Poll: Thoughts On St. Louis’ Gateway Station
Two years ago today the Gateway Station opened, combing Amtrak passenger rail service with Greyhound bus service. Â The station, at 15th & Poplar, is adjacent to the Civic Center MetroLink light rail station and local bus transfer station
In January of this year author James Howard Kunstler named the Gateway Station his Eyesore of the Month, which prompted a reaction from me:Â Kunstler’s wrong, St. Louis’ new train/bus depot is not an eyesore. Â Also in January the Gateway Station was the setting for a Recovery Act high-speed rail announcement in St. Louis.
I like the station but I’ve never been a customer. Â I had used the old “temporary” Amtrak station and the old Greyhound station in the former Cass Bank at N 13th & Cass.Neither was great, although the interior of the old bank was spectacular. Â Next month I will take a trip by train so I will get to use the new station as a customer.
The poll this week asks for your thoughts on the station now that it has been open for two full years. The poll is located in the upper right corner of the blog.
– Steve Patterson
It's not an eyesore. And it's way better looking than the shack of old
It's seems very functional and is conventiently located in the heart of the city.
I walked in there with a Korean last week (read: person from a country with nice infrastructure), and she assumed it was at least twenty or thirty years old and falling apart. Couldn't believe the terrible smell and how cramped it was. I felt the same way actually. It's better than the AmShack, but it's only meets minimum standards. It's not an ambitious structure at all.
My perspective is shaped from having worked on the the plans for Denver's Union Station Multimodal facility. The facility here is a) functional, and b) in operation, both of which are positives. Denver's facility is much more ambitious – http://www.denverunionstation.org/ – and currently under construction. It combines their Union Station with a much larger bus and light rail transfer facility. Whether it's “better”, or not, only time will tell. The big difference between here and there is demand – Amtrak's is similar, but there's much more public transit use in Denver, so it's hard to compare the two facilities directly. My take is that the Gateway facility is highly fuctional but architecturally mediocre. The various programmatic elements obviously take precedence over any significant design statement (unlike our old Union Station), so much of any “design” is limited to details and finishes. I'm personally no fan of the stained glass, but it's a relatively small issue. I also haven't been in the facility recently, so I don't know how well, or poorly, it's aging. And the one big missing element appears to be public parking – not everyone can or wants to use public transit to get here . . .
Short & long term parking is available.
Yes, would agree short and long term is available. However, Long term is really lacking in my opinion. I'm used to having long term airport facilities that can adequately meet demand, reasonably priced and give a sense of security. I just don't see that available.
the train platforms – awesome. the station, not so great. the food options are jacked up in price and there are no change machines available for the parking lot. I don't like the parking lot at all. The taxis seem to hang out and socialize but if you are there to pick someone up you get frantically waved away.
Whilst it may not be the pinnacle of beauty, it most definitely is not an eyesore; what can one truly expect from a train station anyway?
Its certainly meeting a need and function of providing a intermodal facilitiy when combining the possible transit options available. A steop forward for downtown and the region any you look at it. Does it compare to Union Station, not by a mile, but its a mistake to even ask that question in the poll as any chance of bringing back Union Station or let alone building a similiar facility is a non-starter. Steve, why even go there?
As far as an eyesore, I think the immediate area has huge potential even though it gives the station a tough backdrop to work with at the moment and basis for much of criticism. The biggest driver of development will be High Speed Rail development. Having that direct connectivity to Chicago with a transportation option faster then a car will be big. That being said, I wished Checketts would have brought some interest to this area from outside the region – specifically his NY connections. However, I'm putting more hope in the China Air Cargo hub and the direct transit connection provided to this site from the airport as a better bet. Some selective office development and parking would fit in well with the area's entertainment and amenities
Gateway Station works ! – the last piece of a jig-saw puzzle connecting Metro (and therefore Lambert), Amtrak, and Greyhound, to each other and to Downtown. I love traveling alongside the red-blue-&-yellow windows which create shifting orange-green-&-purple patterns as you pass by; the colorful whimsy of this complements the unique facade of The Sheraton and the playful public art at 14th & Clark. I love the inviting view of downtown provided by the exit to MetroLink (not the exit to the parking lot). I love the way the shapes and materials of the building relate to the ScotTrade on the north and to I-64 overhead. Best of all I like being able to escape to Chicago, Gateway to The Rest of the World, without using my car. And I like returning (it is inevitable anyway) to be welcomed by that ribbon of colored light leading back to my home in this city.
Sure, I'd love to see Union Station a transportation hub again – let's tear out that parking lot ! and move Hard Rock Cafe to a West County mall ! But it's not gonna happen in my lifetime. What we have is a hard-won improvement over both Amshack and the derelict Union Station which preceded it (I remember both). I am impressed with how clean and orderly it is – but I would never buy food there or in any other station when downtown is readily accessible.
Fast-forward a century, assuming St Louis survives the Automobile Age: Union Station is a hub for both light- and heavy-rail, and Gateway Station is Historically Preserved as a stepping-stone to our urban re-birth, perhaps a Visitors' Center and Transportation Museum.
My money is on the Hard Rock Cafe moving to Ballpark Village, if and when that ever happens . . .
Agree on the Hard Rock Cafe, if and when. Union Station's best bet if BPV is stalled long enough for the City/State to rebuild 22nd street interchange, McKee actually gets something to happen along the new 22nd street and the chinese come to town since they are the only ones with money to speak of.
One problem is that you cannot walk out right next to the trains because of security. I guess they think teeorists are waiting to bomb the Texas Eagle