Lake Merritt station is an underground

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which u ...

(BART) station located east of

Downtown Oakland Downtown Oakland is the central business district of Oakland, California, United States; roughly bounded by both the Oakland Estuary and Interstate 880 on the southwest, Interstate 980 on the northwest, Grand Avenue on the northeast, and Lak ...

near the

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

Lake Merritt Lake Merritt is a large tidal lagoon in the center of Oakland, California, just east of Downtown. It is surrounded by parkland and city neighborhoods. It is historically significant as the United States' first official wildlife refuge, designate ...

. It is the nearest BART station to

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

Laney College Laney College is a public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County. Laney College is named after Joseph Clarence Laney. Th ...

, and Jack London Square station.

History

The construction of Lake Merritt station and the adjacent BART Administration Building leveled three blocks of Chinatown - one of several major displacements in the area, along with I-880, Laney College, and the

Oakland Museum of California The Oakland Museum of California or OMCA (formerly the Oakland Museum) is an interdisciplinary museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California, located adjacent to Oak Street, 10th Street, and 11th Street in Oakland, Cal ...

, that took place in the mid-20th century. The station opened on September 11, 1972 - part of the first section of BART to open. A largely-unused oval courtyard adjacent to the fare lobby includes

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s of sea creatures and birds designed by

William Mitchell William Mitchell may refer to: People Media and the arts * William Mitchell (sculptor) (1925–2020), English sculptor and muralist * William Frederick Mitchell (1845–1914), British naval artist * William M. Mitchell, American writer, minister ...

. Now-closed portholes in the reliefs allowed the public to peer into the BART Operations Control Center. Walls in the station feature tile work in red, black, and off-white by Alfonso Pardiñas. The BART Administration Building was located in a dedicated six-story office building constructed concurrently on top of the station. In 2003, due to potential risk of earthquake damage, the headquarters was moved away from the station to leased space in the

Kaiser Center Kaiser Center, also called the Kaiser Building, is a 28-story office building located at 300 Lakeside Drive, adjacent to Lake Merritt, in downtown Oakland, California, designed by the architectural firm of Welton Becket & Associates of Los Ange ...

. The former Administration Building was dismantled in 2009 and 2010. Bathrooms at underground BART stations were closed after the September 11 attacks due to security concerns. The bathroom at Lake Meritt station reopened on June 28, 2022, after a renovation, with an attendant on duty during all operating hours. On September 8, 2022, the BART Board approved plans for a 457-unit residential development to replace the station parking lot, with two additional phases planned.

Station layout

The station has a single

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular o ...

located two levels below ground, with a fare mezzanine above it. The station has four entrances from Oak Street between 8th Street and 9th Street.

References

External links

BART - Lake Merritt
Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Richmond line Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Daly City line Stations on the Dublin/Pleasanton–Daly City line Railway stations in Oakland, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1972 Bay Area Rapid Transit stations located underground Railway stations in California at university and college campuses {{AlamedaCountyCA-railstation-stub