Waterbury Union Station | |
 Tower and east elevation, 2011 | |
| Location | Waterbury,Connecticut |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°33′18″N73°2′49″W / 41.55500°N 73.04694°W /41.55500; -73.04694 |
| Area | 2.4 acres (0.97 ha)[1] |
| Built | 1909 |
| Architect | McKim, Mead & White[1] |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals |
| NRHP reference No. | 78002881 |
| Added to NRHP | March 8, 1978[2][3] |
TheWaterbury Union Station building is located on Meadow Street in the city ofWaterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a brick building dating to the first decade of the 20th century. Its tallclock tower, built by theSeth Thomas Company, is the city's most prominent landmark.
Designed by the New York City architectural firm ofMcKim, Mead and White for theNew York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, it handled 66 passenger trains a day at its peak. Later in the 20th century, when the city's rail service had declined to its current level of one commuter route, the building's interior was closed. Today it is in use again as the offices of theRepublican-American, Waterbury's daily newspaper.
Thestation building is located just west ofdowntown Waterbury, where Meadow and Grand streets intersect. To its north and south are other industrial buildings; southwest is thecurrent platform station used byMetro-North and its parking facilities. On the west are 12 tracks, most of which are rarely used; beyond them are industrial buildings, theNaugatuck River and theConnecticut Route 8 freeway. A short distance down Meadow Street are the on-ramps to theInterstate 84viaduct carrying it over the river, tracks and Route 8.
There are four sections to the building, counting the clock tower. The two-story main block has a lowhip roof with the clock tower rising from the southeast corner. Two wings with a tiled hip roof project from either side of the main block. All are of brick laid incommon bond on agranitefoundation; at the roofline is a rollmolding ofterra cotta.[1]
On the east (front)facade of the main block are three two-story round-arched window openings, filled in near the top where a new floor was later added. They are outlined in terra cotta in a stylized vine pattern, bordered by pearl,egg-and-dart andanthemion molding. Spacing them are four round medallions made of two rings of raised radial brick and a raised ring offasces molding. Above is acourse of terra cotta round-archedcorbel table topped by egg-and-dart, afrieze withcherubs and projecting leaf molding. The level above has a series of small rectangular windows, three above each arch and one above each medallion. At the roofline is a cornice similar to the one below but more intricate, with carved modillions, afluted frieze and wide carvedcyma molding. The west facade is similar, although smaller windows and awnings have been added.[1]
The lower two stages of the square tower have one narrow opening and the same cornices as the rest of the main block. Above its roofline the tower is plain for most of its 240-foot (73 m) height, except for some rows of small openings. Thestation clock faces on each side, marked inRoman numerals, are three-quarters of the way to the top. They and the clock hands are in castaluminum. Above long tapered corbels support abalcony withheraldric shields on its stone rail.Gargoyles project from each corner. The last stage, thebelfry, has tall round-arched windows, another set of gargoyles and a tiled hip roof.[1]
Both wings are similar. They are narrower than the main building, with east and west facades decorated with anarcade of seven rounded arches. Each is slightly recessed, with a rectangular window. On the north wing's east facade, windows have been added to the previously blind arch portion to provide illumination for the second story. A simpler version of the main block cornice, with dentils and cyma molding at the arches' springline, give acapital-like appearance to the piers between the arches.[1]
A printing press was added to the north wing to support the newspaper. It is small and architecturally sympathetic, lessening the impact of its disruption of the building's overall symmetry. On the west of the south wing is agabled remnant of the original platform shelter, supported by irontrusses on center posts and cables from the building. A shed roof on large ironbrackets at the south end, formerly the baggage handling area, is now a default waiting area for Metro-North passengers in inclement weather.[1]
Inside, theRepublican-American hasmade changes to accommodate its purposes. Most prominently, the main block and north wing have had a second story added. In the offices on the new second floor some of the originalvaulted ceiling, with large light-coloredGuastavino tile in aherringbone pattern. These tiles are the same used at theBoston Public Library,Ellis Island,Grant's Tomb, theBiltmore Estate and other architecturally significant buildings. The window surrounds have similarly lavish decorations as the exterior, with two bands of terra cotta separated by dentils done in leaves and pearl molding. Thebuff brick walls likewise has a dentilledcornice with an engagedbaluster-and-ring turning and a widecyma molding done in a stylized floral pattern.[1]
The south wing's interior, originally a restaurant, remained in use as a waiting room. Inside it has some original decor suggesting that purpose. They include brass ticket windows, a longMission style wooden bench, iron radiator grill and marblebaseboards and sills. Its vaulted ceiling and walls are done in plaster.[1]
In the early years of the 20th century, the city of Waterbury, then prosperous and growing, began working with theNew Haven and other railroads serving it on anurban renewal program to clear the way for a newer, larger station they all needed. Streets were straightened and buildings demolished in the neighborhood to the east. A small park replaced some of them.[1] All grade crossings in the city were eliminated as part of the project.[4]
McKim, Mead & White's design, extravagant in size anddecoration, was meant to symbolize the city's prosperity and the railroads' importance to it. As many as 66 passenger trains served Waterbury at the peak of its traffic. The firm's design is different from its typically academic style in its efforts to unite the interior and exterior through similar materials and decorative themes, as well as thevaulted ceiling echoing the arches of the windows. The light reflecting off the warm interior colors through the large arched windows of the main facade made the building particularly welcoming at night.[1]
A year after construction began, the president of one of the railroads asked for a clock tower, given Waterbury's proximity to theSeth Thomas plant. McKim obliged with one based on the 14th-centuryTorre del Mangia inSiena, Italy. Architectural historian Carroll Meeks, inThe Railroad Station: An Architectural History, believes that model was chosen as a deliberate rebuke to architectural amateurs such as the rail executive. The clock tower dominated the city's skyline then[1] and continues to do so today,[5] when most travelers arrive in the city viainterstate highway instead of the train.
In summer 1909, the completed station was opened. As intended, it catalyzed development in the neighborhood. A few years later, theAmerican Brass Company, representing another industry identified with the city and region, built new headquarters across Meadow Street from the station. Its architecture closely harmonized in size and material with the station.[1]
The station continued to be used for intercity rail service to the city. The New Haven'sNutmeg and several unnamed trains operated east to Hartford and Boston until 1955.[6] The company also operated trains northeast from New York City, through Waterbury, to New Britain and Hartford.[7] TheNaugatuck and other NH trains went north to Winsted and south towardNew York City.[8] Service declined and then stopped in the later decades of the 20th century. The last commercial service out the station was by thePenn Central railroad company.
In the 1970s one of the two newspapers that later became theRepublican-American moved into the building, modifying it on the inside and out for that purpose.[1]Republican-American Publisher William J. Pape purchased the building because of its status as a local landmark.[9] At that time the south wing was still being used byMetro-Northcommuter rail passengers as a waiting area; since then that portion of the interior has been closed off and a new platform built.[citation needed] In 1973, Pape assigned company machinist John A. Correia to restore the original mechanisms of the station clock tower, which had been replaced by an electrical tower clock in 1963. The original mechanism is still functioning, on display in the lobby of the station.[10]
As of 2024[update], the state plans to add a waiting room for Waterbury Branch passengers in the building, with construction to take place from 2025 to 2027.[11]
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