(rshsdepot) Madison, NJ

["J. Henry Priebe Jr." <root_@_net.bluemoon.net>]

This was posteed to our Erie Lackawanna mail list.

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
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- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2004 04:38:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Gary R. Kazin" <gkazin AT yahoo.com>
To: EL List <erielack AT lists.railfan.net>
Subject: (erielack) Madison renovations just the ticket

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news5-Madstation.htm

07/09/04 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Madison renovations just the ticket
Train station project completed after two years
By Elizabeth Salemme, Daily Record

MADISON -- The scaffolding is down and the construction trailers have left
the 88-year-old Madison train station that, after about two years of
labor-intensive construction, has been fully restored.

"I'm very proud of it, I cannot say enough good things about how beautiful
the station is now," said Mayor Ellwood Kerkeslager. "It is beautiful, it
is well done -- New Jersey Transit did an excellent job in restoring it."

New Jersey Transit commissioned historic restoration company Watertrol
Inc. of Cranford to renovate the interior and exterior of the station on
Kings Road, including the roof, canopies and walkways. The renovation cost
about $2. 3 million, which was funded by the Transportation Trust Fund's
Rail Station Improvement Program.

A 520-foot brick walkway at the train station was funded by the Friends of
Madison Train Station, which raised $100,000 for the project. The
approximate 17,000 brick pavers are engraved with names and sold for $100
apiece to residents.

The Friends of the Madison Train Station, a volunteer organization
established in 1998 to promote the restoration and maintenance of the
station, joined forces with the Shade Tree Management Board and the
Friends of Madison Shade Trees to obtain a separate $100,000 grant for
landscaping and a sprinkler system at the station.

The Madison train station is on the national and state registers of
historic places and is one of 49 stations that NJ Transit recognizes as
historic among its 162 stations.

"We're always pleased when we restore a station that is as historical as
the Madison station," said Janet Hines, spokeswoman for New Jersey
Transit. "We're always happy to restore these stations to how they were
originally."

The interior of the restored train station is open to the public only from
6 to 10 a.m., the times the ticket window is in operation.

"For security purposes and to avoid vandalism, they keep it closed,"
Kerkeslager said.

In addition to upgrading the plumbing and electricity, the restoration
company matched the original marble partition and tiles of the bathrooms,
restored the roof tiles and even analyzed the original concrete mix that
was used to build the station in order to use the same concrete for the
restoration, said Richard Romano, chairman of the Friends of the Madison
Train Station.

"It looks fantastic, they've done a great job -- they've brought it back
to its original grandeur," Romano said.

The benches in the station were stripped, refinished and restored; the
walls and the terra cotta floors redone, Romano said. During the
construction, the restoration company found two antique phone booths that
were refurbished and brought out into the open, he added. The restoration
company also added small reading lights over the benches in the station.

Phase two of the project calls for further compliance with the Americans
with Disabilities Act. NJ Transit plans to construct two glass elevators
with steel cages at the Lincoln Place and Kings Road entrances, Romano
said. The steel cages will match the wrought iron railing in the building,
he added. There also will be raised platforms for the handicapped as well
as new signage in the station.

An official ceremony to celebrate the completion of the restoration
project has yet to be scheduled, but will take place this summer,
Kerkeslager said.

=====
Gary R. Kazin
DL&W Milepost R35.7
Rockaway, New Jersey

http://www.geocities.com/gkazin/index.html


		
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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 #942
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org