Glassboro renovates an old train depot for $1.2 million

While other municipalities are cutting back on staff and resources, Glassboro has made the decision to renovate the town’s old train station.

Glassboro has finalized its plans to turn the aging station into a welcome center and museum. It has accepted $1.2 million in a series of grants for the project.

The station once played an important role in the daily lives of commuter students who traveled to campus by train. The museum will  serve to illustrate the station’s place in the history of the university.

Randi Woerner, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission of Glassboro, said that preparations have been completed and the renovation process is set to begin.

“We are ready to go out to bid and qualify contractors. It’s one of the few historic buildings left and people are still telling stories about it,” Woerner said.

The first grants for the project came in 2002 with $230,000 from a state Transportation Enhancement Grant that purchased the station from its Consolidated Railroad Corporation. Conrail is a federally-owned corporation that buys railways and stations that have been abandoned by delinquent owners.

Recently, the town was given $250,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The final total from all grants was $1.2 million. However, Glassboro will continue to raise funds for the creation of the museum.

The town’s train station was once a centerpiece of transportation and commerce for the community, and was a major factor in the planning of the university. The station was built in the late 1860s, but was abandoned around 1971. Glassboro then used grant funding to buy back the station.

One of the major factors of its abandonment was the rise of automobile use during the 1960s, which led to a national decline in travel by train.

“The location and orientation of Bunce Hall was chosen, in part, so that the gates of the University would face the train station. Students would come by train from Vineland, Camden and beyond and walk from the station into what, at the time, was the only building on campus,” said Dr. Thomas Gallia, Vice President of University Relations. “Its restoration is important to Rowan because it is one of the primary reasons the university is here today.”

Initial plans for the station began in 2002 with a speculative interest in incorporating the train system with the more western-based NJ Transit River LINE. Now the station will be converted into more of a local historical site.

Renovations will begin with masonry work on the interior and exterior parts of the station, followed by basic repairs on the roof and replacement of windows and doors. Rewiring and repairing of the plumbing and electrical systems will be completed last.

“The train station holds a different kind of history,” said Woerner. “We have been working and planning for the project for two years, and we are happy to see it finally begin.”

All reconstruction is set to end in the year 2012 and will reopen soon after.