Gottlieb Holl worked nearly five decades at the Trenton train station. A prominent descendant of his said that he be lieves Holl, who also was a Trenton city council member, would have approved of what happened there yesterday.
Gottlieb Holl worked nearly five decades at the Trenton train station. A prominent descendant of his said that he believes Holl, who also was a Trenton city council member, would have approved of what happened there yesterday.
"My great-great-grandfather worked 47 years on those tracks," said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R- Hamilton. "All those years going up and down those stairs on his way to and from work." Smith, who helped shepherd millions of dollars in federal funding toward transforming the 100-year-old station into a modern transportation facility, was one of many federal, state, county and local politicians who gathered yesterday to christen the newly named Trenton Transit Center as a three-year, $79 million makeover nears its conclusion.
Smith, who helped get the first $5 million earmarked for the station project, said it all began more than 10 years ago with a meeting that included Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer and then-Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti and a belief that the future of not only the capital city but the region hung on a modern transportation depot.
"We truly now have a station that befits the city of Trenton, the state capital and, most impor tantly, fits the needs of our customers," said Richard Sarles, executive director of NJ Transit. Among other things, the massive transformation -- $46 million in federal funding and $33 million in state funding -- more than doubled the station's size from 19,000 to 46,000 square feet, tripled the available re tail space to 6,600 square feet, tripled the waiting room space to 3,400 square feet, and relocated ticket windows to the Raoul Wallenberg Avenue side of the station in order to reduce congestion.
Improved function was not the only goal; an improved appearance was part of the plan. Tiles inside the station done by Lambertville artist Katherine Hackl present historic Trenton scenes and were part of an effort to beautify the overall appearance of a station that, with approximately 8,000 riders passing through on an average weekday, is NJ Transit's third busiest station behind Metro Park and Princeton Junction.
"This is more than just a train station," said Palmer, who for years has said a station upgrade is inte gral to overall redevelopment in the city. He and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said they hope the state's transit hub tax program, which offers tax credits to employers who locate within a half mile of the station and employ a certain number of people, will help to spur redevelopment.
The rebirth of the station, which links SEPTA, NJ Transit, Amtrak and bus service and has the Light- Rail River Line just across the street, is "one of the classic examples of partnership," said Gov. Jon Corzine, who often champions urban revitalization. "This is the sweet spot of what we need to be doing," he said while standing in the concourse of the bustling station on a busy weekday afternoon. "This is an essential piece, a footprint for redevelopment, to have our urban communities grow and prosper."
According to executive director Sarles and Flora Castillo, a member of NJ Transit's board of direc tors, the remaking of the station could not have come at a better time, with soaring gasoline prices an incentive for more people to use mass transit. Sarles said that rail- line ridership increases about 4 to 5 percent each year, and commuters demand modern, comfortable, well- lit stations with all the amenities.
One of the longtime amenities at the Trenton station with which regular commuters are familiar is the nut stand operated for more than 20 years by Mian Rafi Anwar, who appeared very happy yesterday with the changes at the station. "We are here to treat New Jersey customers as a guest," he said. "I feel good to give them good service."
