Lake Merritt station

Lake Merritt station

Company type	Rapid transit station
Industry	Public transportation
Founded	September 11, 1972 (1972-09-11)
Headquarters	Oakland, California , United States
Area served	Oakland, California
Products	Bay Area Rapid Transit service (Orange, Green, and Blue lines)

Lake Merritt station is a subterranean Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) facility situated just east of Downtown Oakland, adjacent to Lake Merritt. It accommodates the Orange, Green, and Blue routes, serving as the nearest BART stop to Oakland’s Chinatown, Laney College, and the Jack London Square area.

Station layout

Positioned two levels below ground, the station comprises a single island platform with a fare mezzanine located above it. Access is provided through four entrances along Oak Street, between 8th and 9th Streets.

Next to the fare lobby lies an underutilized oval-shaped courtyard featuring relief sculptures of marine animals and birds crafted by artist William Mitchell. These reliefs originally incorporated now-sealed portholes that offered glimpses into the BART Operations Control Center. At one time, this courtyard also contained a fountain. The station’s walls are adorned with tile mosaics in shades of red, black, and off-white, designed by Alfonso Pardiñas.

History

The establishment of Lake Merritt station, along with the neighboring BART Administration Building, resulted in the removal of three blocks within Chinatown. This was part of broader mid-20th-century urban redevelopment efforts that also included projects such as I-880, Laney College, and the Oakland Museum of California. By August 1965, city officials in Oakland preferred naming the station "Peralta Center," but a BART committee ultimately recommended "Lake Merritt," which was officially adopted in December.

Opening on September 11, 1972, Lake Merritt station was part of BART’s inaugural segment. Notably, due to a nationwide strike affecting elevator installers that year, it was the sole station among the initial group to have functioning elevators at launch.

The six-story BART Administration Building was constructed atop the station as an office tower. In 2003, concerns regarding seismic vulnerability led to relocating BART’s headquarters to leased offices within the Kaiser Center. The original administration building was demolished between 2009 and 2010, coinciding with seismic upgrades at the station carried out from May through September 2009. Following heightened security measures after the September 11 attacks, underground restrooms at stations were closed; however, Lake Merritt’s restroom was refurbished and reopened on June 28, 2022, now staffed by an attendant during service hours.

In September 2018, BART selected a development partner for transit-oriented development (TOD) on property surrounding the station. On September 8, 2022, plans received approval for a residential complex comprising 457 units to replace the station’s parking lot, which closed on September 16, 2024, to facilitate construction. The initial phase includes two buildings containing 97 and 360 housing units respectively. Subsequent stages will add two more buildings offering approximately 100 residential units alongside 500,000 square feet of office space on land currently occupied by BART Police headquarters; these police facilities are scheduled to relocate near BART’s main offices by 2026. Additionally, an isolated BART-owned parcel near 7th Street is slated for development but faces considerable market challenges and is not expected to proceed before the mid-2030s.

External links

• BART – Lake Merritt Station
• BART – Lake Merritt Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)