Author Topic: Anderson Street Station (Future)  (Read 133219 times)

Offline Editor

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Anderson Street Station (Future)
« on: February 23, 2011, 11:45:57 AM »
This topic was split from this one.

________________
With Hackensack rail station gone, is historic status next?
Last updated: Wednesday February 23, 2011, 8:42 AM
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER
HACKENSACK — The Anderson Street Railroad Station's designation as a landmark could soon be history.
 


The Anderson Street Railroad Station in 1869, shortly after it was built. It was one of the stops on the Erie Railroad. The station was put on both the state and national registers of historic places in 1984. The New Jersey State Review Board of Historic Sites has been asked to de-register the building, which was torn down following a 2009 fire. But city officials want to preserve the state and national historic status and are pushing for a replica of the 19th-century structure to be built. A decision could be made Thursday.

"If there's a way to somehow recreate what was there, you can preserve the sense of place, and the sense of time," said Albert Dib, the city's historian. "That really was the center point of Anderson Street."

"It's been here for years and years, and anybody who is alive today and remembers it being here and then consumed by fire, everyone in the community recognized that something very valuable in the community was lost," he added. "You can call it purely sentimental, but you want things like that in your community."

Courtney Carroll, spokeswoman for NJ Transit, owners of the property, said the public transportation corporation made the de-registration request because "nothing remains of the original structure."

What's next
The New Jersey State Review Board of Historic Sites will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday at the state Department of Environmental Protection building, 401 E. State St., Trenton. The meeting will be held in the first-floor public hearing room.
 

The scene on Jan. 10, 2009, during a fire at the station, which was later torn down. City officials and historians want a replica of the station to be built. In a memorandum to the state review board earlier this month, Daniel D. Saunders, acting administrator of the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, agreed.

"Since the complete destruction of this building renders it unable to convey its architectural and historic significance as a representative, 19th-century small town railroad depot, I request the board's concurrence with the request to de-register," he wrote.

The railroad station was built in 1869, and was one of the stops on the Erie Railroad. It was listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1984, and in the national register on June 22, 1984.

The designation made the station eligible to receive grants and other funds set aside for historic preservation.

If the board votes in favor of the de-registration, the station would be removed from both lists, said Larry Hajna, spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. The Historic Preservation Office is located within the DEP.

Hajna added that if a building replicating the old architecture was constructed, it would not qualify for a historic designation.

Hackensack Mayor Karen Sasso said NJ Transit has been asked numerous times to rebuild the station and it has been unresponsive.

"In the over two years since the fire there is only an oversized bus shelter to serve the many commuters who use that train stop," she wrote in a statement. "I renew my call to NJ Transit to rebuild the station, hopefully in a manner which maintains its historic status, so that the city can continue to be home to this treasure and so that our commuters can be served once again with a permanent structure which they deserve."

Carroll said NJ Transit is developing a plan for the site, but couldn't say whether the plans call for a station to be built, or whether it would have the earlier architectural design. She said NJ Transit officials plan on getting input from the city.

About 320 people use the station daily, Carroll said.

The station was the second oldest in the state system before the fire. A station in Ramsey is the oldest.

Also destroyed by the blaze was the Green Caboose, a thrift shop housed in the depot and run by the ladies auxiliary of Hackensack University Medical Center. Proceeds from the store benefited the hospital.

Dib, who will attend Thursday's state meeting on behalf of the city, said the railroad station was refurbished in 1998 and that there is detailed documentation on the architecture of the building if it was to be reconstructed again.

An image of the station can be seen on the city website's home page, and Dib said he can't bring himself to remove the photo. He said he's hoping to open a dialog with state officials.

"People have asked isn't it time for the picture to go, but my gut says no, leave it there, and see what we can do to get something else that is appropriate for that space and that is what we are going to try to do on Thursday," he said.

E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com

« Last Edit: February 27, 2011, 09:35:42 PM by Editor »



Offline Editor

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2011, 05:31:46 PM »
Hackensack train station closer to losing historical designation
Thursday, February 24, 2011
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER

TRENTON — The Anderson Street Railroad Station in Hackensack is closer to losing its historical designation.

The New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites voted Thursday in favor of recommending that the station be removed from the state and national list of historic places. Board members said the de-registering is necessary because the building, which was destroyed in a 2009 blaze, no longer stands.

 “We no longer have a particular artifact. It was listed, and if it doesn’t exist, the listing doesn’t exist,” said Philetus Holt, chairman of the board before the vote. “We can’t anticipate that some day, two years, three years, five years from now someone will build a replica. A replica is not necessarily historic.”

The board’s recommendation will be forwarded to Amy Cradic, assistant DEP commissioner for natural and historic resources. Cradic, who has been designated the state’s historic preservation officer, will make the final decision.

Historically, the officer usually acts on the recommendation, officials said.

After the vote to de-register, the board voted to recommend that the state Historic Preservation Office send a letter to NJ Transit, the owners of the property, encouraging it to be “sympathetic to the local historic district,” when it decides how they will replace the station.

