Re: (rshsdepot) Bay Street, Montclair, NJ

["Michael Bosak" <michael_bosak_@_hotmail.com>]

William Hull Botsford

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Don Dorflinger
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2002 11:52 AM
To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Bay Street, Montclair, NJ



Sorry, Dan. I consider what's been done to the old trainsheds at Montclai
r a nightmare. The area is now a Shop Rite and mall, and looks like a sid
eshow.
This was a historically significant facility, and I believe is on the Nat
ional Register. The station itself was designed by Thomas Botsford, Chief
 Architect for the DL&W RR. Botsford, unfortunately, did not live to see 
his creation completed, as he perished on the Titanic in April, 1912. The
 trainsheds were of the Bush style, designed by Engineer Lincoln Bush, an
d of the same type as installed at the DL&W Hoboken Terminal, and the Jer
sey Central RR Terminal at today's Liberty Park.
Montclair's answer to the degradation of this site is the trade-off at Ba
y St. I'm not going to knock the architecture, as I have not seen the fin
ished product. I have, however, seen it many times while under constructi
on, and it kind of reminds me of the old DL&W station at Lake Hopatcong..
.not the building itself, but rather the elevator towers and walkway. I g
uess that's not enough...now the local artisans will be allowed to run wi
ld. And after all this time any money is spent, the area will be left to 
the vandals.
The "plastic circular shelter" which you describe, and as it evolved, was
 never intended to be a permanent station at the site. It was constructed
 cheaply, as the plan from the start when Lackawanna Plaza was abandoned,
 was to institute Phase I of the "Montclair Connection," ie, a realignmen
t of the trackage for eventual connection to the Greenwood Lake Line, and
 electrification to Mountain View (of course, this has been shortened to 
Great Notch), and the construction of a more permanent facility.
As a reporter, I covered the entire process from the abandonment of Lacka
wanna Plaza to the construction and introduction of service to Bay St. in
 1981. I rode in the cab of  the last train in and out of the Plaza, and 
was there to cover the first one into Bay St. Unfortunately, it has taken
 21 years from the time the "original Bay St." was opened until now for t
he "Connection" Plan to come to fruition (nearly 80 years, if you conside
r when it was originally proposed in the 1920's). During that time, the l
ocal opposition to the plan has been loud and vociferous, as a number of 
families were displaced from low income housing...minority families that 
saw this as racial injustice, and as a contrived plan to eliminate Africa
n-American housing. While I don't share that belief, I will tell you that
 officals in Montclair were not sad to see some of this housing go. The "
trade off." as I call it: we'll build a beautiful facility that will be a
rtsy and first rate, and everybody will !
come from miles around just to look at it, and we'll all be proud of it, 
and that will make up for all the grief. Who really cares? The commuters 
will continue to wait in their cars in the morning (just like they do at 
all other stations on the line), and will bolt to their cars when they de
train in the afternoon. If the area is not secured at night, it will be v
ictimized by the vandals and graffiti artists.
Don Dorflinger, Blairstown, NJ

>From: CoolGuy127_@_aol.com
>Reply-To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
>Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Bay Street, Montclair, NJ
>Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2002 08:15:05 EST
>
>In a message dated 2/15/02 6:44:04 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>donnielee46_@_hotmail.com writes:
>
> > 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 Pla
za.
> > It's enough to make you puke.
>
> I'm not entirely sure what you are referring to. The old DL&W
>Terminal at Lackawanna Plaza is still there, and has been converted to a
>Blockbuster Video, or some similar establishment. It is sad that it is n
o
>longer a railroad station, but at least the building still stands and ha
s
>been converted to a productive use. Moreover, since it is a store that i
s
>open to the public, you can go inside and check out the interior of the
>building, much of which retains its historical ambiance. So while I'd ra
ther
>see the building used as a railroad station, I'd much rather have it
>converted to a store than see it torn down or being used for a purpose t
hat
>destroys its historical ambiance.
>
> I haven't been to the Bay Street Station in Montclair in a while, but
>I did take a ride on the line a few years ago. The old Bay Street Statio
n
>was a disgrace. It consisted of a small circular opaque plastic shelter 
- --
>one of the least attractive facilities that I've ever seen. I'm glad to 
see
>that the new station will be more attractive.
>
> Daniel Chazin
> Teaneck, NJ
>
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