(rshsdepot) Demarest, NJ: Erie depot

["jdent1_@_optonline.net" <jdent1@optonline.net>]

Demarest train station restoration gets tender loving care=20
Thursday, January 30, 2003=20

By MONSY ALVARADO
Staff Writer=20

DEMAREST

The borough's railroad station was bustling with daily activity when it wa=
s
built more than a century ago=2E

Men wearing fedoras would tip their hats to acknowledge the women in long
dresses as they passed the building with the steeple on their way in or ou=
t
of town=2E

"It was the center of attraction,'' said Harold Collins, a trustee of the
borough's Historical Society=2E

Through the years, the railroad station's rough brown stone has undergone
several changes due to time, weather, and physical renovations=2E Trains n=
o
longer stop there, but the station continues to be the center of many
borough activities, where seniors citizens meet and where the Nature Cente=
r
holds its annual Oktoberfest=2E

"It's a place that brings back fond memories to many of the older
residents,'' said Grace Walsh, who uses the building for senior center
activities=2E "It's not modern, but it's very homey=2E''

Now a restoration of the 19th century building has begun, and officials an=
d
historians say the goal is to return the structure to its original splendo=
r=2E

"We want to bring the building back,'' said Councilman Tom Connolly=2E "We=

want it to be the grand building it used to be=2E"

Restoration work on the first phase of the project started this month and
will cost $253,640, Connolly said=2E The borough received $165,000 in coun=
ty
grant money that will go toward paying the costs=2E

The project involves three phases, but the borough has only secured money
for the first phase, which involves the replacement of the roof, the
construction of a dormer on the east side of the building, a new weather
vane, and painting=2E

The second phase, estimated at $300,000, will involve opening up the
original doors and windows that the borough sealed when it began using the=

building for meetings and events=2E The heating system also will be moved
from the first floor to the second=2E And the final phase involves work
inside the building, which still needs to be determined, officials said=2E=

Additional grant money will be sought=2E

The Demarest Railroad Station has been a symbol and a focal point of the
town for decades=2E Its image is used on municipal stationery and the town=
's
newsletter=2E

The station was constructed after an Erie Railroad line from Jersey City t=
o
Piermont, N=2EY=2E, was chartered by Ralph S=2E Demarest, a state senator =
whose
ancestors were among the area's first settlers=2E

Built in 1872, the Romanesque building was designed by famous New York
architect J=2E Cleveland Cady, who had a summer home in Alpine=2E Cady als=
o
designed the Metropolitan Opera House and a wing of the Museum of Natural
History in New York=2E

Sitting alongside the borough's duck pond, the small building is
constructed of freestone quarried from the Palisades, said Borough
Historian Mary Anne Clarke=2E It has arched doorways, a high peaked roof, =
and
a prominent spire over the eastentrance=2E Originally, the building had
stained-glass windows and a paneled interior=2E

Reproducing the ironwork, installing the slate, and other detail work to
bring back the old charm has made the restoration tricky=2E

"Trying to replicate the pattern that was on the building originally has
been a challenge,'' said Glenn Crooker, the contractor, referring to the
shape and the numbers of rows of slate on the building=2E "There is a lot
that has to be replicated, and there is a lot of detailed work=2E''=20

The work was made even more difficult because the borough didn't have
original sketches of the design to look at as they decided what needed to
be done=2E

"We only have photographs,'' said Collins=2E "We have no drawings of the
original buildings=2E It was all deductions from the photographs=2E'' The
railroad and the station had a significant place in the borough's history=2E=

They are a symbol of the town's shift from a farming community to a bedroo=
m
community=2E For decades after its construction, the station was the hub o=
f
commercial activity as local merchants received raw materials and shipped
off their finished products=2E Among those businesses were a coal port,
brewery, an optical plant, and lumber and grain mills=2E

"A lot of different things were here,'' said Collins=2E "Not only did the
railroad stations serve the different industries in town, but also
passengers=2E'' Around the same time a luxurious 200-room resort known as =
the
Murray Hill or Tenakill Hotel stood about 300 feet west of the railroad
station=2E The three-story hotel, where many passengers and vacationers fr=
om
New York stayed, was eventually destroyed by a fire in 1896=2E

The station was mostly a quaint ornament and reminder of days gone by once=

the passenger trains no longer stopped there beginning in the 1960s, said
Clarke=2E

When the borough purchased the building from the railroad in 1978, local
organizations began using it for meetings and events=2E At the time, the
borough added a heating system and filled in the doors and some of the
windows=2E

"There is a time when repairs and renovations have to be made,'' said
Walsh=2E "I think it's a nice thought to try and restore it to its origina=
l
appearance=2E''

Monsy Alvarado's e-mail address is alvarado_@_northjersey=2Ecom
=20

Copyright =A9 2003 North Jersey Media Group Inc=2E

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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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