(rshsdepot) Schenectady, NY

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

From the Times Union.

Bernie Wagenblast
Transportation Communications Newsletter
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/transport-communications

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Front Door to City Gets New Look
4 June 2004


By: Cathy Woodruff

Schenectady New paint, flowers, artwork brighten train station

Civic leaders showed off a spruced-up Amtrak station on Wednesday, hoping
that some fresh paint, flowers and artwork will send a better message about
the community to those passing through.

``This is one of many front doors to Schenectady, and it needs to be a
bright, vibrant, beautiful entree into our community. That hasn`t always
been the case, unfortunately,`` said Charles Steiner, president of The
Chamber of Schenectady County.

Steiner spoke at a gathering celebrating some $22,500 worth of upgrades to
the 1970s-era cinder block structure owned by Amtrak. The event also gave
Schenectady County Sheriff Harry Buffardi a chance to introduce Charlie, one
of six county police dogs who now regularly visit the station and are
trained to sniff for drugs and explosives.

With a sparkling new $53.1 million station built by the Capital District
Transportation Authority now gracing the Rensselaer skyline and a $5.9
million rehabilitation of the Saratoga Springs station by CDTA complete,
neglect of Schenectady`s 30-year-old structure has stood out.

A $33 million revitalization proposal unveiled several years ago by
Schenectady leaders would have included a combination bus and train station
as its centerpiece, but that idea proved too ambitious for the cash-strapped
city to tackle. Amtrak, which continues a yearly battle to secure enough
federal funding to keep its national passenger rail service operating,
doesn`t have a new Schenectady station in its sights, either.

``We were not happy with the look of the station,`` Steiner said, but ``we
recognized the reality that we were not going to see a new station in
Schenectady overnight.``

The station face lift is far from an extreme makeover, but the work
spearheaded by the chamber`s 2004 Leadership ``class`` of new local
executives is designed to give those waiting for trains a more pleasant
experience.

``This station was deplorable,`` said Amtrak District Superintendent Phil
Larson, describing previous conditions.

Amtrak spent more than $15,000 for new lighted signs on the building and at
the entrance, cleaning, painting and other maintenance. Larson said a new
roof is planned within five years, as well as other structural work.

Meanwhile, the chamber leadership group raised more than $7,500 in private
and corporate donations. The results include new concrete planters, platform
benches, paintings by students at the Hamilton Hill Arts Center and
decorative wall panels with historic pictures and information about
Schenectady.

More new signs and improvements to the city-owned parking lot at the station
also are on tap, with the expected involvement of the city`s Metroplex
development authority.

There were 47,698 Amtrak passenger boardings and arrivals through the
Schenectady station in the railroad`s 2002-03 fiscal year, which ended in
September. That compares with 633,939 at the Albany- Rensselaer station and
23,318 through Saratoga Springs.

Buffardi said his department began regular patrols at the station in April,
prompted in part by concerns following the deadly March rail bombing in
Spain. The station now plays a central role in training exercises for the
county`s six canine teams, as well as other visiting departments, he said.

In addition to station patrols, Buffardi said, his deputies and dogs are
frequently invited by Amtrak to check out trains during stopovers. Amtrak
also has offered the department space for an office at the station.

During his remarks, Mayor Brian U. Stratton pointed to new displays mounted
on free-standing pedestals and wall plaques that highlight Schenectady`s
historic past, including the majestic Union Station, which was completed in
1908 and torn down in 1972.

``Short of having the old train station that we all wish hadn`t been torn
down, this is the next best thing,`` he said of the beautification project.

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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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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #925
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org