Renovation of the historic King Street Station began this week with work beginning immediately on the roof to stop the leaks which have pledged the ailing station for years. The $26.2 million dollar project is scheduled to be completed in 2011 with a bigger waiting room, improved heater and air conditioning, new ticket counter, new baggage claim area, flooring, and much much more. Already the Compass room at the main entrance has been renovated but that work stopped earlier last year while the City of Seattle and BNSF Railway worked on a deal regarding the station.
For more information on the project, check out the City of Seattle’s King Street Station page. While the last update was July 15th, 2008, I’m sure they’ll start working on the page as work ramps up further.
I’m so excited about the station renovations! I just used King Street Station (Amtrak Cascades to Portland) for the very first time a few weeks ago and the interiors have so much potential.
However…after spending a year riding the trains of Europe, Amtrak Cascades has a loooong way to go. All the lines and seating assignments make riding trains almost as much as a hassle as riding a plane.
They need to overhaul the website – maybe get ideas from France’s SNCF. Offer discounts to people under 25. Offer seat preferences..which all should be assigned on the ticket anyway…no need for a conductor to do it at all (anyone know why they do this?). Don’t treat the train like a plane (business class boarding only etc). I hope that whole area gentrifies soon. I hate to say this, but Portland’s Union Station is a lot nicer and in a nice neighborhood… Seattle needs to catch up!