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(rshsdepot) Tamaqua, PA
We visited this depot during the Wilkes-Barre RSHS convention
Couple will offer dining at Tamaqua's historic train station
Restaurant interior looks like eatery that opened there in 1874.
By Chris Parker, The Morning Call -- March 15, 2005
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3_1stationmar15,0,1658046.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed
As a child, restaurateur Sheryl Beltz played around the dilapidated
shell of an 1874 train station near Tamaqua's main intersection.
Now Beltz and her husband, William, plan to open an upscale restaurant
in the newly restored station.
The Beltzes, of Barnesville, who own Brookside Restaurant and Pub near
Mahanoy City, on Monday joined with officials of Save Our Station, the
volunteer group that raised money to restore the building, to announce
the venture.
The Restaurant at the Station will complete the tenant roster. The
station, at 18 N. Railroad St., which holds a gift shop, a gallery and
a quality chocolate shop, will open June 1, Save Our Station President
Kenneth Smulligan said.
''Finally, after 14 years,'' Smulligan said. ''It's been a long road.''
Sheryl Beltz said she and her husband are aiming for a four-star
establishment, but the restaurant will have broad appeal. The Beltzes
have applied for a liquor license, and must get borough approval to
transfer the license from another community.
Beltz said they plan to hire 20 people and open the 50-seat restaurant
in May.
When the subject of a signature dish was raised, the couple said their
Brookside restaurant is known for its bread pudding.
Save Our Station Treasurer Micah Gursky said a station restaurant has
been a ''long-term goal'' for the group. Gursky said that before
approaching the Beltzes, the organization ''sent out scouts
undercover'' to check out the couple's other eatery.
The Beltzes plan to start by offering dinner only, then expand their
hours and menu. They also plan to install a new kitchen.
The Restaurant at the Station will occupy the same space as the 1874
eatery of the same name. The restaurant was restored to historical
accuracy by using a photograph for reference.
The former Gentlemen's Waiting Room will serve as the dining room.
The Beltzes also plan to have cafe tables in the front of the station
in warm weather.
Save Our Station worked for 14 years to restore the Tamaqua 1874
Philadelphia and Reading Passenger Depot from a burned-out shell with
broken windows and a resident flock of pigeons to its original
elegance. The group solicited government grants, sold bricks and hot
dogs, and solicited donations for the $1.5 million project. It also
borrowed $150,000 from the borough.
Smulligan has said rent from merchants who lease space in the building
will help repay that loan.
The station was built in 1874, replacing the station that burned down
in 1873. The first station was along Broad Street, at the spot now
occupied by the Reading and Northern Railroad office.
In 1981, arson damaged the station, but its interior brick walls saved
it from destruction. It was around that time Conrail sold the station
and surrounding buildings to the borough, which sold the entire piece
to an Allentown-area developer in 1985.
The developer leveled some buildings and erected the Meridian Bank
building on Broad Street, intending to turn the station into a
mini-mall. He scrapped the plan when he learned it would be too costly.
The station then passed through several developers, who made no
improvements but allowed Save Our Station to restore the inside.
Save Our Station formed as a nonprofit group in 1991 and bought the
station for $25,000, using state historical preservation grants and
donations.
chris.parker_@_mcall.com
610-379-3224
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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 #1111
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org