LOCKPORT, N.Y. — When we talk about efforts to restore the New York Central Railroad terminal, more than likely you are thinking of the landmark in Buffalo's Polonia neighborhood, but Lockport is also home to a central terminal that is long past it's glory years.
Like in Buffalo, there are those who dream of a brighter future.
Property owner Mark Davidson fell in love with a piece of history.
In the late 1880s Lockport was still a busy stop on the Erie Canal and a hub for train traffic. The New York Central Railroad, owned by the Vanderbilts, decided that Lockport's train station should reflect that.
At it's height, 10 passenger trains passed through every day and this grand building welcomed them and sent them off.
Davidson often reflects on that history.
"The people who came forth through these doors, gave us the freedoms we have today. There are pictures of guys going to World War 1, Fort Dix, World War 2. And it just bothers me that it's been sitting here for all these years and noone has ever done something for this diamond in the rough."
Wooden doors, elaborate stonework, and even Tiffany windows graced this landmark, but with the opening of the Thruway, and the St. Lawrence Seaway, canaltowns like Lockport lost quite a bit of their significance.
The station sat abandoned and vandalized during the 1950's and 60's. In the early 70's it was bought and turned into Union Station Restaurant. It was a success, until a pair of fires in the mid-70's destroyed it.
"When I look at it now it just it bothers me. It bothers me to see it in the state that it's in and no one ever gave it the respect that it deserves" adds Davidson.
Over the years, many different owners, including the City of Lockport, have tried and failed to resurrect the old station now, Davidson, who has owned the property for more than a decade, and recently moved to WNY from California after retiring from the film industry.
Davidson has started the non-profit organization, New York Central Train Station, Inc. Right now he is working to clean things up, and raise the 4.5 million dollars he estimates it will take to bring the building back to glory.
He is also looking for volunteers, contact information can be found through the link above.
Davidson says he knows that the station's recent history is full of stops, starts, and unfilled promises, but he has a dream, that he is determined to push through.
"My dream for it is to be a train station once again. The train still run by. There's freight and passenger trains that come by. I want to see a train station again and have a boarding area for the people, an eatery and then upstairs a banquet room for (things like) boy scout meetings, weddings and turn the whole city block into a park-like setting."
