Page 509 - Demo

*# V v &NO i#ranary DayiISi',****'v%u201ci i B i a i L Central Brooklyn Congressional RacPERIODICAL ROOM%u25a0Qgfa (1 MBSMontgomery And Jefferson Are At 1Incumbents Make Last Ditch Plea To Run In Democratic PrimaryHeights/Gardens Candidates Back On Ballot At The Primary WireTH%u20ac PHO%u20acfllXyMontague%u2019s LitterGets Golden TouchBorough President Golden ToursStreet With Sanit Chief, Page 3New Bickering5. Brooklyn School Board ArguesOver Personnel, Page 3Strikers From Brooklyn UnionMarch O ver Bridge, Page 3PHfffiMXReporter Liz Koch Spends TheDay At lamaica Bay, Page t lA Street SmartShakespeare HereReview Of The ProductionPage 28Eastern Parkway sparkled with celebrants of the annual W est Indian Day parade. For more pictures, see page 5.(Phoenix/Kirk Photo)Trolley Musuem Gets A Green LightBY LIZ KOCHThe abandoned railroad tunnel beneath AtlanticAvenue is still only a hole in the ground andnothing else, but plans to convert the former LongIsland Railroad tunnel into a subterranean railroadmuseum received the unanimous approval of the City Planning Commission on August 28.The Planning Commission approved an application for the Brooklyn Historic Railroad Association(BHRA) to obtain a franchise to operate themuseum. The Atlantic Avenue Local DevelopmentCorporation will serve as a partner in the franchiseand will maintain financial oversight of the project,while BHRA will act as the developer. A letter ofagreement between the two groups is expected to besigned on September 9.Robert Diamond, who re-discovered the tunnelseven years ago and hatched the plan to create amuseum beneath busy Atlantic Avenue says he ismore optimistic about the project now than everbefore. The Board of Estimate is expected to voteu u ilie ju o iicliia c in S c p ic u iu c i, a n u n u in i%u2019u c ie o n ,Diamond says paperwork and financing are on theagenda, with plans for groundbreaking tentativelytargeted for the end of 1987.%u201cMy confidence has never been higher that thetracks laid for the success o f the project are inplace,%u201d Diamond says.President of the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation Shirely Joe Payne said the groupis looking forward to having the tunnel opened onAtlantic Avenue. %u201c It%u2019s a very ambitious project andwe believe it will be something like the 10th wonderof the world,%u201d he says. The group will be in chargeof funneling the funding that comes into the project.The reconstruction of the tunnel, which had beenshut down in 1861, will be conducted in two phasesand the final product will combine history withmodern-day convenience. Diamond envisions the2,517 foot brick and stone tunnel which runsbeneath Atlantic Avenue from Court Street to HicksStreet as a railroad museum that will include a newly laid track for Diamond%u2019s German built 1897trolley car. In addition an array o f exhibits will beoffered describing American railroad history and inpcuiituuu iai; lmiAiiiouic uf uit, LOug lalcuiuRailroad in the development of Brooklyn. A u'plicaof the original trolley that traveled the tunnel willContinued on Pu^e 36