Hello Everyone:
The annual June gloom has arrived on schedule. Speaking of on schedule, the president's state visit to the United Kingdom managed to get off to the usual start, insulting tweets, protesters, and nary a milkshake in sight, yet. Shall we move on?
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| Union Station Los Angeles, California Photograph: Blogger |
First, a little history. Union Station was designed by the father-son architect team John and Donald Parkinson with a creative blend of Spanish Colonial Mission and Art Deco, commonly referred to Mission Moderne. Within a few years of opening, Union Station transformed into a bustling around the clock, seven-day-a-week with as many a 100 troop trains transporting thousands of soldiers and sailors through the station during World War II. By the 1950s cars and airplanes overtook trains as the preferred means of transportation and train ridership dwindled. In 1972, Union Station was designated a local Historic-Cultural Monument and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 (unionstationla.com; date accessed June 3, 2019). Currently 36 million visitors pass through Union Station every year (latimes.com; May 21, 2019; date accessed June 3, 2019), slightly less than Washington D.C's famed Union Station. However, unlike the well known stations in Denver and New York, L.A.'s Union Station has yet to become a central destination.
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| Reception area Union Station |
As of writing, civic officials are considering a myriad of proposals, however grand, to improve Union Station--heavily dependent on whether California's controversial high-speed rail line terminates in Downtown Los Angeles (Ibid; May 16, 2019).
One initiative in progress is Link Union Station. Reporter Colleen Shalby writes that the $2.2 billion project aims to make the station "a hub connection Metro Rail's intercity subway and light rail lines to allow for a better long-term travel experience--and hopefully stem falling ridership" (Ibid; May 21, 2019). This project has been fast tracked for completion before the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Last year (link unavailable) the number of Metro passengers dropped to their lowest numbers in more than a decade as travel options, such as Uber and Lyft, have become more available (latimes.com; May 21, 2019). Air and automobile travel continue to be less expensive alternatives to traditional rail, Union Station's raison d' etre.
Regardless, civic officials are confident that rail is going to play a larger part of Southern California's transportation future. Jeanet Owens, Metro's senior executive, spoke to the Los Angeles Times.
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| Union Station ticket counter |
We're in a rail renaissance right now,.... A couple years ago, Los Angeles didn't know that we'll be hosting the Super Bowl, the World Cup, and we'll be hosting the Olympics. So we have a trifecta of events [Ibid; Mar. 6, 2019] occurring in Los Angeles. It really gives us an opportunity to get people where they need to go... transit options in lieu of driving a car (Ibid; May 21, 2019)
Metro anticipates about 200,000 rail trips a by 2040, double the current number (Ibid).
While the amorphous officials continue to argue the bold faced metamorphosis of Union Station, they are also considering small scale improvements targeted at creating a more community friendly place.
Since 2013 the agency has spent over $21 million on beautification and restoration projects. Some of the improvements included cleaning the 268 leather chairs in the waiting area, installing a heat and air conditioning system (Ibid). There are other improvement underway to the walkways and lighting, a redesign of the landscape to resemble the original plantings, and the install of a system to accommodate the visually impaired (Ibid). Ken Pratt, the director the Union Station facility feels confident that the projects will be completed in the new few years. He said,
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| Section of garden area |
Not only to facilitate travelers and commuters, but to enhance Union Station as a destination,.... (Ibid)
A Street and sidewalk project, slated to begin in 2021, prioritizes pedestrians and cyclists; better connects Union Station with the community. Ms. Shalby reports, "The sidewalk on the west side would be expanded, and at the front of the transit hub--where those headed to Olvera Street and the El Pueblo cultural monument typically walk through a parking lot area--a consolidated sidewalk would be added to take people directly across Alameda Street (Ibid). Metro executive officer Jenna Hornstock told the Times, These are way to reactivate the station for people to experience it as a transit place and a destination (Ibid).
Union Station was completed in 1939 at the paltry (by today's standards) of $11 million, after an almost 20 year legal battle between Los Angeles and the railroads over who would pay for it and where it would be located. By the time the Station threw open its doors to the first passengers, transcontinental air travel was more accessible and the automobile gained popularity. Trains were not the only way to travel. By the 1960s, Union Station was a virtual ghost town but that changed in the 1980s with the development of the Metrolink regional transportation and the addition of other services such as Greyhound coach service.
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| The people of Los Angeles, past, present, and future |
The building's eclectic mix of Art Deco, Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne architecture is a testament to Los Angeles' history but the interior bares no resemblance to Union Station's past. Longtime member of the Chinese Historical Society Eugene Moy spoke to the Los Angeles Times, When you walk through, there's very little evidence of the brilliant community once there (Ibid).
Mr. Moy is referring to the fact that the site where Union Station now stands was once upon a time the site of many ethnic neighborhoods, including L.A.'s original Chinatown. Mr. Moy added,
What many in our community who support historic preservation hope is for Metro to incorporate educational materials in the station itself that will help teach about the diversity of Los Angeles... (Ibid)
Union Station is the kind of space Blogger loves: dynamic. The halls were filled with commuters coming and going everywhere in the Southern California region and beyond. Blogger hopes that Union Station will become a central part of Los Angeles' transit future, not just a place to sit and people watch while waiting for a table at the restaurant in the station. Blogger hopes it becomes a place like New York's Grand Central Station--i.e. the place to eat and shop while waiting for the train or not. Let us see what the next 80 years bring.
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