Warrington and Mayor David Roberts also announced that they will bring back the landmark clock tower during the second phase of construction.

The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad originally built the terminal and its ferry slips in 1907. During the early part of the last century, ferry service was the primary form of transportation for people traveling to and from Manhattan.

With the construction of the George Washington Bridge and Lincoln and Holland tunnels, the use of ferries began to decline, and in 1967, the Hoboken Terminal slips were closed. In 1989, New York Waterway resumed ferry service between New Jersey and New York and used the neighboring Hoboken Terminal as a temporary ferry facility.

Originally, it was a bustling transportation focal point where 30,000 daily commuters hopped aboard ferries to Manhattan.

According to NJ Transit officials, in the first phase, the terminal's substructure and superstructure will be repaired. The rehabilitation will include the installation of new piles and pile caps, repairs to roof trusses, concrete and steel beams, and repairs to existing copper facades, the roof, walls and windows. The first phase is scheduled to end in spring 2005, according to Warrington.

"The rehabilitation of this historic facility, coupled with the restoration of the original ferry slips, are critical steps to improve trans-Hudson access," said Warrington at a press conference held at the Hoboken Terminal waiting room.

The $79 million ferry terminal renovation will restore ferry service to five of the original six slips, said NJ Transit officials. The federal government is providing $36 million and the Port Authority will contribute the rest.

Local, state and federal officials believe that renovating the ferry terminal is an important step in bolstering Hoboken's position as a regional transportation hub. Currently, according to NJ Transit, the Hoboken Terminal is served daily by more than 280 NJ Transit trains, 546 PATH trains, 394 Hudson-Bergen Light Rail trains and more than 300 NJ Transit buses, in addition to other private bus carriers serving Hudson County.

In April of 1995, the Hoboken City Council approved a resolution that encouraged NJ Transit to restore the landmark clock tower at the ferry building. The resolution was sponsored by then-councilman Roberts.

Some of Hoboken's older residents remember and often still remark about the clock tower that for the better part of 50 years was the predominate fixture of the Hoboken skyline. The tower, which stood 225 feet atop the Hoboken Ferry Terminal, was built in 1907 with the original building. It was dismantled in the early 1950s after the engineers deemed it unsafe to remain on the building.

As part of the second phase of renovations, a replica of the clock tower will be built on the terminal and will be based on copies from the original 1907 Kenneth Murchinson plan.

"I'm excited that NJ Transit has made this commitment to restore Hoboken's historic ferry terminal," said Roberts Wednesday. "I'm especially gratified that the clock tower, which served as a historic landmark for more than 50 years, will be built as part of this project."

The mayor added that the city is making an effort bring back symbols of Hoboken's past. "We are trying to recapture as much of Hoboken's history and uncover as many lost gems as possible," said Roberts. Within the past year, plans have been announced to restore a portion of Elysian Fields, where the first baseball game was played, and to dig out Sybil's Cave, a long abandoned waterfront cave that was once a popular picnic location.