(rshsdepot) Woonsocket, RI

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Depot Redux - Woonsocket station renovated

The Providence Journal-Bulletin (Providence, RI)...09/06/2002

MEGAN MATTEUCCI Journal Staff Writer

The days of passengers waiting for the train at the Woonsocket Depot are
long gone, but bus terminal lines are just around the corner.
The Woonsocket Depot is undergoing a $ 1.8-million renovation project by the
Rhode Island Department of Transportation to restore commuter service to the
old Providence & Worcester Railroad Company headquarters.

The John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor
Commission is now stationed in the depot.

The restoration project involves refurbishing the exterior, basement and
entire west wing of the depot, including adding a second floor, said Halford
M. Welch, deputy director of the BV Heritage Corridor. The building is now
one floor with a mezzanine over a portion of it. All of the outside brick
will be repointed to restore its original appearance.

Along with the renovations, RIPTA is installing a bus and ferry ticket and
information booth in the basement. Similar to the Pawtucket station, the
facility will include ticket windows, a concession/newsstand and seating for
25 people, said Lori A. Capaldi, RIDOT chief real estate specialist.

Two bus ports will be placed along Main Street in front of the depot and
serve as the city's central station.

New floor-length windows will be placed along the waiting area to watch for
buses approaching, along with handicap-accessible restrooms. The windows,
benches, furnishings, awnings and even the paint colors will match the old
Victorian style of the depot, Capaldi said.

"We worked with the R.I. Historic Preservation Commission and the Heritage
Corridor to restore the historic character to the building," she said. "We
wanted to be authentic. The idea is to bring back its natural historic
look."

The RIPTA bus station is expected to open next September. RIPTA currently
operates several bus routes to downtown Woonsocket, but has no ticketing or
information center in the city, RIPTA spokesman Henry Kinch said.

Although the depot will not restore rail service, Capaldi said RIDOT may
look into it for the future. "We never say no because anything is possible,"
she said. "Right now, it's just bus service."

Providence & Worcester Rail still owns the tracks behind the depot and uses
them for freight transit.

Dating back to 1882, the depot served trains from Woonsocket to Providence
and Worcester. Besides brief interruptions caused by fires and renovations
over the last 100 years, the depot served as a major transit station.
Passenger service ceased in 1952, but P&W continued to use the depot
throughout the 1970s to house its room-sized computer system, Capaldi said.

In 1992, RIDOT purchased the rundown building to use as a storage facility
for highway artifacts. A year later, the Heritage Corridor moved in.

"We're required federally to house the artifacts we find," she explained.

The highway and bridge artifacts, which are currently spread throughout
several locations across the state, will all be relocated to two new
repositories in the depot's basement.

The new Archaeological Research Collections Center, which will be open to
researchers, will house artifacts collected from 160 state highway and
bridge projects.

Along with the arrowheads, stone knives and shells dating back more than
5,000 years, items gathered during the depot renovations will be on display.

As construction crews remove asbestos, dig elevator shafts, put up
insulation and replace windows, they have collected several tobacco cans,
shovels, a 1907 Worcester Telegram, a corn cob pipe and an empty "handmade,
fine rye whiskey" bottle.

The BV Heritage Corridor will remain a tenant throughout the renovations.
When completed, its 27-member staff will get new offices, a tourism center,
library, map area and planning room, Welch said.

"The interior and the utilities just reached the end of life," he added.
It's necessary to come in and redo the building."

The contract also includes electrical upgrades, heating and cooling system
repairs and installation. "We're making the building up to fire code and
handicap-accessible with elevators," Welch said.

The first phase of the project is scheduled to be finished next September,
in 2003. Twenty percent of the money will come from the state, and the rest
will come from the federal government, including a $ 650,000 grant from the
public lands highways fund.

RIDOT has not yet secured the money for the second phase, which includes the
east wing, but Capaldi insisted it will not be a problem.

Capaldi said the Woonsocket Depot was chosen for restoration to help promote
public transportation.

"We own the building and saw it as an opportunity to get several modes of
transportation and spruce up the tourism," she said. "It is an enhancement
project that ties in with transportation and historic preservation."



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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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