Big news! King Street Station is nearly done. The Seattle Department of Transportation has posted photos of the almost-finished waiting room on Facebook. It is, in a word, gorgeous! Vancouver, BC's Pacific Central Station and Portland, OR's Union Station far outstripped King Street Station for a long time. But now King Street will give them a run for their money.
Bigger news! King Street Station is 8 days from being re-opened in restored glory. From the City of Seattle Department of Transportation website, announcement of the "reveal" (I so wish I could attend!): King Street Station Restoration Updated: April 16, 2013 The King Street Station clock has been stopped for repair. We will issue a notice after the repaired has been completed. Thank you for your understanding. YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND the Grand Reopening of King Street Station’s Main Waiting Room Wednesday, April 24, 11:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Main Waiting Room, King Street Station, South King Street and Third Avenue South Remarks by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and other distinguished guests Please let us know if you plan to attend by e-mailing trevina.wang@seattle.gov.
Can't get you the photos of the dedication, but I was there on April 26 (a few days after the re-opening), and have posted some photos: http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/5463. I'm happy with the result!
WOW!!! Simply wow! They did a fantastic job. This looks like a real passenger station. Proud, clean. A place where people would want to be. Are the ticket counters still the same place as before? Baggage check in? Thanks for posting these!
It's quite the improvement. The ticket counters are not in the waiting room at all any more. They are pretty much in a spot that was never open before. Likewise the baggage area: modern conveyor system, but with the same original decor. I have photos of both, so I guess I'm obliged to add those, too. Update: photos of ticket counters and baggage area posted. The bulk of the money spent on this renovation was actually for seismic (earthquake) upgrades. But the finish work ain't bad either!
The baggage area looks far beyond what I was guessing they'd have done. I did know about the seismic issues. I'm trying to remember what the grounds were, under the station, pre-original construction. As I recall, it was mud tidal flats. But this was south of the regrade projects.
Yep. Built on tide flats. The dirt from the regrade projects (one of my relatives was one of the last holdouts, lived at the top of one of the "spires" resulting from excavating all around the owners' properties) was used to fill in those tidal flats. During earthquakes the dirt "liquefies" (even if dry, it becomes soupy), and is the worst place to have any sort of building, as you can imagine. The seismic upgrades to the station are designed to counteract that problem.
Liquefaction. Yup. That's what I was thinking about. I could not recall where all exactly the regrades where made. And what was just hauled in fill.
Mike, those photos are great and show how well the restoration went. Looking forward to visiting King St.
