Preservationists: Station building is a train wreck

Members of the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) questioned the Borough Council during the council meeting on Nov. 9 about when progress would be made on the deteriorating train station building.

The deteriorating condition of the Red Bank Train Station building is cause for concern for members of the borough's Historic Preservation Commission. KIMBERLY STEINBERG They said that concern from HPC members is growing over the structural soundness, preservation and neglect of the historic Red Bank Train Station building, which is owned by NJ Transit.

"There was a promise that it was going to be painted this year and that the gingerbread would be fixed. Nothing has happened. We need to hold New Jersey Transit's feet to the fire," Mary Gilligan, of the HPC, told council.

"Paint is cracking and peeling to the point where the building's wood frame is exposed. There are leaks in the roof, and you can put a fist through the sills.

"It was promised that it would be painted this year. The year is coming to an end, and despite our efforts to contact the Legislature, it's not," said Gilligan.

Peeling paint and rotting sills are evidence that the train station building needs renovation. KIMBERLY STEINBERG Joe Dee, a spokesman for NJ Transit, said in an interview on Nov. 16, that they have started the design work for repair on the train station.

"We will advertise for bids next summer," Dee said.

Dee said that funds would be made available to proceed with the project.

Mayor Pasquale Menna said he spoke with Tom Clark of NJ Transit at the Count Basie statue rededication that took place on Oct. 2 at the train station.

"He [Clark] is aware and did reassure me that they will go through with the improvements," Menna said.

With winter right around the corner, Gilligan said, painting wouldn't happen at this point in the season.

"With the latest rounds of budget cuts last week, I'm afraid that this is going under the table," Gilligan said.

"We're still optimistic about this," Menna responded.

Councilman Michael DuPont called the building's condition "deplorable" and urged Menna to ask NJ Transit officials if the borough's Department of Public Works could seal up the holes in the building until they get around to doing the work.

Menna said that in the past, NJ Transit hasn't allowed the borough to do any work on the building.

"We have volunteers that would paint if it was the borough's. We could get people in to do it overnight," said HPC Chairman George Bowden.

When Gilligan pointed out that Little Silver owns their train station, Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels said: "The borough doesn't want to own the train station."

"We have a building that's in danger," Gilligan said.

"It's not ours," Councilwoman Sharon Lee responded.

Menna said he would schedule a meeting with NJ Transit officials.

When asked if NJ Transit would be willing to meet with Menna, Dee said, "We're ready and willing. We expect to meet fairly soon."

"That meeting should be on the Track 2 platform, so they can get the best view of the deterioration," Gilligan said.

"I'm very disappointed. They could be doing something in the interim to protect the building from the winter. The gingerbread is coming off, and the paint has truly failed," Gilligan continued.

In 2006, Gilligan voiced those same concerns when, as a member of Preservation Red Bank, she explained the situation at the train station by stating: "Preservationists call it demolition by neglect."

Dee said that NJ Transit officials have inspected the train station.

"The building is structurally sound," Dee said. Councilman Edward Zipprich, liaison to the HPC, said he would like to attend the NJ Transit meeting to hear their plans for its repair.

"A sit-down would be a good thing since it's [the station] on the National Register of Historic Places and had a number of dignitaries come through it. It warrants being maintained," Zipprich said.

Zipprich estimated that it has been at least 12 years since the station was last painted.

Last August, HPC members sent a letter to the Borough Council urging them to pressure NJ Transit to begin repairs. The council agreed to send a resolution to NJ Transit explaining the station's need for repair.

"It's unfortunate, but NJ Transit is spending all of its money on the MOM [Monmouth Ocean Middlesex] line studies," Menna said.

Menna said a state fund for historic sites was previously set up, and he believes that there is still money in the fund.

"I don't believe it's been expended. We'll try to see what we can do and how much is in there," Menna said.

"For 15 years we've watched pieces fall off the station. I can't see the logic in this, that they continue to ignore this building," Gilligan responded.

In 2006, Bowden provided the Hub with a brief summary of the historical significance of the station.

According to Bowden, the station was built in 1875 after a group of Monmouth County businessmen secured a charter to run a railroad from South Amboy to Long Branch by way of Red Bank and Matawan.

In June of 1875, the New York and Long Branch Railroad, the first all-rail line to the Jersey Shore, made its maiden run.

That first run had President Ulysses S. Grant on board, who was traveling to his summer home. At his stop in the borough, bands, cannons and fireworks greeted him.

The station had just been completed that summer and was constructed in Victorian "Stick" style architecture by Walter Morton, Bowden said.

The Stick-style skeletal ornamentation is from a 1975 restoration of the building, which roughly resembles the original, although slightly less elaborate.

Grant was the first president to visit the borough by way of the station, but he was not the last.

In 1912, presidential candidate Teddy Roosevelt made a stop in the borough at the railroad plaza, speaking to hundreds of people.

Franklin D. Roosevelt was also welcomed by borough residents at the station in August 1939, one week before the start of World War II.

The station even received international recognition in April 1939 when King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England were honored at the station.

The Red Bank Train Station building is listed on the Historic Sites Inventory in the Historic Preservation Section of the New Jersey Office of Cultural and Environmental Services as well as the National Register of Historic Places. KIMBERLY STEINBERG KIMBERLY STEINBERG