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(rshsdepot) Guilford, CT - Abandoned Amtrak Buildings Still In Limbo
From the Hartford (CT) Courant=2E=2E=2E
Abandoned Amtrak Buildings Still In Limbo
January 8, 2003=20
By MAURICE TIMOTHY REIDY, Courant Staff Writer=20
GUILFORD -- Three years ago, Amtrak tore down a 150-year-old barn that had=
served as the town's train station, shocking town officials who were
planning to rehabilitate the historic building=2E=20
Amtrak, which said the building was in danger of collapsing, eventually
apologized and made a peace offering: the town could buy the Amtrak-owned
water tower and engine house for $1=2E=20
And yet today both brick buildings are still abandoned - and still owned b=
y
Amtrak=2E=20
"As far as I know, we're still interested [in buying the buildings]," said=
Republican Selectman Charles Bishop=2E "But it's sort of been on the back
burner=2E"
Part of the problem is that the town is unsure what to do with the
buildings, which sit across from the railroad parking lot=2E Town leaders
investigated incorporating them into a new station, but the state - which
has its own plans for a new station - nixed the idea because of the high
cost=2E=20
The Guilford Preservation Alliance, a local historical society, has
proposed converting the buildings into "usable space," such as an art
gallery or performance space=2E=20
In the group's newsletter, Alliance member Bob Gordon wrote: "The Amtrak
vandalism has opened a way to retrieve an important part of our railroad
heritage, to make the depot again a vital part of the community=2E"=20
But that will cost money=2E The site may require an extensive environmenta=
l
cleanup, especially the house where the engines were stored=2E=20
The buildings were built in 1870, 20 years after the New Haven and New
London Railway Co=2E first laid tracks in Guilford=2E An aerial photograph=
of
Guilford from 1939 shows both buildings to be in good shape=2E=20
The engine house is a one-story building with cemented windows; the water
tower is taller and shaped like an octagon, with a skeleton roof=2E=20
State Sen=2E William Aniskovich, who met with Amtrak officials following t=
he
removal of the old barn, still hopes the two buildings can be part of the
new train station=2E=20
Aniskovich called the buildings "an important part of Guilford's history"
and said they could be used to make a "consumer-friendly train station=2E"=
But restoration of the buildings does not seem to be a high priority=2E
Revaluation notices were mailed out last month and a referendum on a $55
million middle school expansion project is scheduled for next week=2E=20
Still, Gordon argues it is a mistake to postpone the purchase and
rehabilitation of the two historic, railside buildings=2E=20
"As time passes the price of rehabilitation can only go higher," he wrote
in the Alliance newsletter, "and the opportunity may indeed be lost
forever=2E"=20
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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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