The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
BACK ON TRACK Trolley planned for Elmwood Park Zoo-downtown route
NORRISTOWN»You love spending the day at Elmwood Park Zoo, but wouldn’t it be nice to take a break from the animals to head into town for a bite to eat, or take in one of those acclaimed productions at the Centre Theater, without the hassle of parking in Norristown?
The zoo has a vision that will make your wish as simple and nostalgia-filled as hopping a streetcar straight to your desire.
When a proposed trolley begins clang-clang-clanging down the comeback trail in the not too distant future the zoo will be reviving a lost Norristown tradition while generously sharing the fruits of its own success by offering easy transportation for its visitors into downtown Norristown.
“Our goal is to attract more people to Norristown. I think we’re already the premier destination in Norristown, and this would bring even more people to town and give people the option of going into the heart of Norristown on the trolley to help drive the economy there as well,” explained Al Zone, the zoo’s executive director. “This is about creating a destination, giving our visitors an opportunity to do more than one thing to fill a day. Maybe visit the zoo during the day and take in a show at a theater in Norristown at night.
“What’s also nice is that parking in Norristown has also been such a concern, but now they’ll be parking at the zoo in a parking lot they feel is safe.”
With the trolley in its earliest planning stages, the zoo is also working on ways to upgrade its parking, noted Stan Huskey, public affairs director for the zoo.
“We have parking that’s taking place all over the place right now,” he said. “We have 358 parking spots in our lot, but when the
zoo is really busy, mothers with strollers will park on Harding Boulevard, where there are no sidewalks, and push the strollers up Harding to get to the zoo.” Zone nodded. “Parking is an issue not only for the zoo’s growth but for the community because of how many visitors we’re drawing, and making sure they’re not inconvenienced by our guests,” Zone pointed out.
The trolley will operate on a reactivated track to be converted from a CSX freight line to a passenger line, noted Zone, who touted the impending arrival of Crazy Aaron’s Puttyworld in the old Gretz Beer building come spring as a huge benefit for trolley riders in search of added attractions.
“Aaron’s is going to be an awesome bookend to this operation, and the railroad track runs literally up to the back of his property,” Zone said. “We have a new partner coming to town and this is a perfect way to start thinking about how we can partner a little further.”
Crazy Aaron’s Puttyworld, makers of Thinking Putty, had considered places like King of Prussia and Audubon, but ultimately chose to purchase the property at 700 E. Main St. in Norristown for its relocation from Phoenixville.
President and founder Aaron Muderick said he was enamored of the town’s history and blossoming economy, but most of all he liked the fact that it shares his community-oriented values and is conducive to walking everywhere.
“It’s the fact that we were able to find something on Main Street that people can be part of, and I contrast that with an industrial park, where you could be two miles from the road and nobody knows you’re there,” Muderick said. “It’s not walkable; your employees can’t walk there, members of the public can’t walk there.
“Part of being in a community in Norristown is having enough space for our operation and being close enough to have that interaction. We found that here in Norristown. The demand for our product has been extremely strong. We were unable to expand at our current location in Phoenixville so we’re ready for some pretty significant expansion in terms of the amount of product we can put out every day to satisfy the current demand.”
Aaron’s is one of many businesses in Norristown that stand to benefit from the trolley, Zone said.
“It forms a bridge with a lot of restaurant partners and businesses. We have traced the track all the way down and there are some pretty awesome places that are currently vacant that, as this develops, will be very attractive as we continue to grow to move our 700,000-plus visitors past some of these potential locations, for new restaurants, new businesses who take advantage of what the zoo has been able to do in drumming up an awesome experience and bringing people to town,” Zone noted. “This is an economic engine for not only the businesses that are already in Norristown, but now you can convince other businesses to take a hard look at Norristown: ‘Oh, they’re running 500 people a day past this spot on Lafayette Street. I think I might put a restaurant in there.’ We truly feel that we are creating a destination in Norristown with the zoo and it’s been heavily supported by our commissioners and council people. They’re blown away by what the zoo has done, so let’s take advantage of that. In four years, we took Elmwood Zoo from the sixth most populated zoo in the state at 114,000 visitors a year, to the second most populated zoo in the state at 650,000.”
Along with the trolley are plans to breathe new life into a large portion of land “across the creek” belonging to Norristown Farm Park.
The land houses the historical but now significantly dilapidated Castner House, once occupied by a renowned shoe maker. Once renovated, the house will serve as a Colonial museum, Huskey said.
“Norristown was around long before it was incorporated and there are very few Colonial homes left in Norristown,” he said. “We have a business plan in place, so we’re not asking for any money to do all this. We’re excited about the Castner house and a conservatory that we’re proposing to give life again to another historical piece of the town that isn’t being used, and trying to give a free exhibit to the public. People ask me all the time, ‘Whose land is that across the creek?’ So it’s about time we do it. The rail can certainly do without this but it’s a nice added amenity. We’re planning on moving across the creek and developing exhibits on that side, working with the county with the proposed trail they want to put in and this a perfect trolley stop to move our guests from the zoo.”
Like many American towns, Norristown has a glorious history of trolley transportation.
“There used to be a trolley that went from the old P&W (Philadelphia and Western Railroad) station that curved around and up DeKalb Street so all the judges and attorneys could go home for lunch and come back to the courthouse,” Huskey said. “So there is a history of trolleys in Norristown. We want to bring a little of that history back.”