King Street Station (Seattle)

This article is about the railway station in Seattle. For the Washington Metro station in Alexandria, Virginia, see King Street – Old Town (WMATA station).

King Street Station, Seattle
Amtrak inter-city rail station
File:King Street Station (Seattle) 2005 05 23.jpg View from southeast, city skyline in background
Location	303 South Jackson Street Seattle, Washington 98104 USA
Coordinates
Owned by	City of Seattle
Platforms	3 island platforms
Tracks	9
Connections	Rapid transit:   International District / Chinatown (Link station) Bus services: King County Metro Sound Transit Express Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Northwestern Trailways Travel Washington
Construction
Parking	Yes; paid
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	Amtrak code: SEA
History
Opened	May 10, 1906
Rebuilt	2008–2013
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	604,832  3.48% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Tacoma toward Los Angeles Coast Starlight Terminus Tukwila toward Eugene Amtrak Cascades Edmonds toward Vancouver, BC Terminus Empire Builder Edmonds toward Chicago Sounder Terminus North Line Edmonds toward Everett Tukwila toward Lakewood South Line Terminus Rocky Mountaineer Terminus Coastal Passage Pacific Central (Vancouver) toward Banff or Jasper Link Light Rail Pioneer Square toward SeaTac/Airport Central Link Transfer at: International District/Chinatown Stadium toward University of Washington   Former services   Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Terminus Pioneer Discontinued in 1997 Tacoma toward Chicago
King Street Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	3rd Ave. S. and S. King St., Seattle, Washington
Coordinates
Area	less than one acre
Built	1906
NRHP Reference #	73001877
Added to NRHP	April 13, 1973

King Street Station is a train station in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located between South King and South Jackson streets and Second and Fourth Avenues South in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, the station is just south of downtown. Built between 1904 and 1906, it served the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway from its grand opening on May 10, 1906, until the creation and start of Amtrak on May 1, 1971. The station was designed by the St. Paul, Minnesota architectural firm of Charles A. Reed and Allen H. Stem, who were later associate designers for the New York Central Railroad's Grand Central Terminal in New York City. King Street Station was Seattle's primary train terminal until the construction of the adjacent Oregon & Washington Depot, later named Union Station, in 1911. King Street Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the Washington Heritage Register in 1973.

Since the early 1990s the station was in various states of repair to undo remodels done during the middle of the Twentieth Century to "modernize" the facility, including the restoration of the elegant main waiting room. King Street Station was purchased by the City of Seattle in 2008 for $10 and, with enough funds finally in place, the restoration was finally completed in 2013.

The station is served by Amtrak Cascades, Empire Builder, and Coast Starlight trains, and by Sound Transit's Sounder commuter trains. King St. Station is also the Seattle terminus for the Rocky Mountaineer's luxury excursion train, the Coastal Passage. For the first nine months of 2006, Sounder service boarded almost 1.2 million passengers at King Street Station.

History

File:Sounder Commuter Rail 01.jpg

A Sounder train at the station

Built between 1904 and 1906 by the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway, the station replaced an antiquated station on Railroad Avenue, today's Alaskan Way. Designed by the firm of Reed and Stem of St. Paul, Minnesota, who acted as associate architects for the design of Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the station was part of a larger project that moved the mainline away from the waterfront and into a 5,245 foot (1,590 m) tunnel under downtown. The depot's 242-foot (74 m) tower was modeled after Campanile di San Marco in Venice, Italy, making it the tallest building in Seattle at the time of its construction. This tower contained four huge mechanical clock faces built by E. Howard & Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, offering the time to each of the four cardinal directions. At the time of installation it was said to be the second largest timepiece on the Pacific Coast, second only to the Ferry Building in San Francisco, California. Later, this tower also served as a microwave tower for the Burlington Northern Railroad, the successor of both the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways, whose offices occupied the second and third floors of the station.

Over the years, remodeling concealed the station's original ornate interior. The final blow occurred in 1965 when the hand-carved coffered ceiling of the main waiting room, and a balcony and second level arcade were hidden by a lower dropped ceiling, which was installed 10 feet (3.0 m) below the original. Under the direction of Northern Pacific Architect A.C. Cayou, the waiting room was walled off and marble was removed from columns as well as ornamental plaster being sheared from the walls as high as the new dropped ceiling. The grand staircase linking South Jackson Street with the west entrance was reduced to half its original size, and an addition housing escalators was constructed on the west elevation of the building, which was not in keeping with the building's architecture. After the remodel, the only original remaining features left visible in the main waiting area were the terrazzo tile floor and the clock on the west wall above the restrooms.

From a practical standpoint, the station is close to downtown. However, unlike cities such as Boston, it is not near the intercity bus terminal, although the station is less than a block from the International District of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. For many years, the original upper entrance off of Jackson Street was not used. Instead, the main entrance was located on the first floor off of a small parking lot, rather than a drop off loop.

