PATCO eyes final designs for Franklin Square stop

The reopened Franklin Square subway stop may feature a street-level station building in Franklin Square, PATCO officials said yesterday as they gave photographers and reporters a peek at the long-dormant "ghost station."

A 2,000-square-foot headhouse building, with a waiting area, ticket machines and electronic turnstiles, would be the more expensive of the designs under consideration, PATCO general manager Robert Box said. A cheaper alternative would call for reopening the stairwell on the northeast corner of Seventh and Race Streets and adding an elevator.

Box said final designs should be ready in six months, with the station ready for use by late 2010 or early 2011.

The 73-year-old subway station, with a green-and-white tile motif and a gaudy orange lobby area, was last used in 1979.

Development around Franklin Square and the rebirth of the once-seedy park have convinced PATCO officials that the station will have what it lacked in the past: passengers.

Box said he expected that the reopened station would initially attract about 500 additional daily riders to the PATCO line.

The National Constitution Center, the boom in Northern Liberties, and redevelopment of Metropolitan Hospital as the MetroClub condominiums have brought renewed bustle to a square isolated by busy streets and Benjamin Franklin Bridge ramps.

"In addition to ridership, it's being done to help economic development, too," Box said.

There are no official cost estimates for the remodeling of the old subway stop, but last year, chief executive John Matheussen estimated that it would cost at least $5 million to $10 million to install elevators and update the interior.

This will be at least the fifth opening for Franklin Square Station.

It debuted in 1936 as the first Philadelphia stop on the Camden-Philadelphia rail line owned by the Delaware River Joint Commission and operated by the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co.

The station soon closed because it got little use. Increased activity on the riverfront during World War II prompted its reopening.

Closed again after the war, the station was reactivated in 1953 when the line was extended from Eighth and Market Streets to 15th and Locust Streets. It was soon closed again for lack of use. PATCO took over the line in 1969.

In 1976, when Philadelphia was a center of the Bicentennial celebration, PATCO spent $1.1 million to renovate and reopen Franklin Square Station. It closed again in 1979.

The station now serves as an occasional storage site for construction crews working in the PATCO tunnel. It has electrical power to operate the dim emergency lights that remain and to provide air-compressor power for rail switches.

In the dim light, old signs remain visible, in French, Spanish and English, telling riders "How To Go PATCO" and listing 1970s-era fares (75 cents to Lindenwold, 35 cents to Center City and Camden stations).

The remodeled interior probably will keep the 1930s tilework, reminiscent of the Broad Street subway stations, but lose the 1970s orange makeover in the concourse, Box said. It's likely that the retooled concourse will be similar to remodelings set to begin soon at the other four Philadelphia PATCO stations and the two Camden PATCO stations.

One unanswered question: whether to reopen a station entrance on the southeast corner of Race Street, to provide access without requiring pedestrians to cross Race Street to the park.

A boarded-up tunnel to an old Race Street entrance still exists, but Box said PATCO officials are concerned about security if they reopen the tunnel.

The addition of the Franklin Square stop will make commuters' train rides longer by 45 seconds to a minute, Box said.