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Jersey City East Side Walking Tour
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The brick building at 60-84 Bay Street was built from 1906 to1908 as the coal and steam-powered powerhouse for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad. It energized the first subway line joining New Jersey and New York. Plans to demolish the abandoned building in 1999 inspired the newly-formed Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy to fight for its preservation. The Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse was entered into the National Register in 2001. The abandoned building was stabilized in 2010 while an adaptive reuse could be planned, and while disagreements over who would pay to remove the building's electrical transformers could be ironed out. The remaining three of four original, iconic brick and steel smokestacks could not be saved after many years of roof deterioration and were removed in 2013.

East facade of Hudson & Manhattan [H&M] Powerhouse in 1999 photo for NRHP (Leon Yost)

Car, Land vehicle, Tire, Vehicle

West & S sides of Powerhouse in 1999 photo; PATH transformers to W (left) of Powerhouse (Yost)

Cloud, Sky, Building, Black

Detail of top of coal tower on Powerhouse, east side (Yost 1999)

Building, Brick, Grey, Tower

Section sketch of coal system in powerhouse from March 5th 1910 Electric Railway Journal (Gomez 1999)

Slope, Parallel, Font, Engineering

Coal bunkers in boiler room, looking straight up in 1999 (Yost)

Black-and-white, Monochrome, Monochrome photography, Rectangle

Interior view of generator room, looking west in 1999 (John Bartelstone)

Black-and-white, Wood, Style, Symmetry

The powerhouse for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (the "Hudson Tunnels" subway line that is now the Port Authority Trans-Husdon [PATH] train) supplied power to the systems tunnel lines, trolleys, stations and terminals on both sides of the Hudson River. The ten-story massive building held 46,000 square feet, with a footprint of about 200 by 200 feet. Five-story tall windows in the dark red brick walls were framed with steel. Designed by John Oakman, the Romanesque Revival style structure's brick walls are 28 inches thick. The concrete foundation pillars were set on bedrock 35 to 45 feet below tidewater level and took 7,800 cubic yards of concrete. The engineering firm of L.B. Stilwell designed the electrical generators and other machinery plus the structural steel work. One innovation was the placement of the coal bins near the roof, supplied by conveyor belts leading from the entrance where train cars would offload the coal. Human hands didn't need to shovel the coal, which was fed into the furnaces automatically via gravity. Turbo-generator turbines used water from the Hudson River. The building used 4,000 tons of steel to build; together with its machinery, the powerhouse cost a total of $4 million. On opening day, February 25th 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt sent a signal from the White House to energize the powerhouse.

The powerhouse was closed in 1929 for unknown reasons; the subway line was electrified by power purchased from outside sources and sent to the system's sub-stations. Hudson & Manhattan Railroad used the building for storage of railroad equipment; the company went bankrupt in 1962. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey assumed responsibility for the train system, but the former powerhouse fell into disrepair and was heading toward being demolished. The Hudson & Manhattan Powerhouse was named in 2000 to the list of the ten most endangered historic properties in New Jersey by Preservation New Jersey.

The building's preservation is part of the Master Plan for Jersey City. The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) and the Port Authority stabilized the building, which had been left open to the elements and was deteriorating. The debris-filled interior needed to be cleared so that a condition assessment could be done, and to remove hazardous and structurally unstable architectural parts. The tall windows have been boarded up to protect the building; the bright yellow covering is easy to see on a clear day, even from the Manhattan side of the river. A new temporary roof was installed and plans for repair of brick and terra cotta tile trim were made.

It is hoped that the former powerhouse can be rehabilitated to become a local arts center/ destination entertainment center for the "Powerhouse Arts District" which surrounds it. Plans were announced in 2014 for a $179 million retail and commercial complex within the powerhouse, and a 40-story residential tower. Cordish Companies of Baltimore has yet to begin the renovation, but have completed a similar project for a former power plant on the Baltimore waterfront. Disputes over unpaid taxes stalled the project for a number of years; Jersey City Redevelopment Agency announced plans to acquire the building from the Port Authority in 2018 and use the $1.3 million in funds already paid to the city for its renovation by the Port Authority. An electrical substation behind the powerhouse needs to be relocated first, to a vacant lot nearby, on the opposite side of the light rail tracks; most of the new substation will be underground, with the Port Authority controlling the development rights above.

The rapidly developing neighborhood is slated to contain green space, performance areas, and pedestrian-friendly attractions. One other historic building in the district has been renovated already - the former Great Atlantic & Pacific Warehouse (also a Clio entry); new residential high-rise buildings have sprung up in recent years, including a Trump property next door.

Fry, Chris. What's the Deal with the Powerhouse? Revitalization Plans Putter Along, Jersey Digs. April 18th 2016. Accessed March 6th 2021. https://jerseydigs.com/whats-deal-powerhouse-revitalization-plans-putter-along/.

Fry, Chris. Jersey City Set to Officially Acquire Powerhouse from Port Authority, Jersey Digs. November 9th 2018. Accessed March 6th 2021. https://jerseydigs.com/jersey-city-to-buy-powerhouse-from-port-authority/.

Gomez, John K. NRHP nomination of the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1999.

Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, Causes. Accessed February 28th 2021. https://jclandmarks.org/project/powerhouse/.

McDonald, Terrence T. Historic Jersey City Smokestacks to be Removed, NJ.com. March 26th 2013, updated January 27th 2019. Accessed March 6th 2021. https://www.nj.com/hudson/2013/03/historic_jersey_city_smokestac.html.

Preservation New Jersey. Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, Listings. January 1st 2021. Accessed February 28th 2021. https://www.preservationnj.org/listings/hudson-and-manhattan-railroad-powerhouse/.

Strunsky, Steve. Jersey City's Washington Street Powerhouse may become New Retail, Entertainment Space, NJ.com. September 30th 2011, updated March 31st 2019. Accessed March 6th 2021. https://www.nj.com/news/2011/09/jersey_citys_washington_street.html.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001256

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001256

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001256

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001256

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/01001256