restoration among
reasons for delay
Rules of historic
restoration among
reasons for delay
JEFF GRANIT staff Myra Brady of Monmouth Beach takes advantage of the warm surroundings in the renovated Little Silver train station.
BY SHERRY CONOHAN
Staff Writer
Beautiful wood and fine craftsmanship define the interior of the newly renovated Little Silver train station, which had been closed for nearly four years. It recently reopened its doors to welcome travelers once again.
The local landmark, which was built in 1890 and is on both the New Jersey and federal historic registers, will be rededicated in a 2 p.m. ceremony on Saturday, which the public is invited to attend.
The restoration of the station, made of sandstone with a slate roof, got off to a slow start 14 years ago and never picked up any speed.
The borough has owned the station since 1966 when it purchased it and an adjacent parking lot on the east side of the railroad tracks, from the New York and Long Branch Railroad, according to Borough Administrator Michael D. Biehl.
The borough immediately leased the station back to the NY&LB for 99 years. Under the terms of the lease, Biehl said, the railroad was responsible for the maintenance as well as the operation of the station.
Biehl said the borough became unhappy with the way the station was deteriorating under the management of the NY&LB and decided to try to get it back. In 1989, he said, he began working toward that goal.
It took until 1994 or 1995 to complete the negotiations and put the borough back in control of the station, Biehl said. The borough entered into an agreement with NJ Transit, allowing it to have a ticket agent in the building. But, he stressed, "we own the station, we maintain it and we control it."
Once the lease arrangements were worked out, the borough engaged Mark Fitzsimmons as the architect to lead renovations of the building.
"We tried to do something simple, but as we got into it and began to investigate the rules on historic structures, we found it to be infinitely more complicated," Biehl said.
The borough had to gain approval for its plans from the State Historic Preservation Office, and then it had to choose a contractor from a list provided by the state of those approved to undertake the restoration of historic buildings.
"That significantly limits the pool," Biehl said.
The contractor the borough chose was Ted Nickles, Inc., of Philadelphia.
Before Nickles could begin the work, an oil leak from an above-ground tank was discovered. Biehl said the oil leaked through the station floor and into the ground below, forcing the borough to remediate the area and keep the station closed.
It wasn’t until a year and a half later, in May 2001, that the renovation work began, Biehl said.
"We totally redid the heating and ventilation; we totally redid the electrical work, and we totally redid the plumbing," he said.
"The entire station now is handicapped accessible," he added.
Biehl said the restoration work was substantially completed in March of this year, but NJ Transit, which had approved the original plans for its ticket agent setup, asked for some changes, and other small alterations had to be made as well, he said.
The last hang-up was a delay in the installation of the security screen needed to close off the concessions stand when it isn’t open for business.
The renovated station today would make its designer, H.H. Richardson, a notable American architect of his time, proud.