Chinatown station (Muni Metro)

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Muni Metro station Chinatown
Chinatown station construction (3), August 2020.JPG
Chinatown station under construction in August 2020
LocationStockton and Washington Streets
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°47′41″N 122°24′29″W / 37.794806°N 122.408082°W / 37.794806; -122.408082Coordinates: 37°47′41″N 122°24′29″W / 37.794806°N 122.408082°W / 37.794806; -122.408082
Line(s)Central Subway
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
Disabled accessYes
History
OpeningSpring 2022[1]
Services
Preceding station BSicon LOGO SFmuni.svg Muni Following station
Terminus T Third Street Union Square/​Market Street
towards Sunnydale
Location
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap

The Chinatown station[2] is an underground light rail station of the San Francisco Municipal Railway's Muni Metro system, currently under construction as part of the Central Subway Project. It will serve as the future terminus of Phase 2 of the T Third Street line and will be located at the corner of Stockton and Washington streets in Chinatown, San Francisco.

History[]

933–949 Stockton St (2011), sometimes called the "Hogan and Vest" building after the corner tenant

The building at 933–949 Stockton, which housed 56 low-income residents, was acquired by eminent domain[3] and demolished to make way for the new Chinatown Station. Prior to its demolition, the building was wrapped with a temporary art installation featuring a reproduction of James Leong's mural One Hundred Years: History of the Chinese in America, originally commissioned for the Ping Yuen housing project in 1952, on the south end.[4] As required by law, the residents were relocated to a new building at Broadway and Sansome built with the help of city and state grants, including $8 million from the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA).[5]

The Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in October 2016 asking SFMTA to rename the station in honor of Rose Pak,[6] but the SFMTA demurred, making an official policy in December 2016 to name stations after geographical destinations, not people.[7]

Demolition of the old building (2013)

In July 2017, it was reported that delays on the construction schedule of Chinatown station associated with excavation techniques intended to permit Stockton Street to remain open during construction had propagated through the entire Central Subway construction schedule and the anticipated opening date for the system would slip by ten months. Although Stockton remained open since construction began in 2013, a half-block stretch of Washington Street has been closed, exacerbating existing traffic and parking issues and depressing local business revenues.[8] The ten-month delay meant the anticipated completion date slipped from December 26, 2018 to November 14, 2019.[9] A follow-up report noted the schedule had continued to slip to an anticipated completion date of December 10, 2019 and warned the schedule may continue to slip by several more months.[10] In June, Mayor Ed Lee directed $500,000 to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development to aid Chinatown merchants whose business traffic had slowed from Central Subway construction.[11]

SFMTA announced that excavation for Chinatown station was complete in April 2018. With excavation complete, station construction was set to begin, and the estimated completion date was mid-2019 for a scheduled December 2019 start of revenue service.[12] As of June 2020, the Central Subway is planned to open in late 2021.[13]

On August 20, 2019, the SFMTA Board approved a proposal to rename the station "Chinatown Rose Pak station" by a 4–3 vote.[14] Supporters cited Pak's influence over the Central Subway project, which was meant in part to bring traffic back to Chinatown that had been lost following the damage and eventual demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Opponents called Pak a spy for the Chinese government and an enemy of the Falun Gong movement.[15]

Design[]

Chinatown Station was designed by Kwan Henmi and includes retail space at the ground level. The station structure extends 100 feet (30 m) below ground and required the deepest building excavation in the City of San Francisco.[16] The underground station will feature a 5,400 square feet (500 m2) public plaza on its roof, only the fifth open space park in the Chinatown neighborhood.[17]

In 2016, the Chinatown Community Development Center held a contest to write a couplet to welcome visitors to Chinatown. The winning couplet would be written in calligraphy and printed on red opaque glass at the Chinatown Station plaza.[18] Carin Mui (Chinese: 黃立慈) submitted the winning entry, 昔日漂洋採金礦，今朝劈地鋳銀龍, which translates to "In the past we traveled across the Pacific to mine for gold; Now, we break through earth to form a silver dragon."[18][19]

References[]

  1. ^ "Central Subway Project Update November 2020" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. November 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "Central Subway Alignment". San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-07-18.
  3. ^ Settlement Agreement and Release of Claims with Hogan & Vest Inc (PDF) (Report). San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2017. The SFMTA filed an eminent domain action against Norman P. Chan Inc. to condemn a fee simple interest in the property at 933-949 Stockton Street, San Francisco (Property), for the public purpose of constructing the Central Subway Project and other improvements (Project).
  4. ^ "Mural from CHSA Collection Featured at Central Subway Project Site" (Press release). Chinese Historical Society of America. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  5. ^ Matier, Phil; Ross, Andy (14 September 2011). "S.F. agency to pay Chinatown group in subway deal". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  6. ^ Green, Emily (12 October 2016). "Supes want Chinatown subway station named for Rose Pak". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  7. ^ Chinn, Jerold (7 December 2016). "Muni chooses places over people for station names". SFBay. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  8. ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (14 July 2017). "Chinatown frustration rises with delay in SF subway construction". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  9. ^ Rodriguez, Joe Fitzgerald (10 July 2017). "Central Subway project faces up to 10-month delay". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  10. ^ Rodriguez, Joe Fitzgerald (25 July 2017). "Central Subway completion date delayed again". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  11. ^ Rodriguez, Joe Fitzgerald (9 August 2017). "Chinatown businesses shutter in face of Central Subway Construction". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  12. ^ Cabanatuan, Michael (3 April 2018). "San Francisco's Central Subway is getting closer to completion". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  13. ^ "Central Subway Update – Projected to be Open for Service by the End of 2021" (Press release). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. June 5, 2020.
  14. ^ Fitzgerald Rodriguez, Joe (August 20, 2019). "New Chinatown station to be named for Rose Pak, but opponents vow to keep fighting". San Francisco Examiner.
  15. ^ Asimov, Nanette; Swan, Rachel (August 20, 2019). "Amid protests, SF board names Chinatown subway station after Rose Pak". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  16. ^ "SFMTA Central Subway Chinatown Station". Forell / Elsesser Engineers, Inc. 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  17. ^ Kwong, Jessica (8 September 2014). "Open space is a key feature of future Central Subway station". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  18. ^ Jump up to: a b Holland, Kristen (1 July 2016). "Central Subway's Chinatown Station Couplet Contest Winner". San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  19. ^ "Couplet Contest Winner and Top 9 Finalists". Chinatown Community Development Center. 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2017.

External links[]

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