By IN YOUR SPACE By Christina S. Porter
Being that Bergamot Station has the name it does you would think there would be a train coming by soon. Apparently that was the plan but it won’t be coming any-time soon.
According to an article in the LA Business Journal, the $156 million earmarked for the light rail project was rescinded by the MTA. The rail line would have eventually connected downtown Los Angeles with the Pacific Ocean via Culver City that included a stop at Bergamot Station on the way.
The property, purchased by the City of Santa Monica for $17.3 million in 1989, is currently leased out to art galleries and architecture firms on a month-to-month basis.
According to Councilman Kevin McKeown, as quoted in the same article “When the time comes we have every intention to use that as our rail station.” It has been said, however that, with the funding in limbo, it could take as long as 20 years for our train to arrive. In the meantime there are at least two projects that have been and are being built with that rail line in mind. They include the Water Garden and the redesigned Civic Center in downtown Santa Monica. Combining the obvious fact that the rail line would make it easier for tourists to visit our city (try going West on the 10 on any Saturday in the summer) and an estimated increase of 10 million people to the state of California by the year 2020, the rail line could be a very important part of Santa Monica’s infrastructure, economic and otherwise.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 8, 2003. Read the original PDF.