BART opens renovated 24th Street/Mission Street Station Southwest Plaza
On Saturday, January 18th BART completed renovations to the southwest street-level plaza at its 24th Street/Mission Station. “Thanks to a partnership between BART, the City of San Francisco, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Mission community—locals and visitors can now enjoy a clean, well-lit and spacious plaza at BART’s 24th Street/Mission Station,” BART Board Member Tom Radulovich said. “BART collaborated with Mission businesses, non-profits and residents to design an open space where a variety of community-oriented activities can take place.” Radulovich represents BART District 9, which includes San Francisco’s Mission District.
Project partners BART, MTC, SFCTA, SF Planning, and SFMTA collaborated to give the plaza an updated make over. The renovation broke ground in April 2013 and was complete this month. It cost $4.2 million and was funded by three sources: $2.1 million in federal grants, $1.2 from San Francisco’s Proposition AA grant, with the remaining funding provided by a Proposition K grant.
While the construction took less than a year, conferring on a design was a careful, collaborative process that took over a decade to complete. From 2001 to 2012, BART worked with the Lower 24th Street Merchants and Neighbors Association to meet and discuss design preferences.
“The community input collected over years of discussion had a resounding theme--declutter the plaza and create an open space that our community can use and enjoy,” Radulovich added. “This guiding principle was carried out in the final design that you can enjoy today. We removed wrought iron fencing, rockscape planters and broken pay phone banks to create a usable area for the community to enjoy, to allow easier access to the plaza and to open the plaza to adjacent streets and properties.”
Elements of the renovation also include new lighting and pavement, freshly planted trees and vines and open access to Osage Alley.