Smithtown, NY - July 10, 2015 - The Long Island Rail Road’s newly renovated Smithtown Station building will open to the public on Monday, July 13, the latest construction project completed under the LIRR’s State of Good Repair program to modernize station facilities around the system.
Crews from the Building and Bridges Division of the LIRR’s Engineering Department have been gutting station interiors and upgrading waiting rooms and restrooms to ensure a more pleasant experience for customers. Perhaps, B&B’s most talked about achievement was the rehabilitation of the LIRR’s Belmont Station in time for the most recent Belmont Stakes. But at the same time, B&B workers have been quietly upgrading infrastructure at many stations.
“Belmont was a big one,” said LIRR President Patrick A. Nowakowski said: “Having dedicated staffers who are skilled masons, carpenters, plumbers and electricians enables the Railroad to handle many small and mid-size renovations projects faster and less expensively than it would if we went with outside contractors. Our B&B crews take pride in their work and are brightening up the system all the time.”
Late last month, two rehabilitated restrooms were open at Ronkonkoma Station with all new fixtures and tile work. Other station projects completed over the last year include platform rehabilitation and restroom renovations at Great Neck Station, new restrooms at Babylon, Lynbrook and Long Beach and platform improvements at Sayville and Murray Hill. Floral Park has new staircases and Little Neck Station a newly refurbished pedestrian overpass. At Oakdale Station, the brick façade renovations are B&B’s handiwork.
At Smithtown Station, located at Redwood Avenue and Scott Lane, work began earlier this year with the interior demolition of a station structure that dates to 1937. The new floor plan called for the elimination of the old ticket office to make way for the construction of two full size restrooms. The new flooring features radiant heat and the waiting room has been finished off with oak wainscoting, crown molding, oversized casing and oversized base as well as all new doors and windows. The exterior siding in the front of the building was replaced and a damaged mural on the north side restored. A sequence of photographs showing the progress of the renovation work at Smithtown Station can be found here.
