Demo begins for W. Haven train station

West Haven demolition is beginning in order to build a Metro-North stop for the shoreline city. It's the first visible step in a process that's dragged on for almost a decade, but the transit project now seems to be rolling along.

Crews have begun demolition work on one of the biggest buildings on the land that's going to become the West Haven train station.

"At this point in the phase, we're doing all the recycling of all the materials, taking everything out of the building," Joseph Palmieri, Jr. said, of Connecticut Tank Removal. "Any hazardous waste, we're packaging it up and shipping it out so we can get ready for what would typically be known as just a big collapse of the building."

Connecticut Tank removal won the bid for this stage of the demolition, and now that it's begun, work should go quickly.

"Probably in the next couple of weeks we're going to start knocking them down," Palmieri said, "depending on when they clear them out and finish the bidding."

One by one the state is moving the people out of the properties associated with the train station, like getting the peole out of the nearby houses. Then, all those properties will be put out to bid for demolition as well.

Demolition is only the beginning, but it's enough to warm the hearts of people who fought for the station.

"I was on vacation for a couple of weeks," said Michael Mercuriano, President of the West Haven Train Station Committee. "When I got back here and saw what was going on I was very excited, very proud of everyone who contributed to this project."

It will still be at least two years before the state of the art transit hub and 1,000 parking spots are open along Saw Mill Road, but at least people can now see the project is on the right track.

The final price tag for the new station is estimated at $100 million. Right now, the 11 mile section between New Haven and Milford is the longest stretch of the New Haven line without a Metro-North station.