HISTORIC WALDWICK STATION GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE

Community group will develop railroad museum

August 13, 2008
NJT-08-062

NEWARK, NJ ¿ The historic Waldwick train station building would be renovated and converted into a facility that offers meeting space as well as a railroad museum under a lease arrangement approved today by the NJ TRANSIT Board of Directors.

The aging stucco and wood-beam station building, built in 1887 and listed on the National and New Jersey Registers of Historic Places, is scheduled to be renovated by the not-for-profit Waldwick Community Alliance Inc. under terms of a 25-year lease that would preserve a piece of railroad history at no expense to NJ TRANSIT.

"This agreement preserves a cultural resource and benefits the community in a manner that has zero impact on a very tight NJ TRANSIT capital budget," said NJ TRANSIT Chairman and Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri.

The obsolete Main Line station building has been closed since 1983, and is located on the outbound side of the tracks, where few Waldwick Station commuters would wait. Current customers are sheltered from the elements by a modern heated and air-conditioned building on the inbound side of the station.

"This is a win-win for the community and for NJ TRANSIT because the lease enables a preservation effort that financial constraints would not permit us to undertake," said NJ TRANSIT Executive Director Richard Sarles.

Under the terms of the proposed lease of the 8,545-square foot property, the alliance would pay $1 per year for 25 years and pay the cost of restoring the building to historic standards and upgrading landscaping and walkways.

Prior to restoration, NJ TRANSIT will relocate six parking spaces and the entrance and exit points to the existing station parking lot to reorient pedestrian flow around the station building. No parking spaces will be lost.

About NJ TRANSIT

NJ TRANSIT is the nation's largest statewide public transportation system providing nearly 865,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 11 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 164 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 18,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.