(rshsdepot) Glen Ridge, NJ

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

http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/essex/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1212035735201940.xml&coll=1

Thanks to Paul Tupczewski on the Erie Lackawanna email list for the heads up
on this.

Henry

J. Henry Priebe Jr.    Blue Moon Internet Corp Network Administrator
www.bluemoon.net       Internet Access & Web Hosting
www.railfan.net        Railfan Network Services

1st step toward station rehab
Glen Ridge to seek bids for renovation 
Thursday, May 29, 2008
BY PHILIP READ
Star-Ledger Staff 
It is New Jersey's only train station currently on the market. The minimum
bid: $150,000. 

But if that sounds like a bargain, consider this: Glen Ridge's derelict Benson
Street Station -- boarded up, torn sheets of tarp covering most of its gaping
holes -- is in a historic district and needs work. 

"It can't be razed. It has to be rehabilitated," said Councilman Stuart K.
Patrick. 

The long wait for the start of bidding, though, is about to begin -- more than
a year after NJ Transit first said it was putting a "For Sale" label on the
circa 1883 Tudor- style station. 

"We're planning to issue an RFB (request for bids) for the competitive sale of
the property in a week or so," said Joe Dee, a NJ Transit spokesman, who
confirmed its unique status on the market. 

The comments came just hours after Glen Ridge's borough council Tuesday night
unanimously adopted a resolution to designate the station, damaged in a fire
years ago, as an "area in need of redevelopment." 

Alan Trembulak, the attorney for Glen Ridge's planning board, said the borough
has no intention of taking control of the station but would move to adopt a
redevelopment plan tailor-made for the loca tion. 

"It allows the town to have some say and make sure it's compatible and
consistent with the borough's objectives," Trembulak said. 

The property, which sits in the middle of a neighborhood of Colonial homes, is
zoned residential. 

"What we have done," Patrick said, "is in effect open the door to multiple
uses other than a single- family home. NJ Transit will put that into their
documents." 

That would likely not include a restaurant, he said, but rather offices or,
perhaps, a little museum run by a railroad buff. 

Jim Wilson -- a boyhood train aficionado who grew up to be a conductor and
then the owner of a small Passaic railway with five engines, 1.8 miles of
track and a Pullman "club car" -- once had a lease on the station. 

There, he maintained a small museum and served coffee to commuters before the
NJ Transit line was idled in 2002 and a fire left the station badly damaged.
Glen Ridge had tried unsuccessfully to secure a grant to help Wilson reclaim
it. 

His lease was terminated more than a year ago, NJ Transit has said. 

NJ Transit is to issue the bid request, conduct an open house for potential
buyers and receive and evaluate bids, a process that typically takes 60 days
or so. The transit agency has received about five inquiries to date, officials
said. 

"It really is a classic station," Patrick said. 

Philip Read may be reached at pread_@_starledger.com or (973) 392-1851. 


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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1736
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org