I feel ambivalent about this action.
Perhaps you'll recall last summer (and fall) when my car decided to go on a four-month holiday and I was left at the mercy of the public transit system. (Author's note: glad the transit system exists; more glad I am no longer bound to it.) During this time, I passed through the Transbay Terminal twice a day nearly every day.
You can see from the facade the building was intended to be spare but lovely. I'm fond of municipal works that were designed and built during the time of the Great Depression. Although not a WPA building, it was opened in 1939 and is strongly indicative of the architecture for the time. There's a brief summary of the terminal's history here - as well as a photo gallery.
You will be unsurprised to know that the terminal is currently a grim and unsavory place. It appears hollowed out, stripped if you will, with bad lighting and worse smells. The city's homeless camp out in and around the building. (Author's note: while visiting San Francisco, never assume standing liquid on the sidewalk is water.)
It's a very good thing that the existing terminal will be razed in favor of something new and better. Anytime public transit can be made more efficient, and commuters don't have to take their lives in their hands to make connections, I'm all for it. However, it's a bummer to lose the physical proof of the horrors I endured as a forced commuter. I'm afraid no one will believe my stories otherwise.
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We have a spot like that here - the area under the bus center. It used to be a thriving area, but there are too many "dark corners" (where undesirables could linger) so it isn't used much anymore.
ReplyDeleteMuch like your terminal, it is slated for a complete remodeling. Hopefully, something nicer will appear after it is gone. But I'm going to be living with a major construction project outside my office.... forever.