Giving the Dansbury Depot a Bright Future in the Community

The ECA is dedicated to the successful relocation and restoration of the Historic East Stroudsburg Station for the cultural and economic betterment of the East Stroudsburg.

Proper restoration, promotion and future use of the East Stroudsburg Station will feed existing and future downtown businesses and help in the revitalization our downtown. But perhaps more important to our community, restoring the East Stroudsburg Station will support Eastburg’s unique sense of place and vital link’s to history that we wish to pass on to future generations. As East Stroudsburg’s designated Main Street organization, the ECA is charged with the social, cultural, educational, and econmic revitalization of Eastburg’s Downtown. Through the Restoration and Development of the Historic Dansbury Depot Station each of ECA’s objectives will be addressed, helping to create a thriving, sustainable community.  Namely:  spurring business development, creating jobs, fostering art and education, and reflecting the history and uniqueness of the community.

At the heart of this issue is the desire to preserve history and to pay homage to the stories and artifacts of our past. By coming together to save a piece of important history this project also:

• Promotes civic pride
• Increases community involvement
• Reaffirms commitment and inspires involvement from local leaders

*Images are representational only

By placing the Dansbury Depot in this its new location at the corner of Analomink and Kistler Streets, the ECA not only saved the station from otherwise imminent demolition, the Dansbury Depot Station will now serve the following additional purposes:

• Become a gateway to the downtown
• Serve as a transportation shelter (exterior benches and canopies) for passengers using the MCTA bus service from its borough parking lot stop
• Provide bicycle racks for bus passengers and cyclists from ESU and those using nearby trails
• Provide additional evening illumination to increase public safety in an area highlighted by the local public as potentially unsafe
• Act as an anchor for additional landscaping in the Miller Park area
• Become a sister structure to the restored Rail Switch Tower and potential display space for additional rail associated items and artifacts
• Enhance the value of Downtown Eastburg
• Enhance the value of surrounding residential properties

 Future use of the building is envisioned as including (but not exclusive to):

• A small non-profit Railroad themed Café and Coffee House which houses a permanent display of historical items and railroad memorabilia and provides rent and surplus revenue for the station’s sustainability
• A Museum and Gallery Space housing historic art and artifacts relevant to local and railroad history
• A community meeting space where civic, social and non-profit organizations can meet
• A permanent office space for the ECA who owns the station and will administer its new purpose and provide rent support allocated from its operating budget for the stations ’s sustainability
• An informal public space under the preservation pavilions (canopies) for recreation including chess players, acoustic musicians, poetry readings, with wi fi access available for students and residents seeking a unique location to work and learn.
• A location available for rent for fundraisers and social events as well as community films and lectures
• An educational space for local schools and colleges as well as a resource for learning institutions from other communities to visit
• An information kiosk for visitors
• A working train station and hospitality area for Steam-town Excursions and Railroad- related events facilitated by the ECA

Widespread Positive Impacts:

This project will immediately serve Downtown East Stroudsburg and the County of Monroe. However, through the planning and community involvement stages of this project, it has become clear that this project will serve people from the far corners of the globe. The ECA has received letters of support from all over the nation and donations have come in from as far as Africa. Many members of the global community have voiced connections either personally or spiritually to this project. Since thousands passed through this station over the last century, be it for war, commerce or recreation, the East Stroudsburg Station has indirectly touched the lives of perhaps millions. Exponential connections through ancestry and heritage place this project beyond the reach of conventional geography or commercial zoning. Some community members saw their loved one’s leave from this station for war, not to return. Others may have had a last meal at the more recent depot with a loved one they have since lost. Residents, who have left this region for many other states in the nation, continue to express a connection to this station and its history. Many out of state residents communicated that they take annual visits to this region to visit this station. It’s clear this program will serve the immediate community and I am confident the effects of this project will undoubtedly reach beyond the borders of both state and country and its effects will last for generations

An investment in the Dansbury Depot Preservation Project is not only a Tribute to our Past it is an Investment in our Future…

"Historic preservation makes sense in large measure because historic preservation makes dollars and cents, but it also saves dollars and cents. Historic preservation is a rational and effective economic response to over consumption. To make a new brick today to build a building on a site where there is already a building standing steals from two generations. It steals from the generation that built the brick originally by throwing away their asset before its work is done, and it steals from a future generation by using increasingly scarce natural resources today that should have been saved for tomorrow”. Don Rykema, The Economics of Rehabilitation

Larger Benefits of Historic Preservation and adaptive re-use of the Dansbury Depot:      

- Historic Preservation is good public policy. Historic Preservation is a major driver of jobs, investment, tax revenue and businesses. Most importantly, it creates jobs that cannot be outsourced keeping talent and dollars local. The Dansbury Depot preservation project is employing local construction professionals and the completed museum and coffee shop will create at least half a dozen new jobs in our community.

-Historic Preservation is ‘green’. Sustainability, adaptive reuse and brown field redevelopment are key components to sustainability in an environmentally concerned community. What better way to ‘go green’ than to save what we already have built. It keeps waste out of landfills (about 30% of landfill waste is construction debris) and is a viable alternative to the cycle of demolition and new construction or the demolition of forests for new development. By working from the existing station structure and utilizing green building technologies we are serving not only the community, but also the planet.

- Rehabilitation and reuse of a major historic building is a proven catalyst for additional revitalization projects. Historic Preservation is a linchpin for further investment and downtown revitalization. Its catalyst effect is also likely to spread to nearby residential areas. When historic preservation or upgrading of a significant historic structure occurs owners of properties in adjacent neighborhoods near the historic renovation are more likely to rehabilitate their own buildings. Property owners of historic Victorian homes along Analomink Street have already expressed appreciation for the project and a desire to be a part of “Eastburg’s Renaissance”.

-Historic Preservation promotes Cultural Tourism, one of the fastest growing industries in the United States.  In the year 2010, a study from the Travel Industry Association of America and Smithsonian Magazine indicated that tourism generated 528.5 billion dollars in revenue for the United States, and that 81% of

American adult travelers were considered “historic/cultural travelers.” Cultural tourism is an industry that promotes the both exchange of culture as well as the improvement of the economy.  More and more Americans want to escape the monotony and homogeneity of the shopping mall and thus gravitate toward quaint historic districts and scenic landscapes that provide unique charm and character. With ECA’s administration of the Main Street Program, this cultural asset further strengthens our Downtown’s potential for tourist attraction and promotion.

-Historic Preservation makes positive contributions to education and Quality of life. Providing links to a community’s past and ties to larger social, demographic and economic trends offer invaluable learning resources for higher education institutions and primary schools alike. Site visits can be easily integrated into existing curriculum without additional ‘field trip costs’ added to our public school budgets. The ‘sense of place’ and originality sustained in preserving local heritage correlate with higher quality of life indicators. Additionally, the continuity and grounding that consistency in community character have positive social and psychological benefits.