“Last year, Americans gave $295 billion to charity,” said Glenn Clarke. “All we need is $295,000.”Â
Clarke, whose family has been in Marlboro since the 1700s, hopes contributors will rally to the renovation of the town”™s 19th-century train depot.
Built by the New York West Shore and Buffalo Railway in 1883, Clarke says it is the last public train station from New York to Albany on the west shore of the Hudson River.
West Shore was built opposite Cornelius Vanderbilt”™s NewYork Central on the river”™s east side, causing Vanderbilt considerable consternation. The train magnate eventually managed to buy the west shore tracks and add them to his collection three years later, says Clarke.
West Shore kept its name and continued ferrying passengers and freight down the banks of the Hudson from Albany to New York City until the 1950s. Then came the interstate highway system and accompanying “See the USA in your Chevrolet” mentality. Automobiles began replacing trains as the preferred method of travel. Today, the CSX line still ferries freight down the tracks, but the passenger line is long gone, its depot boarded up for the past two decades.
While it has lost its original purpose, Clarke doesn”™t see a forlorn building; he sees the former depot as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a hallmark for his community.
Like many others, Clarke and the newly formed Friends of the Milton-On-Hudson Train Station ( HYPERLINK “http://www.trainstationfriends.com” www.trainstationfriends.com) are in the same boat as fellow nonprofits: trying to raise awareness, along with the capital needed to realize their vision.
They have sought out the recently formed Community Foundation of Ulster County, an offshoot of its Dutchess counterpart. With the help of director Andrea Reynolds, the group has been able to incorporate and apply for nonprofit 501 (C) 3 status. Local volunteers have already logged more than 600 sweat-equity hours, knocking down walls, installing electricity and working to restore the depot”™s original gingerbread-style gabling. Like other talented locals from the Milton-Marlboro community, architect Peter Hoffman and designer Lisa Biggin are working gratis on the project.
Clarke has had a bird”™s-eye view of the station since childhood, when he spent his summers at the family compound. “Older people here in Milton remember taking the train to school down in Newburgh,” said Clarke. “It was an anchor in the community and the only way to travel for most.”
The history buff knows a thing or two about makeovers, having spent his career as one of Avon”™s top executives. Lisa Biggin”™s colorful sketch of the renovated station depicts the vision the new nonprofit hopes to bring to real time.
Clarke”™s deep roots in Milton trace back to 1763, when his family, the Hallocks, owned more than 1,000 acres of Hudson River waterfront property. In 1862, the center-hall colonial in which Clarke now lives was built, remaining in the family in an unbroken line: “I guess you can truly say we are ”˜made in the Hudson Valley.”™” In 1993, he retired and purchased the home from another family member, focusing on a little renovating, and finding himself watching the former depot fall into despair near the tracks on the riverfront below.
Today, the Hallock homestead is down to 25 acres, with the bulk of the original land preserved through a trust. That”™s given Clarke ample time to focus on his newest renovation: the depot.
Kedem Wine Co. was the former owner, using the depot as a wine-tasting center when it ran its operations from the site. When the kosher winemaker moved farther south on Route 9W and donated its old winery to the town, the property ”“ along with the depot ”“ sat shuttered for nearly 20 years.
“I can see it in the wintertime when the trees are bare,” said Clarke. “And I often wondered what we could do to revitalize it.” Now, thanks to the local Town Board, Clarke”™s ingenuity and a group of nearly 30 volunteers, the depot”™s getting the attention Clarke feels it rightly deserves. “It”™s the last one left that the public can visit on the river. There is one more depot on West Point, but that is closed to the public.”
The old Kedem buildings are scheduled to be torn down, and a waterfront park will take their place. “It is a grand opportunity for our community,” said John Scott of Toshiba, who sits on the committee with Clarke and donates physical and mental energies to the project. “To have a community center and a town park combined into one would be something generations to come would be able to visit and enjoy.”
After a conditions study was undertaken by Crawford & Sterns in Albany, the engineers concluded the building was worth saving, with the cost of rehabilitation approximately $500,000. The 30- by 90-foot building, approximately 2,700 square feet, was recently listed on the New York State Historic Registry. “If we wanted to truly make it an historical restoration, the price would be astronomical ”¦ so we”™ve decided to renovate it and keep it as close to the original structure as possible,” said Scott.
Clarke, his affable manner and love of history apparent, has a picture of himself with Ronald Reagan hanging in his front hall, a can”™t-miss as you enter his home.
He met “The Great Communicator” during a visit to Washington when Clarke was part of the National Puerto Rican Coalition in 1986. While he may not earn the sobriquet Reagan enjoyed, his enthusiasm for the Milton train depot project is infectious ”“ and compelling.
Clarke is already lending his home as temporary “board room” for the volunteer group”™s monthly meetings and is hosting a fundraiser at his family”™s Hallock homestead on Sept. 29 beginning at 3 p.m. Food, fun and an auction, along with a tour of the depot, will go toward encouraging people to take a serious look at the Milton-on-Hudson train station and make a commitment, either of volunteer time or a financial contribution. “Hopefully both!” says an enthusiastic Clarke.
Echoing the Reagan”™s well-known “Time for Choosing” speech, Clarke said when it came to deciding whether to jump on the depot project or watch it pass into oblivion, he”™s gotten on board ”“ “something I”™ve not only chosen, but feel I was chosen to do.”
Clarke says that with hard work, dedication ”“ “and a little bit of luck” ”“ the former depot will have the doors open by 2008. He hopes it will be a contributing player in the Hudson River”™s 400th anniversary celebration in 2009, marking Henry Hudson”™s voyage. “That will be a truly exciting year for the Hudson River and all the towns along its banks ”¦ and we want the depot to be part of the festivities.”
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