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(rshsdepot) Wilmington, DE
From today's News Journal.
Bernie Wagenblast
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Train station`s hundredth anniversary now arriving
It started with a low rumble, like far-away thunder, gradually building
power.
Then the floor began to shudder with the cadence of the train wheels
clacking on the track overhead.
An announcement blared over the sound system.
`` ... in route to Philadelphia, now boarding at Gate C ... ``
Standing in the center of the Wilmington train station`s lobby on Friday
morning, Michael Lewis looked up and smiled, pausing in his speech recognizing
the kick-off of 18 months of celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the
station.
``What makes this building so exciting is what you`re hearing,`` he said.
The sheer physical force of the station, with the train tracks running over
the lobby, the building`s exposed bolts and iron and exaggerated ornamental
detail, mirrors the energy of the trains that still pull through the Wilmington
station 100 years after it was built, said Lewis, an author and historian
who specializes in the architecture of Frank Furness (pronounced ``furnace``),
who designed the Wilmington station.
``I know of no other architect who brings you so close to movement and power
the way Furness does,`` Lewis said.
At 9:50 a.m. on Jan. 28, 1907, the first train passed through the Wilmington
train station, en route to Baltimore.
To commemorate that day, from 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 28, ING Direct is
sponsoring the first of several events celebrating the station`s 100th
anniversary. The festivity will feature historical exhibits of the station and
Furness` work, model trains, live entertainment and food.
Also, AIA Delaware, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and
ING Direct are sponsoring an art contest for students in grades four through
12. All entries must be received between March 1 and March 15.
The celebrations, led by the new group Friends of the Furness Railroad
District, will continue for a year-and-a-half -- the station wasn`t complete until
July 7, 1908.
Friends of the Furness Railroad District was created to increase awareness
of Furness` cultural and historical legacy, said Jim Tevebaugh, president of
the group and Tevebaugh Associates. The group would like to conduct a speakers
series and put together a curriculum for teachers highlighting the station
and Furness.
Today the Wilmington station, restored in the 1980s, is one of the busiest
in the nation, ranking 12th in 2005, according to Amtrak.
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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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