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A Pennsylvania Town's Freight Station Is on the Fast Track to Preservation

Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a small town situated 28 miles north of Philadelphia, is home to two historic train stations. One is the beloved Lansdale passenger station, a brick building constructed in 1903. Passengers flow through it like water; it remains one of the busiest commuter stations in Philadelphia’s transportation system. Because of its high visibility, there were few complaints when it came time for repairs in 1999. The station’s rotted roof was replaced and its windows and doors were patched up, leaving it looking like its early-20th century self.

But less than two blocks away lies its counterpart, a stone freight station that Bill Henning, vice president of the nonprofit Discover Lansdale, calls “the ignored stepchild” of the pair. Also built in 1903, the freight station spent decades as Lansdale’s commercial heart before falling vacant for over 20 years.

It remained that way until 2016, when the station came to the attention of Bill Henning and Discover Lansdale. The nonprofit, which works to promote events and businesses in town, recognized the significance of the station to Lansdale’s history, and saw the need for a multipurpose space and visitor’s center. They convinced the borough parking authority to purchase the station and its surrounding land, and then sell the structure to Discover Lansdale for $60,000. (The parking authority only wanted the space to create a new lot).

To Henning’s surprise, a survey determined that much of the structure was in remarkably good shape—the stone walls and roof had endured for a century with minimal damage. But the floor joists underneath the freight doors had rotted from rain and snow, rendering them unstable. In addition, electricity and plumbing needed to be installed before the building could open to the public. All told, the rehabilitation project was estimated to cost $250,000.

Discover Lansdale has raised around $70,000 thus far through private donations and by selling the station’s original yellow pine flooring (which needed to be removed to repair the joists underneath) to people looking for quality wood to build benches and bookcases out of. But equally beneficial to the bottom line has been the support of the community. The project’s engineer and electrician have provided work for free or at discounted rates, a local tavern raised $5,000 for the rehabilitation by hosting a beer garden in the station’s parking lot for two summers, and Lansdale residents have come out in droves for the clean-up days that Discover Lansdale has organized.

“It’s been amazing how many people have been coming out to swing a hammer, or pull weeds, or pry up nails,” Henning says. “I think a lot of it is because they like what [the rehabilitated station’s] purpose will be.”

https://savingplaces.org/stories/a-p...n#.WtWqc39rzcs