Monday, July 26, 2010

Head 1, Heart 0

I've had far too many head vs. heart conflicts in my life.  You know how it goes.  The rational half of your brain says one thing.  Your emotions have the complete opposite point of view.

Here's the latest conflict:  Dansbury Depot in East Stroudsburg.

The old train station, from the Civil War era, was home to a restaurant when it burned in October.  The owner wants to tear it down, and put up a building housing a restaurant, commercial space and apartments in its place.  It would be sad to see the building go, but you have to face facts.  It would cost a huge amount of money to repair, and the owner isn't sure he can make back his investment.
History shouldn't have a price.  That's easy to say if you're dealing with someone else's money.  I'd love to see Dansbury Depot restored to what it once was.  A group of preservationists has similar thoughts, and they're trying to raise the money to spare the old building from being bulldozed.

It was a beautiful building, with some unique architectural elements.  It would be a shame to lose them.
There's a nicely restored railroad tower, just a stone's throw from the depot.  It's a much, much smaller building than the train station, and I'm sure the cost to do this job was minuscule when compared to what it would cost to fix the depot.

On Friday, a judge granted an injunction, temporarily blocking the demolition.

In a perfect world, how about a restored train station as part of a rail themed section of East Stroudsburg?  Wouldn't that be nice?  It would take someone with a vision to pull it off.

Unfortunately, it appears vision costs more than we can realistically afford.