Post by ferryfast admin on Dec 13, 2011 15:01:33 GMT -5
$120M Hoboken Ferry Terminal Gets New Life
By Debra Hazel
For Photo, see...
www.globest.com/news/12_242/newjersey/infrastructure/-316505.html
HOBOKEN, NJ-The reopening last week of the historic Ferry Terminal here after more than 40 years was a challenge on both land and water, says Tishman Construction Corp., an AECOM Co., the owner’s rep and construction manager on the project for 14 years.
The reconstruction restores permanent ferry service to the historic building – ferries had been running from a “temporary” shelter at the southern end of the building since 1989. “Construction is all about challenges and we had plenty of them,” Randall Doliber, VP of Tishman and project executive for the Hoboken Rail and Ferry Terminal project, tells GlobeSt.com. “You’re working with a facility that’s over 100 years old, in disrepair.”
The historic, Beaux-Arts style terminal and its ferry slips were originally built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1907. Hoboken ferry service was discontinued in 1967, and the building fell into disrepair. In 2003, NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey agreed to a $120 million plan to restore the ferry slips and the historic structure, as well as to build a 230-foot-tall clock tower in the style of the 1907 original.
The first phase, which began in April 2004 and was completed in September 2005, entailed repairs to the terminal’s substructure and superstructure including the repair and restoration of the train shed, which had a significant amount of copper work on the top.
The second phase, completed in 2008, included building a 230-foot-high clock tower similar to the 1907 original, which had to be torn down after it was damaged in a 1950s hurricane.
“Though New Jersey Transit had put up a communications tower, it really wasn’t the symbol of Hoboken,” Doliber says. “Within the budget, we did a good job of matching the details.”
The achievement is particularly impressive given that no architectural drawings of the old tower existed. Working from old photos, Tishman found a factory in Kentucky that prefabricated pieces to stay within budget. Four-foot-high copper letters spell out the word “Lackawanna” and is surmounted by an illuminated clock with four 12-foot diameter faces, one on each side of the tower.
Restoring the waiting area also required painstaking research and construction, including building a support system to remove the Tiffany glass ceiling piece by piece. It was then renovated by the shop in Indiana which manufactured the original glass.
Phase 2 also included construction of five of the original six ferry slips, as well as restoration of the exterior copper facade and lighting on the river side of the terminal, structural repairs, roof repairs and demolition of the finger piers and wooden fenders.
“Timber piles were deteriorating because the Hudson River has gotten cleaner,” Doliber notes. “Shrimp bores into the wood. We structurally re-supported the entire terminal,” by replacing some wood piles with steel.
Construction of the ferry boarding area was completed in the third and final phase, along with all remaining work necessary to restore ferry service to the original slips, including work on utilities, lighting (including LED systems), the ticketing area, ferry barges and gangways. Some areas had to be raised because ferries no longer are two level – and to accommodate rising water levels due to global warming.
Instead, it accommodates modern technology in a format sensitive to his historic status. “The architects and engineers really did it right,” Doliber says. “This doesn’t attempt to be a brand-new facility.”
There is more work to be done in the future – what appears to be a temporary structure that accommodated the return of ferry service in the 1980s actually is a landmark itself and in need of repair, Doliber notes. And the restored terminal is now ready for a developer to add uses such as a restaurant.
“In 2004, as Phase 1 started, I’d walk around and my foot would go through rotten timbers. To see it come to life last week was tremendous,” Doliber says. “People came and patted me on the back.”
Mack-Cali is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader providing insight on the New Jersey market. Their sponsored blog, NJ CRE Resource, has updated insight on the latest happening in the state.
By Debra Hazel
For Photo, see...
www.globest.com/news/12_242/newjersey/infrastructure/-316505.html
HOBOKEN, NJ-The reopening last week of the historic Ferry Terminal here after more than 40 years was a challenge on both land and water, says Tishman Construction Corp., an AECOM Co., the owner’s rep and construction manager on the project for 14 years.
The reconstruction restores permanent ferry service to the historic building – ferries had been running from a “temporary” shelter at the southern end of the building since 1989. “Construction is all about challenges and we had plenty of them,” Randall Doliber, VP of Tishman and project executive for the Hoboken Rail and Ferry Terminal project, tells GlobeSt.com. “You’re working with a facility that’s over 100 years old, in disrepair.”
The historic, Beaux-Arts style terminal and its ferry slips were originally built by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in 1907. Hoboken ferry service was discontinued in 1967, and the building fell into disrepair. In 2003, NJ Transit and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey agreed to a $120 million plan to restore the ferry slips and the historic structure, as well as to build a 230-foot-tall clock tower in the style of the 1907 original.
The first phase, which began in April 2004 and was completed in September 2005, entailed repairs to the terminal’s substructure and superstructure including the repair and restoration of the train shed, which had a significant amount of copper work on the top.
The second phase, completed in 2008, included building a 230-foot-high clock tower similar to the 1907 original, which had to be torn down after it was damaged in a 1950s hurricane.
“Though New Jersey Transit had put up a communications tower, it really wasn’t the symbol of Hoboken,” Doliber says. “Within the budget, we did a good job of matching the details.”
The achievement is particularly impressive given that no architectural drawings of the old tower existed. Working from old photos, Tishman found a factory in Kentucky that prefabricated pieces to stay within budget. Four-foot-high copper letters spell out the word “Lackawanna” and is surmounted by an illuminated clock with four 12-foot diameter faces, one on each side of the tower.
Restoring the waiting area also required painstaking research and construction, including building a support system to remove the Tiffany glass ceiling piece by piece. It was then renovated by the shop in Indiana which manufactured the original glass.
Phase 2 also included construction of five of the original six ferry slips, as well as restoration of the exterior copper facade and lighting on the river side of the terminal, structural repairs, roof repairs and demolition of the finger piers and wooden fenders.
“Timber piles were deteriorating because the Hudson River has gotten cleaner,” Doliber notes. “Shrimp bores into the wood. We structurally re-supported the entire terminal,” by replacing some wood piles with steel.
Construction of the ferry boarding area was completed in the third and final phase, along with all remaining work necessary to restore ferry service to the original slips, including work on utilities, lighting (including LED systems), the ticketing area, ferry barges and gangways. Some areas had to be raised because ferries no longer are two level – and to accommodate rising water levels due to global warming.
Instead, it accommodates modern technology in a format sensitive to his historic status. “The architects and engineers really did it right,” Doliber says. “This doesn’t attempt to be a brand-new facility.”
There is more work to be done in the future – what appears to be a temporary structure that accommodated the return of ferry service in the 1980s actually is a landmark itself and in need of repair, Doliber notes. And the restored terminal is now ready for a developer to add uses such as a restaurant.
“In 2004, as Phase 1 started, I’d walk around and my foot would go through rotten timbers. To see it come to life last week was tremendous,” Doliber says. “People came and patted me on the back.”
Mack-Cali is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader providing insight on the New Jersey market. Their sponsored blog, NJ CRE Resource, has updated insight on the latest happening in the state.