Readers React: Union Station is an island of peace in a busy city. Don’t change that

To the editor: Call me old fashioned, but I love sitting at Los Angeles Union Station and taking in the beauty of the architecture, watching the light play off the walls and even observing the ever-fascinating show that is my fellow travelers. (“How Metro plans to reinvent Union Station from transit hub to urban destination,” April 9)

I am horrified at the thought of well-meaning “planners and transportation officials extending the energy of downtown Los Angeles” into the rare treasure that is Union Station. City dwellers have few remaining opportunities for solace and quiet in the thriving metropolis.

For example, a bench overlooking the ocean on the Santa Monica Pier is now flanked by amplified singers crooning to their rhythm tracks. No longer can we hear the sound of the crashing waves there — and now there is the possibility of the circus coming to town at Union Station.

Please honor the need for reflection and connection without the powers that be imposing more stimuli on an already over-stimulated population.

Diana Zaslove Kahn, Culver City

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To the editor: By proposing that Union Station become a “destination” in its own right, I believe that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority wants it to be too many things to too many people.

Union Station’s identity is that of a hub, a place from where motion radiates. Metro could better augment Union Station and the communities it serves by focusing on innovative transportation-oriented projects such as improving the commuter experience by renovating platforms and improving lighting and security, creating bike and pedestrian trails that radiate from Union Station to nearby Metro stations and various points of interest, adding bus routes that connect to Patsaouras Transit Plaza and establishing a community innovation center at Union Station that holds public workshops and classes on urban transit issues and design.

Los Angeles already has a fantastic array of restaurants, museums, galleries and music venues. What it needs is a transit hub for the 21st century.

Anita Weaver, Glendale

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To the editor: I find it highly ironic that Union Station officials are endeavoring to reshape the landmark into a so-called urban destination, given that there’s still no place to sit in the main concourse if you’re not a ticketed passenger — as evidenced in an accompanying photo with the feature showing a roped-off section of seats of which I counted at least eight vacancies.

The first thing officials should do is rescind that reprehensible rule.

Will Campbell, Silver Lake

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