Anderson Street has been designated a historic district by the city of Hackensack.

Albert Dib, the city historian who attended the meeting, argued that if the station was de-registered, NJ Transit would be allowed to build whatever type of building it wants on the site. Dib and other city officials have been pushing for NJ Transit to build a station similar to the one that burnt down. Board members were not swayed.

“Recreating missing artifacts is actually not part of what we would consider eligible anyway, that’s not part of our domain,” said Board Member David Abramson. “There is just no building there. I find nothing compelling, I’m sorry its gone, I wish it was there, but that doesn’t stop the municipality if the property is deregistered from doing whatever it wants in terms of setting zoning standards.”

Dib said he was pleased that at least a letter would be sent to NJ Transit.

 “Given the circumstances I don’t think there’s a whole lot that this board was empowered to do, authorized to do, or regrettably could do within reason, considering that there is nothing left of the original fabric of the building,” he said. “I just hope that NJ Transit would see fit to have a conversation with us about what type of possibilities exist to at least commemorate that space appropriately.”

The carpenter Gothic-style station was built in 1869 and was one of the stops on the Erie Railroad. It was listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1984, and in the national register on June 22, 1984.

The designation made the station eligible to receive grants and other funds set aside for historic preservation.

NJ Transit made the request to de-register the station, Courtney Carroll, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit said earlier this week. She said the company is developing a plan for the site, and will reach out to city officials for their input in coming months.

E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com
« Last Edit: February 24, 2011, 05:33:39 PM by Editor »

Offline just watching

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2011, 06:25:20 PM »

Thank you, Albert, for taking up the cause of this train station.  It is also my hope that an exact replica will be rebuilt.  This time without the used goods store.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2011, 08:53:32 PM »
Hackensack train station closer to losing historical designation
Thursday, February 24, 2011
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER

...“We no longer have a particular artifact. It was listed, and if it doesn’t exist, the listing doesn’t exist,” said Philetus Holt, chairman of the board before the vote...

I have an artifact. I pulled it from the rubble when I took the next-day pictures posted earlier in this thread. Albert may recall me sending the below image to him.

The top part shows the piece before I cleaned it off and the middle part is after. The piece of black material on the far right came from something in the rubble pile - probably from The Green Caboose.

Unless someone's got something better, doesn't this deserve a partial historical designation?

It's like having a moon rock - it ain't the moon, but..................


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Offline Editor

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2011, 09:26:22 AM »
Latest story below.

I realize this is an uphill battle.  I also realize that a replica is not a historic structure.  But I do think it is historical in the sense that a replica would continue the historic narrative in that setting.  It would preserve the relationship of the the railroad with the the surrounding community.  Historic purists might not see it this way but as long as you make it clear that any new structure is not original and is intended for "interpretive" purposes only, I don't see a problem.  In addition, from a purely aesthetic point of view, the station just works very well on that space and could have any number of adaptive uses including a visitor center, coffee shop, transit information center, etc. Any "replica" would not have to slavishly adhere to the original plans but could be built to spec so long at it possessed the most important visual and functional elements of the original station. 

I just hope the Straphanger Saloon folks haven't gotten too used to the additional parking spaces.
__________________________________________

State moves to remove Hackensack train station destroyed by fire from historic list

HACKENSACK — Officials are moving forward to end a historical designation for a Bergen County railroad station that was destroyed by fire.

The Anderson Street Railroad Station in Hackensack was razed after the blaze in 2009.

The New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites voted Thursday in favor of recommending that the station be removed from the state and national lists of historic places.


Hackensack Anderson Ave. train station in 1910.

Board chairman Philetus Holt told The Record newspaper the step is necessary to prevent someone from building a replica that would not be historic.

Hackensack officials have been encouraging NJ Transit to be sympathetic to the historic district when it replaces the Gothic-style station that was built in 1869.

The board's recommendation will be forwarded to the state's historic preservation officer, who gets the final say.
« Last Edit: February 26, 2011, 11:13:21 AM by Editor »

Offline just watching

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2011, 10:16:07 PM »
After reading the last post, I have a thought, and I could be totally wrong about this.

Maybe removing the official designation removes a mountain of red tape and costly architectural services needed to rebuild the station as a replica of the old one.  The station can still be rebuilt in nearly exact form, and with less oversight, less bureaucracy, less nonsense, and most importantly, less cost.  Is this correct, or am I missing something >>> ?
« Last Edit: February 27, 2011, 07:15:36 PM by Editor »

Offline Editor

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2011, 07:14:30 PM »
It's really hard to say at this point. We should be careful that whatever is built in the near future doesn't preclude us from doing something better later.  The best case scenario is to build something better sooner.

Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2011, 07:28:18 PM »
Just keep in mind that when you deal with the SHPO and and others in that department, you are dealing with a bunch of self serving nut jobs.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2011, 09:50:03 PM »
Just keep in mind that when you deal with the SHPO and and others in that department, you are dealing with a bunch of self serving nut jobs.

