Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Mid-Market Deconstruction

The Southwest-most entrance to the Civic Center BART/Muni station is being deconstructed.  I noticed this was closed about a week ago when trying to exit the station, but I didn't know they were doing this kind of work until my walk to work today.

It's possible they're replacing the opaque - if high-quality granite clad - railing with a stainless steel grill, like the one that opens onto UN Plaza North of 7th Street.  Anybody know for sure what's up?

2 comments:

Erik said...

It's exactly that. There is a sign facing the street saying that it is a parapet wall replacement.

Pedestrianist said...

Thanks, Erik!

I appreciate the reasons for the replacement, and the urban design aficionado in me has the following thoughts:

- It's an important subtle wayfinding clue for BART station entrances to be consistent across a station and district between stations, so I hope they continue the replacements on the remaining four Civic Center stairwells.
- The old 'parapets,' as you call them, are indeed opaque, but they're beautiful and durable, clad in stone no public agency would dare pay for these days. I hope the materials get reused in another public place.
- How much is BART's capital fund spending so SFPD and BART Police don't need to bother walking around the area?
- While we've got dust flying at 7th and Market, let's axe the escalators, narrow the stairwells by 20% or so, and add one North of Market, facing West.