Hoboken Terminal Restoration Update - October 12, 1999
by David Goessling
The Hoboken Historical Museum in cooperation with NJ TRANSIT gave members
a sneak-peek tour of the Hoboken Terminal waiting room restoration project
last Friday, Oct. 8th. The restored waiting room will be open to the public
for service on October 25th, with an official, celebratory opening sometime
in December.
The tour, attended by about 40, began about 7:30 in the temporary waiting
room with a presentation by the lead engineer on the project for NJT.
He was a bit hard to hear at times, so I may have missed a few things.
Maps of the Hoboken yard area were displayed, showing the phases of the
Hoboken Terminal Area Master Plan as a whole, including upgrades to the
yard, the Light Rail station, etc.
Two copies of the master plan document will be donated to the Museum.
Some highlights:
- The Light Rail station and trackage will probably not be completed
until early to mid 2000, some 6 months behind schedule. This construction
calls for completely filling in the Long Slip.
- After this fill takes place, NJT will add extensive new storage tracks
to the southwest side of the yard.
- Although he had to "speak carefully" due to legal constraints,
the NJT spokesman confirmed again that the NJ Devil's hockey stadium
project is dead. Aside from community resistance, he cited engineering
challenges of building partially over water, and the unique historical
nature of the trainsheds as reasons not to build.
- Speaking of building over water, he said that he had personally inspected
the 1907 concrete foundations of the terminal waiting room (which is
over the river) and said that it looks brand new. A tribute to those
Lackawanna engineers of long ago!
- The microwave antenna tower will eventually be removed from the roof
of the terminal and replaced with a (shorter) replica of the original
clock tower. (This drew cheers from the audience…)
- I asked whether the glass would be restored to the roofs of the trainsheds.
This seemed to confused him, as though he didn't realize that they had
been glass, but he said, yes, eventually they would be restored to original
condition.
- Ferry service will be restored to the original terminal. The existing
NY Waterway ferry terminal area will be used for offices or something.
The Immigrant and Pullman buildings will not be touched, since they
are on the National Historical Register.
- The original restaurant area will remain as conductors' "lounge."
After a few more questions we filed up to the ferry waiting hall. If
you've never been in this room, it remains, despite its condition of peeling
paint and dusty decrepitude, quite amazing. It's just so huge. The NJT
spokesman said that it would be completely restored. The stained glass
skylights will be cleaned and restored, removing the paint applied for
the WWII blackout. (Interestingly, he said that, contrary to legend, the
skylights throughout the terminal are not Tiffany glass.) The offices
will be removed (some already have been) and shops and restaurants added.
However, there will be no "plywood city" in the huge floor area:
this will remain an open space. Shops will be in what are now the offices
over the ferry vehicle entry area. NJT will be very careful and selective
about retail tenants for this are, so as not to cheapen the terminal.
He said that Washington Union Station was a model for this type of development.
Also, in response to a question, he actually implied that the new ferries
might just carry vehicles again!
Then, on to the waiting room itself. It's just awesome. People literally
gasped upon entering from the balcony. They removed 17 layers of paint
and restored the original color scheme. Every funky hole drilled in the
walls for heaters, etc. has been filled. All the plasterwork has been
restored. The chandeliers have been reproduced (1200lbs each!). The clock
is restored, including all new gold leaf. All the copper is new. They
are still working on the terrazzo floor. They are still working on the
benches, which will be exact replicas of the originals, including the
lamps. New underfloor and under-bench heating has been installed.
The skylight is completely restored, with a translucent weather cover
outside to protect it and fluorescent back lighting. The westward-facing
windows are all clean and new. The original flower shop will be restored.
The cheesy snack bar area will be restored to its original look. The ice
water fountain will not tbe operational :-(. Period-looking booths will
replace the modern phone booths. The men's and ladies rooms are being
restored with period-looking fixtures. The marble around the walls has
been replaced and all of the oak woodwork has been reproduced exactly.
The only "modern" touches are the train schedule board above
the ticket windows and the use of fluorescent and fiber optic lighting
throughout (the latter for safety and to cut down on maintenance.) The
one remaining model locomotive has been cleaned and will be replaced where
it was. The whereabouts of the other model is unknown.
All in all, it's just incredibly beautiful. NJT has done a fantastic
job on this, and are to be complimented on a true public service for the
future. Get there and see it as soon as you can!
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