Waldwick November 23, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 3 WCA breaks ground for historic station restoration The Waldwick Community Alliance hosted the official groundbreaking for the restoration of the historic train station on Hewson Avenue last week. More than 50 well-wishers attended the event, including representatives from New Jersey Transit, which owns the station, and the Bergen County Historic Preservation Advisory Board, which recommended awarding the WCA a $293,862 Historic Preservation Trust Fund grant for the project. The mid-morning ceremonies, complete with a couple of trains pulling up to the station, was followed by refreshments provided by WCA members Chuck and Laura Adams of Take Away Gourmet. Noting that it had taken his group six years to get to this point, WCA Vice President Doug Cowie thanked the many public officials and supporters who had paved the road along the way. He said that Mayor Russell Litchult, who had grown up in the building now housing El Rodeo Bodega, never missed one of the organization’s events, and had donated the original freight scale for display once the station becomes a museum. The mayor said he used to clean the station and sweep the tunnel connecting to the eastbound tracks when he was a youngster. Cowie thanked Borough Administrator Gary Kratz for providing priceless advice to move the project forward, and praised the members of his group for sharing the vision and common goal of improving the area, even if living elsewhere in town. “It is the right thing to do,” said Cowie. “If we don’t do it, no one else will do it. We are not going to quit; we’ll get this job done and will continue with the other side of Prospect Street,” said WCA President Chuck Wanamaker, who reminisced that he used to warm up by the pot belly stove in the station in his youth. “Now other kids will be able to use that stove,” Wanamaker said. “We saw this as a very worthy project. Train stations are the historical center of a community. We’d like to see it revived as a center,” said Bruce Barton of Waldwick, an architect and member of the county Historic Preservation Advisory Board. “We look forward to having more applications to continue the work,” said Advisory Board Chairman Cynthia Forster. Precision Builders of Bridgewater has (continued on page 12) WCA Vice President Doug Cowie, Mayor Russell Litchult, and WCA President Chuck Wanamaker addressed the group.