(rshsdepot) Burlingame, CA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From InsideBayArea.com.
 
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
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    City seeks input on train station design  Burlingame commission meeting 
May 17  By Aaron Kinney, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay  Area  Article Last Updated:05/09/2007 02:40:53 AM  PDT    
BURLINGAME — Residents soon will get a chance to  offer up their ideas for how to 
transform part of the Burlingame Avenue  train station into a landscaped plaza 
and public gathering space.  
The Centennial Plaza project, designed to coincide with the city's  100th 
anniversary next year, will occupy the parking lot west of the train  station 
between North and South lanes and is one of three plans in  development for the 
historic structure.  
The Burlingame Historical Society aims to open a museum inside the  station 
by the end of this year, while Caltrain expects to begin a roughly  $12 million 
renovation on the east side of the building by late summer.  
City officials want the space to have dual uses. On weekdays, the plaza  
would be used for commuter parking, while on evenings and weekends the  area could 
host a farmers market or small performances.  
The Parks and Recreation Commission will host a meeting next week of  the 
Centennial Executive Committee, headed by Mayor Terry Nagel and Vice  Mayor 
Rosalie O'Mahony, where members of the public will be able to offer  their 
suggestions.  
John Cahalan, the Los Gatos landscape architect hired to run the  project, 
will attend the meeting and display sketches illustrating some  possible 
designs.  
Jeannie Gilmore, a board member of Citizens for a Better Burlingame,  said 
she'd like the plaza to be functional and alive with poetry recitals  or school 
events. Above all, it should be inviting, she said.  
"I do think that it should be a place where people should feel very  welcome 
to congregate," said Gilmore, who envisions flowers and benches  framing a 
spot for Burlingame Avenue shoppers to rest while waiting for a  train.  
City Councilman Russ Cohen said he wants the design to be interactive  and 
"kinetic." He suggested the committee consider a water feature.  
Like the history museum, the plaza will be paid for through private  
donations. Parks and Recreation Director Randy Schwartz said the project  is expected 
to cost around $175,000 or $200,000.  
Cahalan was hired with some of the $50,000 that the City Council set  aside 
for planning the centennial, the celebration of which stretches into  next 
year. Schwartz said he expects construction of the plaza to be under  way by June 
6, 2008, when the centennial will be marked with fireworks and  a ball.  
Schwartz said the design of the plaza will have to mesh with that of  
Caltrain's project, which will add fencing and landscaping to both  platforms, and 
revamp the tracks to allow two trains to stop at once.  
The Parks and Recreation Commission meeting will take place at 7 p.m.  May 17 
in Council Chambers at 501 Primrose Road.  
Staff writer Aaron Kinney can be reached at (650) 348-4302 or at 
_akinney_@_sanmateocountytimes.com_ (mailto:akinney@sanmateocountytimes.com) .



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