Museum District station

Museum District
northbound platform
General information
Location	Northbound: 5640 San Jacinto Street Southbound: 5660 Fannin Street Houston, Texas
Owned by	Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County
Line(s)	Red Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	METRO: 5, 65, 292
Construction
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	January 1, 2004;21 years ago (2004-01-01) [1]
Services
Preceding station METRORail Following station Hermann Park/Rice University toward Fannin South Red Line Wheeler toward Northline Transit Center/HCC
Location

Museum District Station is a light rail station in south-central Houston, Texas, United States. The station serves the Red Line of Houston's METRORail system. The station is located in the southern end of the Houston Museum District, a neighborhood containing Houston's largest museums. Institutions near the station include the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Children's Museum of Houston, Holocaust Museum Houston, The Health Museum, and the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

The station's northbound and southbound are located on separate, parallel one-way streets (San Jacinto Street and Fannin Street, respectively) on opposite sides of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Visitor Center. Museum District is the one of four METRORail stations and the only Red Line station with such a layout.

History

Plans for a rail line along Main and Fannin Streets, which would pass through the Museum District while connecting Downtown and Texas Medical Center, date to 1990. ^[2] Construction began on the line, including the Museum District station, in 2001. ^[3]

Museum District was the only station on the Main Street line to place its northbound and southbound stations on separate streets. This was done to maximize the number of lanes open on Fannin Street, which needed to be kept high-capacity to offset a narrowing of the nearby Main Street. ^[3] Glass canopies at the station were decorated with abstract art by artist Maggi Battalino. ^[4]

The station, along with the rest of the line, opened on January 1, 2004. ^[1] To tie in with the opening, the nearby Children's Museum of Houston opened an exhibit on the science of transportation. ^[5]

References

1. Wall, Lucas (January 1, 2004). "New ride for the new year: Festivals mark inaugural day for Metro train". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Corporation. pp. A1 – via NewsBank.
2. Roth, Bennett (October 14, 1990). "Med Center transit plan may have people mover: High-density area makes it "a natural"". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Communications. pp. 1A – via NewsBank.
3. Sallee, Rad; Christian, Carol (April 1, 2001). "Rail means big changes for Main corridor: Line to disrupt routines of `stakeholders'". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Communications. pp. 31A – via NewsBank.
4. Pugh, Clifford (June 20, 2002). "Corridor of Culture: Light rail opens up possibilities for a pathway to city's museums". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Communications. p. 1 – via NewsBank.
5. Achen, Paris (January 7, 2004). "Train reaction: Children's Museum exhibit explores city transit alongside light rail debut". Houston Chronicle . Hearst Communications. pp. 20A – via NewsBank.

29°43′27.69″N95°23′17.57″W / 29.7243583°N 95.3882139°W / 29.7243583; -95.3882139