The North Platform Fiasco – Trio & Menuetto

Ah, Friends! Would that we could end this sorrowful tale of the Fullerton train station north platform without taxing your delicate sensibilities further. Yet, alas, we cannot. We have already detailed the story of the useless block wall that was built right in front of an existing wall, as well as the comically useless canopies built therein. But the “designer” was far from finished with the addition of masonry!

When you're late for your train there's just nothing quite as exhilarating as leaping over a block planter!
When you're late for your train there's just nothing quite as exhilarating as leaping over a block planter!

A huge block planter was placed in the middle of the platform – blocking direct access to the trains; a smaller one was inconceivably built on the footprint of the future elevator tower without anyone noticing. The idea of placing this practical barrier right between passengers and their destination seems odd to us non-professionals, but not, apparently to landscape architect Steve Rose who drew it there on his plans, nor to Redevelopment’s in-house Master of Disaster “manager” Terry Galvin, whose job it was to review the plans; nor even to the Design Review Committee which at that time included two interior decorators.

A pallisade of block on a train platform! What were they thinking?
A pallisade of block on a train platform! What were they thinking?
Good Lord! it looks even stupider from up here!
Good Lord! It looks even stupider from up here!

Well, Loyal Friends, in case you thought that things couldn’t get much worse, you would be wrong. Stay tuned as we continue the lachrymal tale of The Great North Platform Disaster!

5 Replies to “The North Platform Fiasco – Trio & Menuetto”

  1. While I have to give you credit for dredging up a lot of old photos, I have to ask: so what? landscaping is very popular nowadays and people demand it. And you can’t have landscaping without a planter, right?

    It looks to me like Rose and Galvin did what they were supposed to do, and did it well. Where is this going? I repeat even if there mistakes made (and I’m not saying there were)arent’t those guys long gone? it couldn’t happen again.

    Look to the future, not the past!

    1. “And you can’t have landscaping without a planter, right?”

      Stay tuned for the next segment.

  2. For anyone who hasn’t been there during rush hour, here’s what the crowd looks like at 6:30 AM. Imagine all of those people trying to hurdle over those barricades as the Metrolink pulls up.

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