Restoration

File:OldNewKingStreetStation.JPG

View of suspended ceiling, now removed

File:Seattle King Street Station Inside.jpg

Remodeled interior of King Street Station

Plans to restore the entire building to its former prominence, including cosmetic renovations to both the station interior and exterior, began in 2003. As part of these renovations the Compass Room and restrooms were refurbished, and the exterior awnings were replaced. New mahogany entry doors and wood framed windows were installed in the waiting room and Compass Room. New brass door hardware and reproduction period light fixtures and plaster decorative work were included to reproduce the former character of the station's interior.

In November, 2006, the Office of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a preliminary agreement between the City of Seattle and BNSF Railway to purchase the station for $1. The Seattle City Council formalized the agreement by passing legislation in December, 2006. The deal, revised to $10, was signed March 5, 2008. The purchase by the city freed up US$19 million of state and federal funds that was used for further restoration of the station. The city earmarked a further US$10 million for the restoration as part of a passed local transportation levy.

In 2008, the clocks in the clock tower were repaired, and the old radio microwave antennas were removed. Repair work to the exterior continued as of June 2010. Phase two of the project began in May 2010, when demolition work commenced on the second and third floors, previously used by Burlington Northern for division offices. Work on modernizing the baggage area, originally used as a restaurant, were also understaken during this time. During June 2010, work also began on demolition of a 1950s addition to the building that housed the escalators and part of the Jackson Street Plaza. Demolition work was completed by September 2010. A surprise development during this phase was the removal of the suspended ceilings in early July. Crews worked over several nights while the station was mostly empty removing the over 1,600 acoustic tiles and their framing. The modern light fixtures and remaining suspended wires remained until enough funding became available to complete restoration. The final phase of the project focused on the rebuilding of the Jackson Plaza. Thirty-six geothermic wells reaching 300 ft (91 m) into the ground were drilled to eventually heat and cool the station. A new concrete floor was poured including seismic wall supports and space for an elevator and new ticketing and baggage areas.

In October 2010, the King Street Station project was awarded $18.2 million from $2.4 billion in high-speed intercity passenger rail service funding announced by the U.S. Transportation Department. This funding was needed by the project in order to complete seismic regrades and to finalize the restoration of the interior. The restoration project was completed and the station was officially rededicated on April 24, 2013.

Architecture

King Street Station rehab

King Street Station is a red brick masonry and steel frame building with terra cotta and cast stone ornamentation, through relatively subdued in comparison to the clock tower. The entire first floor exterior is brick-clad with granite. The building is L-shaped with the clock tower marking the main entry on the west facade. The clock tower and main entry terminate the axis of King Street in Pioneer Square. The architectural style is sometimes denoted as "Railroad Italinate" with definite Italian inspirations in the clock tower while the base shows influences of Beaux Arts.

Inside the main entry, at the base of the clock tower, is the entry hall, known as the Compass Room. The name references the navigational star compass rose design laid out in hand-cut marble tiles on the floor at its center. The Compass Room has marble wainscotting, and is lighted by a multi-globe chandelier suspended above the compass rose from an elaborate plaster rosette. Triple-globe wall sconces around the perimeter illuminate a band of inlaid green iridescent glass tile on the walls. Circular clerestory windows are trimmed in plaster relief decoration. This motif was originally repeated throughout most of the station's waiting room. While there is no known influence for the design of the interior, it resembles the ceiling of the famous Salone dei Cinquecento at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy featuring a similar coffered grid with dentils and repeating circles.

Passenger service

File:Amtrak Cascades at King Street Station.jpg

An Amtrak Cascades train in King Street Station

Currently King St. Station has twenty-one daily train departures:

• Nine Sounder trains south to Tacoma, Washington (weekdays only)
• Four Sounder trains north to Everett, Washington (weekdays only)
• Two Cascades trains north to Vancouver, BC
• Two Cascades trains south to Portland, Oregon
• Two Cascades trains south to Eugene, Oregon through Portland, Oregon
• One Empire Builder train east to Chicago, Illinois
• One Coast Starlight train south to Los Angeles, California

Amtrak Boardings and Alightings

Year	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
Total	672,485	672,351	640,054	626,623	604,832
YOY difference	—	-134	-32,297	-13,431	-21,791
YOY difference %	—	-0.02%	-4.80%	-2.10%	-3.48%

Nearby places

• Pioneer Square National Historic District
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park
• International District
• Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel
• CenturyLink Field
• Safeco Field
• Union Station
• International District/Chinatown Light Rail Station

External links

• Amtrak – Stations – Seattle, WA
• King Street Station (National Register of Historic Places)
• King Street Station (City of Seattle, Department of Transportation)
• King Street Station (Sound Transit)
• King Street Station (Washington State Department of Transportation)
• Seattle, WA (SEA) (Amtrak's Great American Stations)