Build it and they will come.

Some say that’s the bottom line insofar as a proposed railroad platform to allow visitors and tourists to safely disembark passenger trains eyed for downtown Tamaqua.

Business owners Larry Padora, a baker, and John Ross, a restaurateur, told borough council members recently that the platform, expected to run about $15,000 to $20,000, would be partly funded by the railroad and would pay dividends to the community for years to come.

In a sense, it should be a no-brainer for Tamaqua to want to provide a sturdy, comfortable, secure “landing zone” for hundreds or even thousands drawn to town to try a “Taste of Tamaqua,” eastern Schuylkill County’s commercial and cultural hub.

In fact, it was exactly 20 years ago when the first phase of hospitality at the train station took shape, coinciding with the building’s restoration.

In July 1999, the borough accepted a $7,200 donation from the Tamaqua Area 2004 Partnership, then matched it with $3,500 to build a concrete walkway to lead visitors safely across railroad tracks at the front of a soon-to-be restored 1874 train station, with its restaurant and shops. That project, 20 years later recognized as successful and vital, included a culvert for drainage and stone chips to level and stabilize the surface. It was completed in time for the ninth annual Tamaqua Summerfest and has been providing safe passage via foot between the east and west parts of town ever since.

But alighting from a train is a different story. In Tamaqua, there is a significant step down for train passengers when they leave the coaches. Complicating matters is another very high step to reach the depot concourse, in many cases, much too high for small youngsters and the elderly.

Now is the time to rectify the problem.

According to Padora, owner of Padora’s Italian Bakery, the Reading, Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad is looking to expand passenger service and historic Tamaqua, with the addition of a safety platform, would be a perfect fit.

“It would benefit all of the businesses,” he says.

And maybe more.

Very possibly, the platform could be a catalyst for heritage tourism, and if that were to happen, it would capitalize on recent improvements.

Tamaqua already invested several million on Victorian streetscape projects, bridge and infrastructure improvements, depot and restaurant, facade renewals, expanded and redesigned museums and an energetic community arts center. Along the way, the community earned what amounts to icing on the cake — the Tamaqua National Historic District designation by the National Park Service.

And all of these attractions and points of interest are within convenient walking distance of the proposed platform.

If the platform opened the town to passenger service, it could ignite a powder keg of possibilities by introducing guests to treats both culinary and cultural.

Visitors would dine at the ambience-rich Tamaqua Train Station Restaurant and, just steps away, the wildly popular La Dolce Casa or The Hunan House, where Tamaqua is one of very few communities to feature an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in the heart of downtown.

In the same area are the Tamaqua Historical Society Museum, 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop and the unique Stoker’s Brewing Company, to name a few of countless attractions.

With just a bit of strategy there would be opportunity to offer not only dining, but museum tours, dinner theater and walking tours provided by period-costumed guides.

Interpretive stories could be relayed regarding the 1832 Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad, the first to use a steam engine to haul coal, or the saga of the Molly Maguires with reputed leader Jack Kehoe buried on the hillside overlooking town.

There’d surely be interest in learning more about how Thomas Edison helped design Tamaqua’s incandescent municipal lighting network, among the nation’s first, and creation of the nation’s first fish hatchery in adjacent Owl Creek.

Shuttles could take visitors to a reinvigorated Odd Fellows Cemetery to hear its history-rich American tales.

Spinoff energy might even spark investment in repurposing a few large, unused structures on West Broad Street, such as the former St. Jerome’s School building, church and rectory.

These innovations might seem like pie-in-the-sky ideas right now. But there’s no telling what kind of leaps and bounds can be achieved by taking baby steps.

In this case, baby steps would be something as simple as providing a comfortable deck to step on when arriving in town by train.

Tamaqua needs a passenger platform.

Time to build one.

By Donald R. Serfass | dserfass@tnonline.com