Palms station

Palms  Expo Line 

Palms station during construction
Location 10001 National Boulevard, Los Angeles
Coordinates 34°01′45″N 118°24′13″W / 34.0291°N 118.4036°W / 34.0291; -118.4036Coordinates: 34°01′45″N 118°24′13″W / 34.0291°N 118.4036°W / 34.0291; -118.4036
Owned by Metro
Platforms 1 center platform
Tracks 2
Construction
Parking none[1]
Disabled access Yes
History
Opened October 17, 1875
Rebuilt May 20, 2016
Previous names The Palms; Bay View
Services
Preceding station   Metro Rail   Following station
Expo Line
  Former services  
Pacific Electric
Air Line

Palms is an elevated light-rail station on the Expo Line of the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system, at the intersection of National Boulevard and Palms Boulevard in the Palms neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Location and design

Platform Westbound ← Expo Line Expo Line toward Downtown Santa Monica (Westwood/Rancho Park)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Eastbound → Expo Line Expo Line toward 7th Street/Metro Center (Culver City) →

The station is in Palms, Los Angeles, a dense residential neighborhood just south of I-10 and north of Culver City.[2] It is within walking distance of the Castle Heights and Cheviot Hills neighborhoods.[3]

The station location is adjacent to I-10, just west of the three-way intersection of National, Palms and Exposition boulevards and perched on an embankment above National Boulevard. Access is provided by stairs and elevators at the east end of the station.

Construction incorporated an existing steel bridge from the Air Line era and added a new concrete bridge, both immediately east of the station over the National/Palms intersection, as well as re-used an existing rail tunnel west of the station.[4]

History

The Palms original depot building from 1875 now at Heritage Square Museum.
Station sign from The Palms train depot now in Heritage Square Museum

Bay View was a stop on the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad. It was renamed The Palms in 1886.[5]

The Eastlake style Palms-Southern Pacific Railroad Depot building was situated approximately 600 yards (550 m) west of the present station location, on the south side of the tracks, and remained in active rail service until the closure of the Pacific Electric Air Line in 1953.

Used in many motion pictures, the building eventually fell into disrepair and abandonment, but was declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1963. A grassroots organization, S.O.S. (Save Our Station), moved it in February 1976 to the Heritage Square Museum grounds in the Montecito Heights community of the Arroyo Seco. It now serves as the museum's gift shop and visitor center.[6]

Nomenclature

Originally slated to be renamed "National/Palms" on re-opening, it remains "Palms" as a result of a request by the Palms Neighborhood Council. The council's resolution stated that:

the Pacific Line Palms station was an important landmark on the west side of the city, and the community that grew around it is one of the oldest on the west side of Los Angeles. Our stakeholders feel the naming of the station is not only an important branding opportunity for Palms, but an opportunity for Los Angeles to reinstate a link to the history in one of its oldest and most diverse communities.[7]

On April 25, 2013, the Metro board of directors voted in favor of "Palms" as the official name of the station.[8]

Bus connections

References

  1. ↑ Nelson, Laura J. (May 14, 2016). "The Expo Line is finally coming to the Westside, but limited parking raises concerns". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Palms". Mapping L.A. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Bing". Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  4. ↑ Project alternatives Archived July 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ " "The local of this paper the other day had a look at the 'Palms,' an incipient town on the line of the S. P. road, some five miles from Santa Monica. It is no longer a misnomer as the proprietors have planted two large palms near the depot and some 160 plants on the various driveways." — Newspaper account quoted in Ingersoll's Century History, Santa Monica Bay Cities, page 353"
  6. ↑ George Garrigues, Los Angeles's The Palms Neighborhood, Charleston:Arcadia Press (2009), page 26 ISBN 978-0-7385-6993-2
  7. ↑ Palms station letter
  8. ↑ Steve Hymon, "Board approves station names for Expo Line Phase 2," The Source, April 25, 2013
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