Take a look in front of you-Westlake station's entrance is tucked neatly below street level with a modern, Art Deco vibe: picture pale stone tiles, deep-set lighting, and geometric lines leading you toward gleaming underground platforms, bustling with the rhythm of the city.
Now, let’s dive into the story behind the pulsating heart of Downtown Seattle’s transit: Westlake station. Imagine you’re standing over Pine Street, where the city’s hustle and the department stores’ lights make you feel like you’re in the middle of an urban beehive. But hidden below, in a world apart from the rain and traffic, is a station that’s seen just about every twist and turn Seattle could throw at it-just with more escalators.
It all started way back in the early 1900s. Back then, this area was a muddy hillside, freshly leveled as part of Seattle’s ambitious regrading project. City planners like Virgil Bogue looked at Pine Street and dreamed of subway lines converging here-a place where the future would hum beneath the streets, whisking people to all corners of the city. It was a daring vision, but unfortunately, Seattle voters of 1912 must have thought, “Not today!” So, the great underground became home to massive department stores like The Bon Marché and Nordstrom instead-places where the only thing traveling quickly was your paycheck.
Fast forward to the 1960s and 70s, when Seattle again flirted with the idea of a subway, pushed by dreams of sleek trains beneath the shopping crowds. Despite two ballot tries, funding for subways fell just short, much to the disappointment of dreamers (and, I suspect, the local umbrella industry). Instead, Seattle built Metro Transit for buses, but the idea of an underground never faded away.
The 1980s were when things really started heating up underground-literally and figuratively. The city approved the construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, and Westlake was to become the crown jewel. Picture Pine Street in the late ‘80s: blocked off, busy with construction workers sinking 400 pilings into the earth. Tunnel boring machines worked below, chewing earth and chewing time (and, at some point, after their job was done, their shells were left to become part of the tunnel walls-talk about becoming part of the city fabric).
But wait-there was drama, too. Granite for the station turned out to come from apartheid South Africa. Whoops! The city, upholding a boycott, returned it all and the project leader resigned. Wrong tiles, sick workers from mystery bad air, and moments of crisis decorated construction, yet somehow, the Westlake station mezzanine opened in grand style in 1989. Local politicians praised its elegance, and it wasn’t long before the sleek escalators, shining terrazzo, and quotes inscribed in stone made this place more than just a way to catch a ride-it was a new underground living room for the city.
Buses ruled here at first, gliding silently as they swapped diesel for electric power under the city (no gas-guzzling allowed down here, thank you very much!). But the 1990s brought a new player: Light Rail. Voters eventually gave the green light to Sound Transit, and Westlake got another multi-million-dollar remodeling. Escalators multiplied like rabbits. The tunnel was closed-again!-for renovation. Bus and rail would share the space for a while, before Westlake finally became all light rail, all the time in 2019 (don’t worry, bus fans, the surface streets are still yours).
And if you think a station’s just platforms and trains, you’d be wrong. Westlake has giant murals-some with Marilyn Monroe, samurais, and Donald Duck mingling in a riot of color-showcasing Seattle’s wild, wonderful spirit. There are handmade terra cotta tiles shaped like leaves, and once there was even a huge granite question mark clock above (yes, a question mark clock-Seattle likes to keep things interesting).
Today, trains rumble by every few minutes, carrying thousands toward markets, stadiums, and the airport-twenty hours a day, almost every day, like a heartbeat under downtown. If you listen closely, you might still hear the echoes of old department stores, the arguments of city planners, and the laughter of the first passengers-all blended together, right here beneath your feet. So next time you step inside Westlake station-remember-you’re not just catching a train. You’re diving straight into Seattle’s underground adventure.
