(rshsdepot) Brewster, NY

[Bernie Wagenblast <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Brewster train station building to close
By MICHAEL RISINIT
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 20, 2003)

Riders at Metro-North's Brewster train station could find the station
building closed as early as tomorrow while renovations transform the
interior into Carried Away, a takeout eatery.

The work is expected to take about six weeks. When it is finished, riders
will find snacks, sandwiches, salads, and a selection of hot meals seven
days a week. In the meantime, ticket sales and waiting seats for commuters
will be shifted to a trailer just south of the building.

"When we're done it's still going to be a waiting area," said Carried Away's
co-owner Tom Opdyke, a Southeast resident and Main Street businessman.
"You're still going to be able to get tickets and eat breakfast, lunch and
dinner."

Opdyke, who owned and operated the Bagel Depot across from the Main Street
station for about four years, is working with Christine Traystman, a New
Fairfield, Conn., resident who will do most of the meal preparation.

Refurbishing the 3,100-square-foot Tudor-style structure, which was built in
1931, will cost about $200,000, Opdyke said. The work includes painting,
relocating the ticket seller's booth to the opposite side of the waiting
area, and cleaning the exterior's brickwork. A kitchen, counter space and
drink coolers will be installed in the ticket seller's former space. An
outdoor dining area will be built behind the station, between the building
and the tracks.

Opdyke and Traystman signed a 20-year lease for the property and tomorrow is
the projected start date for the work, Metro-North spokeswoman Patricia
Raley said yesterday. Snow cleanup and some minor paperwork could delay that
by a day or two, she said.

In addition to the Brewster station's transformation, the railroad is
seeking tenants to open businesses in other stations, including
Hastings-on-Hudson, Port Chester, Pelham, Tarrytown and Tuckahoe. There has
been some interest in those locations, Raley said. New businesses would
rehabilitate faded stations and keep station buildings open longer.
Metro-North first introduced eateries at the Peekskill station in 1994 and
the Mount Kisco and Hartsdale stations in 2000.

The Brewster station serves about 1,000 commuters each weekday. Final
details concerning a parking improvement project - 55 spaces, lighting and
sidewalks - announced in 2000 by state Sen. Vincent Leibell III,
R-Patterson, are being worked out, officials said.

Once the station is closed, the new ticket trailer will be open for sales
from 5:55 a.m. to 1:15 p.m., the same hours as in the station building.
Carried Away will be opened from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and from 7
a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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