(rshsdepot) Phillipsburg, NJ

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Man tries to spur museum plans along

Railroad historian says P'burg museum is now languishing in legislative
limbo.


Sunday, January 19, 2003


By LINDA LISANTI
The Express-Times

PHILLIPSBURG -- Seventy-year-old Bill McKelvey hopes to see the state rail
museum built here before he leaves this earth.

But the railroad historian says that prospect is looking bleaker as the bill
needed to move the project forward languishes in a legislative committee.

Assembly Bill 2361, which will provide for formal establishment of the New
Jersey Transportation Heritage Center, a board of directors and a
foundation, was introduced last May 16. It was forwarded to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee on June 17.

"It has been sitting there ever since," said McKelvey, a member of the
Friends of the New Jersey Transportation Heritage Center.

"We must have this legislation to move forward. This limbo situation is a
crisis situation for this whole area," he told town council on Tuesday.

No permanent decisions can be made until the board of directors is created.
The commission that had been calling the shots disbanded two months ago,
officials said.

Phillipsburg's revitalization plans hinge on the creation of the rail
museum. It is slated for 50 acres of land off South Main Street.

Officials expect the museum to be a big tourist draw, luring people to
downtown. Millions of dollars have been spent already to restore dilapidated
buildings and bring in new businesses and revenues.

The museum was never expected to be completed overnight, more like 10 to 15
years. But the Friends say it has taken 15 years to get to this point.

McKelvey said Friends members have met with state legislators on various
occasions, but received no explanation for the wait. He blames the hold-up
on party politics.

"We made a grand entrance in Governor McGreevey's inaugural day parade with
two beautifully restored trucks. Now, he doesn't know us," McKelvey said .

Jennifer Godoski, spokesman for Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman, a
Mercer County Democrat who chairs the Assembly Appropriations Committee,
said the bill being held has nothing to do with party politics. It has more
to do with cost, she explained.

This is one of many bills under consideration even while the state projects
an estimated $5 billion state deficit.

"In these times of economic woes, it is hard to move forward legislation
that has an unimaginable price tag," Godoski said.

Ken Miller, president of Friends, was flabbergasted as to why the
assemblywoman's office would say there was a request for money.

"It doesn't say that in the bill. It doesn't request any funding," Miller
said. "They are just using this so they don't have to move the bill."

Miller said the only mention of cost in the bill is that certain members of
the board of directors would be considered quasi-state employees and be
eligible for state health benefits and pension plan.

"There is no problem here," said Miller. "We think it's all politics."

The money needed to purchase the acreage in Phillipsburg has been secured.
The appraisal has been completed, as have environmental testing and
surveying, officials said.

With a $210,000 grant, the town plans to restore the old Phillipsburg Train
Station at 178 S. Main St. to be used as the rail museum's Visitor
Information Center.

The Friends already have more than 90 pieces of railroad equipment and 200
truckloads of rail artifacts to be used in the museum's exhibits.

McKelvey said they are ready to go. This legislation is the only obstacle
standing in their way.

To spur lawmakers into action, he is calling on the town council, the Urban
Enterprise Zone Corp., zoning and planning boards to join in a
letter-writing campaign.

He is urging all residents to write to the local assembly members,
Watson-Coleman and the governor.

Council members on Tuesday assured McKelvey they would draft their letters
immediately and advise town and school boards to do so.

"How can they say we're a depressed town and not help us?" said council
President Pete Marino.

McKelvey questions why lawmakers in Trenton won't push through legislation
that will benefit the state's tourism industry.

"I don't know what to do but to flood the assembly with letters," McKelvey
said. "We need this. It's been far too long already."


Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at
llisanti_@_express-times.com.


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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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