SEPTA celebrates completion of North Wales Station renovations

Siemens rüstet das zukünftig größte Express- und Logistikzentrum Asienes mit Sortiertechnik aus Earlier this month, SEPTA in the Philadelphia area joined local officials and community members, for a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the completion of renovation work at the North Wales Station.

The celebration was the
latest in a series – with plenty more to come – resulting from SEPTA’s emphasis
in recent years on renewing its aging system. A major component of this is
aimed at improving customer service through a variety of improvements to
stations, while also upgrading and replacing infrastructure, such as rail and
overhead wires.

Renovating the North Wales
Station, which serves nearly 1,600 Lansdale/Doylestown Regional Rail Line
customers a day, presented SEPTA with significant challenges, but also a unique
opportunity: Fully modernize a transit hub without disturbing its status as a
local historical landmark. The result was a two-phase, $6.8-million project
that brought the station well into the 21st century while preserving its Civil
War-era roots.

Riders are now enjoying
first-class amenities such as heated shelters, new high-level platforms,
parking lot improvements and landscaping upgrades. The facility also now fully
meets accessibility requirements as set forth under the Americans with
Disabilities Act.

But one of the most popular
pieces of this project may come from work that hasn’t been done: Painting the
building’s eye-catching brick facade. That was not the initial plan, but SEPTA
changed course – thanks to passionate pleas to keep the building’s unique
character in tact.

Due to stipulations of
federal funding that helped pay for the project, SEPTA was required to follow
laws designed to preserve the historical character of buildings like the North
Wales Station. Officials determined the building should be painted in a cream
color to restore it to its look in the early 1900s, when it was part of the
Reading Railroad. The tasks required to make this happen, however, led to a
pleasant surprise – and a call for a change.

As workers wiped away
decades of dirt and old peeling paint to get the building ready for a fresh
coat, they wound up revealing the natural beauty of the brick exterior, which
some historical experts believe represents how the station looked in its first
days of service in the 1800s. Feedback from customers and the community was
positive and strong: Leave the brick unpainted. SEPTA took notice, and
responded by renewing discussions about the project with state and federal
officials – with the goal of keeping the brick exposed. SEPTA will continue to
work with all parties involved to try to reach this outcome.