(rshsdepot) Syracuse, NY

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Post-Standard.
 
Original article at:
_http://www.syracuse.com/case/index.ssf?/base/news-1/123305019139260.xml&coll
1_ 
(http://www.syracuse.com/case/index.ssf?/base/news-1/123305019139260.xml&coll=1)  
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Historians explore former New York Central Railroad depot tunnel in  Syracuse

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 
DICK CASE
POST-STANDARD  COLUMNIST

Dennis Connors and his helpers crawled into a hole in a parking lot  along 
Franklin Street last week and came out with some pieces of Syracuse  history. 
 
Dennis is curator of history at Onondaga Historical Association. His  
companions were Beth and Randy Crawford, of Crawford & Stearns, the  preservation 
architects who've been looking after our architectural treasures  for years. 
 
Their quest this time is a buried railroad tunnel left behind in 1936 when  a 
New York Central Railroad depot was demolished at Franklin and West Fayette  
streets, at the edge of Armory Square. The relic is part of the footprint of 
the  proposed new home of O'Brien & Gere engineers, 333 Washington Station, a  
project scheduled to break ground in March. 
 
The tunnel, which was filled during demolition, ran from the railroad  
station, at Franklin and Fayette, to a so-called "train barn" on the northern  side 
of the building site, which borders Washington Street. It connected a  
passenger waiting room and the shed. 
 
David Urciuoli, vice president for development for the builder, the Pioneer  
Cos., said he had been working with Dennis Connors to find the tunnel since  
July. The tunnel entrance, along a tree line and old stone wall, was exactly  
where it was supposed to be, according to maps of the depot. David said crews  
found it during test boring. 
 
Dennis said he and the Crawfords went into the tunnel a week ago Monday. In  
its day, the passage was referred to as a "subway." 
 
They found about 30 feet of the remnant just below the parking lot. It's 
 
filled with sand debris, including lots of evidence the tunnel was used in  
the past as a hideaway for homeless folks. 
 
David Urciuoli said the tunnel will be destroyed during construction, which  
was why he gave the historians permission to go into buried space to take  
pictures and measurements and remove samples of glazed tile and brick and a  
piece of brownstone from the original station, which was put up in 1895. An  
earlier depot stood just north of this one. 
 
Dennis said this is one of the few opportunities historical researchers  have 
had to explore a buried site. There are no legal requirements that this be  
done, unless the site is listed as protected by state officials. 
 
Syracuse's first station was put up right in the middle of Vanderbilt  
Square, between Salina and Warren streets, in 1839. It was pulled down in 1870  when 
a new one was built along Franklin Street. The city's fourth station was  
constructed along Erie Boulevard East in the 1930s when the rail line through  
Syracuse was elevated. 
 
This was the city "where the trains ran through the center of town," along  
Washington Street. That elevated section later was abandoned and replaced by  
Interstate 690. 
 
Dennis Connors said the visitors uncovered the original mosaic floor of the  
"subway." The ceiling of the tunnel, which appears to be about 6 inches below  
the parking lot, was constructed of rails. A similar tunnel to passenger  
platforms exists in the old Erie Boulevard station, which was remodeled as the  
home for Time Warner's News 10 Now operations. 
 
He said the tile and brick leftovers were taken back to the OHA  headquarters 
on Montgomery Street, where they will be displayed. The bricks were  imported 
from Leeds, England. They have a white glaze on the side that faced the  
interior of the passageway. 
 
David Urciuoli said his crews likely will move onto the construction site  in 
March. Construction of a new Marriott hotel on the parking lot at the  
southern half of the site at Franklin and Fayette streets is on hold. 
 
Dennis Connors said a second exploration of buried Syracuse is on hold  until 
the city goes ahead with plans to demolish a former bank building in the  300 
block of South Warren Street. In this case, he's looking for a time capsule  
he believes was buried when the bank was put up, back in the 1950s. 
 
The city has promised cooperation with the historical association when the  
site is cleared. His challenge is that he's gotten conflicting stories as to  
where the time capsule was placed in the building, which most recently was home 
 to a brokerage company. 
 
OHA has a set of drawings of the bank building by King & King  Architects, 
but they do not show the location of the time capsule. He's heard  one story 
that it was buried under the basement's concrete slab. Another said  the sidewalk 
was the spot. Both suggestions are based on newspaper accounts of  burying 
the time capsule. 
 
Dick Case writes Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 470-2254, or 
_dcase_@_syracuse.com_ (mailto:dcase@syracuse.com) . 
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