The work covered under this project will allow the station to become fully functional and in-line with the existing PATCO stations. Pictured here is an aerial perspective, looking northeast. (PATCO rendering)
The construction to reopen a long-shuttered train station in Philadelphia’s Center City has progressed well since its start in the summer of 2021.
When completed next spring, the area’s Port Authority Transit Corp., PATCO, will operate the Franklin Square Station. It has been closed and abandoned for more than 40 years, reported WHYY Public Radio.
The rapid transit route, or Speedline, runs underground in Philadelphia, crosses the Delaware River on the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and continues back underground in Camden, N.J., before traveling above ground to the east end of the line in Lindenwold.
In 2022, crews relocated a water line beneath Franklin Square Park, which sits across Race Street between 6th and 7th streets, near the Ben Franklin Bridge. The water line, which dated back to the 1930s, was replaced at that site by a new escalator.
Michael Venuto, chief engineer with the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), which operates PATCO, said that the new station will feature new elevators, a bike rack area and fare gate.
The project’s contractors also renovated the station’s outdated concourse, which needed modern mechanical, electrical and structural upgrades before it could reopen.
The underground concourse’s classic white and green tile work, however, will remain. In fact, the two agencies are making an extra effort to restore and maintain the iconic tile and decor, while adding in all of today’s more modern conveniences.
Above ground, a “headhouse” station building used in the 1970s is being replaced with a new one. It will include the station’s elevators to carry riders to the underground concourse level. In addition, the new stairways lead to and from the modern, glass enclosed structure.
DRPA CEO John Hanson said the $30 million project will help people save money while providing better access to Independence Mall, only one block away, and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“The importance of public transportation cannot be understated in today’s environment, particularly with gas prices and the fact that they’re set by a small number of producers,” he told WHYY last year. “If you can’t influence gas prices, the best thing you can do is build alternatives. And that’s what we’re doing here.”
The multi-million-dollar PATCO Franklin Square Station project is located in the beautiful Center City park which features, among other amenities, a 200-year-old fountain, merry-go-round and miniature golf course.
The location of Franklin Square Park and its soon-to-be-finished train station puts it in the heart of Philadelphia’s Historic District, only walking distance from Independence Hall, The National Constitution Center, the Liberty Bell and other popular destinations. Additionally, Philly’s Old City and Chinatown neighborhoods are nearby, offering a variety of restaurants, bars, retail and other interesting things to do and see.
PATCO Officials Hope New Station to Remain Viable
Both the park and the station have a long — and often tortuous — history, noted 42Freeway.com, a local online commercial news site.
The underground concourse of the Franklin Square Station was last used in the 1970s to support visitors coming to Philadelphia for the city’s bicentennial festivities.
But following that 1976 reopening, it closed again just three years later due to low ridership at the station.
In fact, the underground transit station has never really enjoyed a “good run” over the last nine decades and has only ever been open for more than a few years at a time. Efforts to operate a viable train stop there in the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, as well as in 1976, did not keep the station flourishing. In each decade, the depot closed after just a few years.
Forty-five years later, though, circumstances have changed in Philadelphia with previously abandoned neighborhoods now thriving, including Franklin Square Park and the Center City blocks surrounding it, according to 42Freeway.com.
Philadelphia has seen significant residential development take place, as well as new bars and restaurants springing up in the area, and several historic places to visit.
The newfound success of the Franklin Square Park area did not go unnoticed by officials from both DRPA and PATCO, who decided in recent years the time was right to invest in reopening the commuter train station.
Franklin Square Park Also Faced Challenges
Franklin Square is one of the five original open space parks which were planned by William Penn when he first laid out the design for Philadelphia back in 1682.
But just like the challenges faced by the Franklin Square train station over the decades, the park also encountered numerous problems prior to 2006, lasting 80 years.
Following the development of the Ben Franklin Bridge in the 1920s, the Great Depression in the 1930s ushered in many long years of neglect and abandonment of the park.
The development of the nearby Vine Street Expressway in the 1980s also helped lead to the decline of Franklin Square as it became a site for the homeless and illegal activities.
Even the park’s historic fountain, first built in 1838, was turned off and forgotten.
Things began to turn around in 2003 when Historic Philadelphia Inc., which successfully managed the Betsy Ross House, spent three years refurbishing the park in a $5.5 million project funded primarily by a grant from the state of Pennsylvania.
The group restored the fountain in 2006, cleaned up the park, and over the years added more features to make Franklin Square a true destination spot in the City of Brotherly Love.
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