The long closed waiting room at the Bloomfield train station eastbound platform reopened this morning with local dignitaries on hand to celebrate the event. Until today, commuters had to wait outside in all weather.
Warren Levinson got to try out the new digs this morning and reports:
The waiting room is pleasant, with a vaulted wood-beam ceiling (the station dates from 1916). The restoration was done with a $1.35 million federal grant, which also paid for improved platform lighting and public address and one bicycle rack (capacity: 2, but it's better than 0).NJ Transit says the station is the most heavily used on the Montclair-Boonton line. There is more restorable and developable space on the westbound platform side, but it is privately owned. The owner is said to be looking for commercial tenants. There was a pizzeria on the lower level for a while, but it's been closed for at least a decade.
The renovated Bloomfield station looks great. It compares very favorably with the station in Upper Montclair that burned almost 2 1/2 years ago; that station has been replaced with a tent that has sides that have ripped away from the tentpoles and flap in the breeze and especially in the rain, letting in both! Calls about this to the Montclair Town Manager have led to several promises to look into it, but no action.