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Don’t miss this once in a lifetime event!

KingStreetWaitingRoomKing Street Station’s Main Waiting Room to reopen Wednesday

Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Time: 11:00 -11:45 a.m.
Place: Main Waiting Room, King Street Station, 303 S. Jackson Street, Seattle (waiting room entrance located on the track level at the intersection of S King Street and Third Avenue S)

This Wednesday, April 24, Mayor Mike McGinn and other distinguished guests will join the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) in a ceremony to officially reopen the main waiting room of King Street Station. The Ballard Sedentary Sousa Band will add to the excitement of the event marking the official completion of the station’s public space renovation and seismic retrofit.

When the station was opened to the public in May 1906, its grand waiting room had ornamental plaster ceilings. The plaster walls were interspersed with fluted Corinthian columns. The lower part of the walls and columns were white marble accented with glass mosaic tiles in white, green, red and gold. A massive bronze chandelier hung in the center of the main waiting room. Along with four smaller chandeliers and wall sconces, they provided illumination for the passengers inside the station. The terrazzo floor had inlaid square mosaic tiles. This created a compass shaped pattern at the station entrance and other rectangular patterns throughout the rest of the areas.
A series of renovations in the 1940s, 50s and 60s removed the plaster and marble walls, glass mosaic tiles and covered the plaster ceiling with acoustical tiles. The historic light fixtures were replaced with fluorescent lights. The terrazzo floor was cracked and in disrepair.

Phase 2B seismic upgrade of the station also included the restoration of the first floor public areas’ finishes to the exact originals that were lost to the renovations. All work was done according to historic preservation guidelines established by the Federal Government’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. SDOT restored the waiting room to its original 1906 grandeur with an ornamental plaster ceiling, marble walls, glass mosaic tile wall band, terrazzo floors and a new grand chandelier. When the station opens to the public, visitors will again be dazzled by the charm of the restored main waiting room.

If you wish to attend, please email: Trevina.Wang@seattle.gov