Input Sought on Train Station Plans, Three Concept Designs Presented

Input Sought on Train Station Plans,
Three Concept Designs Presented

Author: STEVEN COOK, Gazette Reporter
Date: November 15, 2006
Section: A: Front

The future of the Schenectady train station may be in a bunch of orange stickers. Architects sought opinions on the proposed new downtown station by asking attendees to stick the orange dots on posters, answer questions and choose between concept designs.

At the center were three concept designs, with one of the designs appearing to get more dots than the others.

"I like that one because it looks more like the post office," said Joanne Trinkle, who lives near the current station. "The other one looks too spaceship-y, too modern."

Officials from the city, along with Amtrak, Metroplex Development Authority and the Capital District Transportation Authority, held the workshop Tuesday night to chart a course for the station redevelopment. They are working on rebuilding or replacing the current station at the corner of Erie Boulevard and Liberty Street.

The three designs, they stressed, were concepts, with a final design expected to be a combination of ideas. The concepts ranged from the modern, with surf board shapes on the front, to two more traditional designs referencing previous Schenectady train stations.

At the forefront in many minds was the missed opportunity with the ornate old station torn down in the 1970s. That station appeared in a presentation by the architects, with Niskayuna resident and local historian Ed Reilly commenting, "I like the one in the upper right," referencing the old photograph.

Mayor Brian U. Stratton echoed those sentiments in brief remarks, saying the old station should never have been torn down. "But we can't go back," he said. "We can embrace those beautiful elements" or choose another design.

The project is part of a two-year, $1.1 million plan to rehabilitate the station and make it a larger component of downtown's economic revival. As much as $6 million to $7 million could be available for replacement, officials said. The plan also should help improve parking and pedestrian access to downtown.

In February, the CDTA awarded a $200,000 contract to Kise, Straw and Kolodner of Philadelphia and Creighton Manning of Albany to draft the three-phase plan. Officials said public input will be an important part of the initial conceptual design phase, which should be followed by an environmental review and then construction. Martin Hull, of Kise, said they expect to hold another workshop in a few months with a more refined plan.

He hesitated to give a timeline for actual construction, saying that would depend on funding, but he estimated between three and five years.

Anthony Rudmann, a Schenectady native, said he liked the same one Trinkle liked.

Now of Albany, Rudmann is the regional coordinator for the Empire State Passengers Association, dedicated to improving rail passenger service.

"The 50 percent increase in available space is good," he said of the design. "I think the ridership number is understated."

Architects estimated that about 150 people use the station daily. They are planning for as many as 450 within 10 years.

Rudmann noted that he was born and raised in Schenectady, with his family using the old station a good deal before it was closed.

Clara Domblewski, 82, of Schenectady, also remembers the old station. "It had gorgeous marble," she said. "It was almost like going to Grand Central Station."

She referenced the old station in commenting on the most popular concept design.

"The middle one is too boxy," she said of the design. "See how the building up there has got that little arch? That's all we need, something like that to just give it a little bit more."

The third design, she said, "doesn't look much like a railroad station; it looks more like a house."