the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Fair Lawn NJ, the once-overgrown non descript landscape around Fair Lawn’s Broadway train station has been transformed into a vibrant, welcoming space with blooming flowers, lush shrubs, and eye-catching murals, as part of an ongoing effort to revitalize the Broadway business district. This beautification, led by Fair Lawn Main Street Inc. and supported by NJ Transit, marks a significant step in making Fair Lawn more inviting for both residents and visitors alike.
Local officials and NJ Transit representatives gathered last week to tour the newly enhanced area around the train station, located on Route 4 near the Elmwood Park border. The station, which provides one of the first impressions of Fair Lawn for those arriving by train, was long overdue for a refresh, said Ryan Greff, executive director of Fair Lawn Main Street Inc.
“The area surrounding the train station was in really rough shape before we got involved,” said Robert Godfrey, a trustee with Fair Lawn Main Street. “Years of overgrowth and litter created an unwelcoming first impression for those arriving by train into Fair Lawn.”
This transformation is just one element of Fair Lawn Main Street’s broader efforts to revitalize the Broadway district. A $43,500 grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority will fund additional conceptual designs by Arterial LLC, a streetscape design firm, to continue improving the area. The borough also secured a $275,000 federal Economic Recovery Corps grant to hire Tiolora Lumbantoruan as a full-time employee focused on Broadway’s redevelopment over the next 2.5 years. Lumbantoruan was instrumental in coordinating the recent train station upgrades.
With the support of NJ Transit’s Transit Arts Program, Fair Lawn Main Street commissioned two murals for the train station. Created by local artist Grace Mandy, these murals adorn each side of the station facing the intersection and bring a lively splash of color to the area. The $8,000 pieces were made possible through a partnership with NJ Transit’s Adopt-a-Station program, which supports local groups in maintaining and beautifying station areas.
What was once nicknamed “Jumanji” for its jungle-like overgrowth has been thoroughly transformed with flowers, grass, trees, and shrubs. Contractors completed the landscaping work over a two-month period, and the results have brought an entirely new feel to the station and surrounding area.
Greff expressed hope that the station will become a central attraction in Broadway’s revitalization, adding, “We want to make it the crown jewel of Broadway and the envy of all train stations for towns of this size and scale.”
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Wow look Jeanne Johnson you don’t need to spend a million dollars to spruce up the train station. Spend spend spend.
Just bond it. Sleepy Evan says its like free money.
It’s nice to see that towns are restoring and cleaning up their train stations, we would like to see Hohokus restore their train station. It’s beautiful old history.
Yeah, like Ridgewood look what they did with the windows when they spent 25 million a few years ago and they never replaced the windows. They just put plexi glass over them. We wonder who is in charge of that job what a screwup.
Yes, that was an embarrassing screwup with the windows at the train station. But what else is new from Village roll when embarrassment move after the next