Hillsboro Central/3rd Avenue Transit Center (MAX station)

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Hillsboro Central/3rd Avenue Transit Center

Platform and station
Station statistics
Address 333 SE Washington Street
Coordinates 45°31′17″N 122°59′07″W / 45.521473, -122.985334Coordinates: 45°31′17″N 122°59′07″W / 45.521473, -122.985334
Lines MAX Light Rail
Blue Line
Tracks 2
Parking None
Other information
Opened September 12, 1998
Owned by TriMet
Fare zone 3

The Hillsboro Central/3rd Avenue Transit Center station is an American light rail station and transit center on the MAX Blue Line in Hillsboro, Oregon. Opened in 1998, the red-brick station is the 19th stop westbound on the Westside MAX, one stop from the western terminus of the line. The largest station on the line, it is located at a former stop of the Oregon Electric Railway and includes artwork honoring the history of the community.

Contents

[edit] History

Construction of the Westside MAX project began in 1994. Construction on Hillsboro Central station was completed in August 1998 with a ceremony held on August 13.[1] On September 12, 1998, Hillsboro Central opened along with the Westside MAX line.[2] By 1999, the station was the third busiest on the westside line.[3] In 2000, a plaque honoring former Hillsboro mayor Shirley Huffman's work getting the westside MAX extended from 185th Avenue to downtown Hillsboro was added to the station.[4] When Hillsboro Central opened, the Hillsboro Public Library operated a small branch at the station called Books by Rail, which was the only library on the West Coast located at a mass transit station.[3] Due to budget cuts by the library, the branch was closed in June 2003.[5]

[edit] Details

Located on Southwest Washington Street between Third and Fourth avenues in downtown Hillsboro, the station is decorated with dark red bricks.[6] Overhead is a steep pitched roof, with the station's floor in the vestibule built of concrete planks in homage to the cedar planked roads that formerly existed in the town.[1][7] Designed by the architectural firm OTAK Inc., the station is the largest of the MAX stations on the westside line as it extends most of the length of the block between Third and Fourth avenues.[8] Hillsboro Central sits on the same site of the old Oregon Electric Railway station for the Hillsboro area and has a station building that is designed to look like an old railroad station.[6]

Other features include false chimneys and copper roofing on the main building that serves as the passenger shelter for westbound riders.[6] There is also a passenger cover on the single island platform between the two tracks and an additional cover for waiting bus passengers. Hillsboro Central has bike lockers,[9] is handicap accessible, but does not have a park and ride lot. The station is a hub for bus services in Hillsboro and connections to Cornelius and Forest Grove to the west.[8] This station is served by the following bus lines: 46, 47, 48, and 57.[6]

[edit] Art

``I seen more drunk men on the grounds than all the rest put together"
Albert E. Tozier quote etched on glass[1]

A variety of public artwork adorns the brick station. The collective works, entitled Niches, are a montage of the everyday lives of residents.[10] Inspiration and materials for the artwork were collected from the Washington County Museum, the Washington County Fair, and the Oregon Historical Society.[1] Items include granite pavers that have memories of past Hillsboro citizens carved into the stone and photographs etched onto glass.[11] Photographs range from pioneer times to life in the 1990s. There are also letters etched in glass from people such as Albert E. Tozier, Robert Summer, Chavela Mendoza, Lester C. Mooberry, Mary Ramsey Wood, George Iwasaki, and Howard Vollum.[1] Events described include gunfights, hangings, funerals, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Great Depression, and an outbreak of diphtheria in the 1890s among others.[1]

Bus passenger shelter
Bus passenger shelter

Also on display is burden basket created by basketmaker Sophie George in the design of the ones used by the Kalapuya, the Native American tribe that formerly inhabited the Tualatin Valley.[1] As few members of the Kalapuya remain and none had the knowledge of how to make the basket, George visited the British Museum to find an example of a basket in order to design the replica.[1] A bronze cast was created and is displayed at Hillsboro Central.[10] The station also includes a weather vane, one of a series of eight on the Westside MAX.[12] Designed by Keith Jellum and located on the roof of the station building, the vane resembles old train signals.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hamilton, don. Stories old, new crowd Hillsboro Central participants in the project to reveal local history mark the end of efforts designed to interest MAX commuter. The Oregonian, August 12, 1998.
  2. ^ Mapes, Jeff. Gore walks tight line on Clinton. The Oregonian, September 13, 1998.
  3. ^ a b Hamilton, Don. Light ridership makes for light readership. The Oregonian, December 29, 1999.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Don. Shirley Huffman, fiery lobbyist, earns praise. The Oregonian, February 23, 2000.
  5. ^ Anderson, David. Library no longer in the cards. The Oregonian, June 30, 2003.
  6. ^ a b c d Hillsboro Transit Center. TriMet. Retrieved on June 6, 2008.
  7. ^ a b Art on Westside MAX Blue Line. TriMet. Retrieved on June 6, 2008.
  8. ^ a b Colby, Richard. Stationary images consist of brick walls, sloping line. The Oregonian, February 23, 1995.
  9. ^ Office of Transportation: Lockers. City of Portland. Retrieved on June 6, 2008.
  10. ^ a b McCarthy, Dennis. Enjoy the beauty of beadwork, baskets. The Oregonian, October 16, 1997.
  11. ^ Gragg, Randy. A platform to reveal the art of the journey. The Oregonian, September 9, 1998.
  12. ^ Hamilton, Don. Sculptures will let riders know which way wind is blowing. The Oregonian, July 23, 1997.

[edit] External links

Preceding station   MAX Light Rail   Following station
Terminus
 Blue Line