJ Transit. 
> 
>"Our developer is going to incorporate a station area into the deck," Kadus 
>said. "It's going to include several 16-foot-long historical benches that we 
>saved from the original Lackawanna station." 
> 
>For the past several years, the benches have been stored in The Montclair 
>Times' facility, 114 Valley Road. 
> 
>The developer, Lincoln Property Co., has not started construction yet, Kadus 
>said, and it is unclear when the work will be completed. 
> 
>Even though trains have been running at the Bay Street Station - providing 
>daily service to Newark and Hoboken, as part of NJ Transit's Morris & Essex 
>Rail Lines - the station's platforms stood virtually empty on a recent cold 
>afternoon. 
> 
>This will change with the very first train to Penn Station in just a few 
>months, NJ Transit maintains. 
> 
>The transportation network's officials say they hope to open the Montclair 
>Connection in the spring, de-clining to offer more details. 
> 
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