Guilford Train Station
Press release
Guilford, Feb. 1, 2005
For immediate Release
Preservation Alliance Seeks to Secure Historic Train-Station-Area Buildings
The Guilford Preservation Alliance has renewed talks with AMTRAK to save the surviving New Haven and New London Railroad maintenance buildings opposite the town's train station. Once the engine repair shop and water tower for steam-driven locomotives, the structures are said to be rare or unique artifacts of a by-gone era. Built in the 1870s, they have stood unused since the introduction of diesel power in the 1930s.
According to GPA President Preston Maynard, the Alliance is in discussions with Town officials, representatives of the state's Department of Transportation (CONDOT) and the director of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation in pursuit of public-private partnership to restore and reuse the one and one half-story brick engine house and distinctive octagonal water tower. The latter, also built of brick and in urgent need of stabilization, is believed to be the only one of its kind left in the state. Both structures are candidates for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and thus cannot be torn down.
The GPA proposal contains potential economic benefits for the Town and other neighboring land owners-the town garage and Public Works Department stand nearby-as restoration and adaptive reuse of the two buildings would contribute significantly to Guilford 's identity as a tourist attraction. According to a recent study by Robert Santy, executive director of the Regional Growth Partnership (RGP), cultural tourism is one of the major growth industries in Connecticut.
The buildings are currently owned by AMTRAK, which agreed several years ago to sell them to the Town for $1. Possible soil contamination at both sites derailed the negotiations at that time and the Town withdrew from the talks. Both state and federal funds, however, are available for soil-testing and clean-up through the RGP, of which Guilford is a member. This work cannot be done, the GPA says, unless the Town acquires the sites or allows the GPA to do so. Access to the buildings may require cooperation from adjacent land owners, including, AMTRAK, CONDOT and the Town of Guilford.
Maynard says that the project is economically viable. Accordingly the Jones Trust for Historic Preservation, a commission of the GPA, has consented to underwrite acquisition and stabilization of the structures to prevent their further deterioration while prospective reuses are explored. Once stabilized and restored, the engine house will be suitable for professional offices, cultural facilities or retail space, Maynard explained. The water tower an architectural gem, would be a natural home for a tourist-information center. Both reuses would help to anchor the commercial redevelopment of the train station area and connect it touristically with the nearby state Whitfield Museum.