That's an understatement!

When Nextel wanted to put a dozen cell antennas on my building, SHPO is the brilliant bunch who decided that placing them well-hidden (and below me) on the facade was too visible (cell antennas aren't supposed to be visible on historic buildings and they considered my building historic), so they looked at the building's blueprints and determined that human beings couldn't possibly live in the penthouse - only elevators live there - even though I had already been living there for 14 years.

Even after finding out that the penthouse has a tenant and has had tenants for the previous 75 years, they allowed the antennas to be placed up here and grossly violated their own visibility standard because the antennas can be seen from Teaneck.

"No adverse effects", they told the FCC and that's why we have the ugliest roof in town.

The Bergen County Historical Society and the Bergen County Board of Freeholders both passed resolutions against the super-visible antennas and every politician around asked SHPO to change their recommendation to the FCC - that's all they had to do and the antennas would be gone.

They ignored and stonewalled everybody and everything.

SHPO is the WORST government agency in the state.....and you've really got to be bad to earn THAT title!




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« Last Edit: February 28, 2011, 09:15:31 AM by BLeafe »
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Offline Homer Jones

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2011, 10:04:17 PM »
This is the same crowd that may declare your air conditioner a natural wildlife refuge in the fear that if you turn your air conditioner on and your pet hawk is a male, he may be sterilized from the exhaust; or, if the bird is a female , you may be destroying it's reproduction capability.

If you see any park rangers in the 'hood you better run across the street to Sears and pick up a few fans for the summer.

Offline BLeafe

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2011, 10:58:37 PM »
I'm not worried............I don't live here, remember?

SHPO can go after the elevator instead.............and it probably won't be the first time they've done that.

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Offline Editor

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2011, 08:23:41 AM »
Train station taken off historic list
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Record

What's new: The Anderson Street Railroad Station in Hackensack is no longer a state landmark. The station, which burned down more than two years ago, was officially removed from the state historic list by Amy Cradic, assistant commissioner for natural and historic resources for the Department of Environmental Protection. Cradic, who is designated the state's deputy historic preservation officer, sent a letter last week to Paul Loether, chief of the National Register of Historic Places, asking him to remove the Hackensack railroad station from the national list, too.

"Due to its destruction by fire on January 9, 2009, the Anderson Street Railroad Station has ceased to meet the register's criteria for evaluation," the letter reads.

Background: The New Jersey State Review Board for Historic Sites was asked to de-register the building, which was razed after the fire, by the owner of the property, NJ Transit. City officials had wanted to preserve the state and national historic status because they wanted a replica of the structure to be built on the site.

In February, the review board met and voted to recommend that the Carpenter Gothic station be de-registered, saying it was necessary because the structure no longer exists.

The station was built in 1869 and was one of the stops on the Erie Railroad. It was listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places on March 17, 1984, and in the national register on June 22, 1984.

What's next: Officials from the National Register of Historic Places must decide whether to remove the station from the national list.

— Monsy Alvarado

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #12 on: May 11, 2012, 09:37:29 AM »
Hackensack train station's building will be rebuilt
Friday, May 11, 2012
BY MARK J. BONAMO
MANAGING EDITOR
Hackensack Chronicle

City officials announced that the Anderson Street train station would soon be rebuilt, more than three years after a fire destroyed the historic building. City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono said at the April 18 City Council meeting that he was notified of that by NJ Transit.

The original carpenter Gothic-style station was built in 1869 and was one of the stops on the historic Erie Railroad. It was listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the national register in 1984. The station was destroyed by a 2009 fire and was removed from the National Register of Historic Places in May 2011.

Hackensack officials were lobbying NJ Transit to construct a new station since the fire. Although city officials do not have full details yet regarding what NJ Transit, which operates the station as part of the Pascack Valley Line, plans to do, they’re pleased progress was made.

"The train station gives the neighborhood a sense of place and service to the commuters who are using it," Lo Iacono said.

Lo Iacono noted that NJ Transit would be sending initial plans in the next few weeks for city officials to review. Officials at NJ Transit could not be reached for comment.

Offline Prospect Avenue Coalition

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2012, 07:09:31 AM »
993 NJTransit Invitation to Bid on Construction of the Anderson Street Station ends at 2 pm on September 6th (see attached).

Offline just watching

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Re: Anderson Street Station (Future)
« Reply #14 on: March 30, 2013, 08:43:42 AM »
$571,000 to build a building to size of a house ????  I don't get it. 

$30,000 should cover the footings and foundation.  Frame it out is not much more than a house. Maybe $10,000 more than a house in order to make the one big open room.  Fiber cement board exterior is nothing special, that's on most new construction houses in upscale areas. It costs about $1.70 per sf material, and $1.25 labor. Maybe $4000 more for slate-looking shingles, but unsure what the shingles will be on this structure.  Flooring material of all types is cheaper than ever these days.  It's hard to imagine that it would cost more than $200,000 to build a nearly exact replica of the old train station. On the high side, $250,000.