The West Shore train station”™s only claim to fame for 50 years was that is was the last building on the city of Newburgh”™s Water Street. Today, with innovation and investment ”“ add the necessary drop of faith into the mix ”“ it has found a new lease on life.
The busy three-story train station, which opened in 1909, shuttled passengers, cargo and livestock through its many gateways when it was the city”™s main transit hub. By 1959, the station”™s ticket booths were closed, its windows boarded up and the station sat empty as passengers and freight passed by and buildings on either side of it were demolished..
Luckily, it remained standing long enough for Newburgh developer Ray Yannone, principal of Storm King Builders in Cornwall, to buy it in 2009 from its private owner and then go to Walden Federal, where he applied for a loan for the renovations. “Thomas Gibney and his staff were great,” Yannone said. “They saw the value of this project and believed we had a sound plan for its future.”
Yannone proceeded to work on the building”™s exterior and completed its interior by November 2010. “There are before and after pictures in the foyer and in the restaurant,” he said. “I was sorry to see a beautiful architectural work left to decay as it was, but we were able to restore it ”“ and yes, even remove a tree growing inside of it. When you see the before and after pictures, it”™s just an incredible transformation.”
Today, the Railroad Playhouse takes up two-thirds of the former station”™s first floor, and The Pizza Shop by Cosimo”™s complements the remaining 1,700 square feet of space, offering a walk-in café and counter as you go into the main entrance, with seating behind its busy kitchen area that overlooks the river. Wi-Fi and Hudson River views are on the house.
Jen Soloway, the Playhouse”™s executive director and one of its co-founders, says it”™s a dream come true for her and her husband, Seth, who met at art school and always dreamed of opening a theater in a community. When they came up from the city to visit relatives in Cornwall and saw West Shore Station, “it was almost as if destiny brought us here to open this theater and become part of the community,” said Soloway, who was busy arranging a new art display to complement a series of animated films being shown at the nearby Downing Film Center. Movie patrons would be coming to the Railroad Playhouse after viewing the Oscar-nominated clips to see artists”™ animation work, as well as some socializing and snacking to go along with it.
She has high hopes the playhouse will become a magnet for artists and theater groups across the region as she prepared for her collaboration with the movie theater and for a brainstorming session with students from Newburgh Free Academy.
Friends from New York City”™s theater and arts community, as well as Newburgh”™s, have come through for the couple: donations of chairs, tables, blackout curtains for its nine-foot high windows, a movable stage and lighting are just part of what Jen Soloway considers a true blending of art and artistry.
“The whole idea of the theater was not just to put on plays or readings, but to hold exhibits, private and corporate events and be available for rental to other artists,” she said. “The Pizza Shop is partnering with us to cater events or for our patrons to sit and have something to eat after a performance to enjoy; it is truly a bonus.”
“Everyone is enthusiastic about the Playhouse and wants to participate,” Yannone said. “It already has more than 1,000 people on its mailing list ”“ so imagine, if each gave a $10 donation, what it would do to help further the success of the playhouse. There”™s a real need here for what”™s happening. Jen and Seth”™s business plan is very diverse, so the playhouse is open to private functions, and she”™s finding other types of performing art schools and instructional places that are looking for space to rent. I think they have put together a solid plan to make it succeed.”
Orange County Community College is up the block and the bustling waterfront below, giving both Soloway and Yannone the belief that theater ”“ along with good food ”“ will make the Railroad Playhouse a permanent and vibrant fixture in the city.
Yannone is thrilled the building was spared the wrecker”™s ball and that he was able to buy it and get funding to make the needed renovations. He”™s planning on moving his Cornwall offices to one of the floors below the playhouse, where baggage and travelers once gathered to wait for trains.
