Southern California Rapid Transit District collection of Metro Rail artist's renderings, 1983-1993

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Summary

Title:
Southern California Rapid Transit District collection of Metro Rail artist's renderings
Dates:
1983-1993
Creators:
Southern California Rapid Transit District
Abstract:
This collection contains artist's renderings depicting stations along the originally planned Red Line subway route, as well as stations along the eventually constructed Red and Purple Lines.
Extent:
0.21 linear feet 0.5 boxes
Language:
English and English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Southern California Rapid Transit District collection of Metro Rail artist's renderings, 20-DPGTL. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Library and Archive.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains color and black and white prints and color 35mm slides of artists' renderings of planned Metro rail stations, as well as vehicle exteriors, tunnel renderings, and core studies from 1983-1993. The renderings represent currently existing Red and Purple Line stations, as well as stations and infrastructure that were never built, particularly in the Miracle Mile area as well as Hollywood and North Hollywood.

Biographical / historical:

Planning for Metro rail service formally began in 1975 with SCRTD's formation of a Rapid Transit Advisory Committee to identify a starter line for rail rapid transit. In 1979, a Draft Environment Impact Report/Alternatives Analysis is released for a rail starter line that would eventually become the Metro Red Line subway. In 1980, a majority of Los Angeles County voters approved Proposition A, a half cent sales tax for transportation improvements, with 35% of revenue dedicated for rail construction. Planning was in full swing in the early 1980s, when the first renderings in this collection were created.

Original plans that are represented in some of these renderings were for a route that proceeded west from Downtown Los Angeles underneath Wilshire Boulevard, then following Fairfax Avenue north to Sunset Boulevard, backtracking east to Cahuenga Boulevard, and then traveling northwest to the terminus at North Hollywood station.

In 1985, a methane gas explosion at Fairfax and Third prompted a change in federal law that affected subway project funding. A methane gas risk zone was identified along the Wilshire corridor in the Miracle Mile area and the planned route was changed to turn north at Vermont Avenue, continue west along Hollywood Boulevard, and then northwest to the terminus at North Hollywood. An additional corridor, the Purple Line, follows the same route as the Red Line except that it continues west after Wilshire/Vermont Station and has a terminus at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. Using mostly federal and state funding, construction on a five station "starter line" subway in downtown Los Angeles began in 1986.

Acquisition information:
SCRTD material was passed on to LACMTA in the 1993 merger.
Processing information:

Processed by Denise Villegas, July 2012.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by station name.

Physical location:
LACMTA Research Library and Archive
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Denise Villegas
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2016-10-27 11:22:17 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All renderings have been digitized and are available by contacting LACTMA Research Library and Archive. For physical access, advance notice is required. Contact LACMTA Research Library and Archive to make an appointment.

Terms of access:

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the LACMTA Research Library and Archive. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the LACMTA Research Library and Archive as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the LACMTA Research Library and Archive collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Southern California Rapid Transit District collection of Metro Rail artist's renderings, 20-DPGTL. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Library and Archive.

Location of this collection:
One Gateway Plaza, Mail Stop: 99-15-1
Los Angeles, CA 90012, US
Contact:
213.922.4859
kennedyc@metro.net
Website