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Some photos of the train station. You can see the really big gap between the station house and the new building/track platform. A worker said they had plans to eventually enclose the opening. I hope he was right.
 

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Some photos of the train station. You can see the really big gap between the station house and the new building/track platform. A worker said they had plans to eventually enclose the opening. I hope he was right.
There are some conficting hopes for how this all eventually turns out and I'm not sure some people are fully aware how they're at odds with one another, given that some folks have expressed hope for both. There are those who are super concerned about the above referenced "gap" and then there are others (although sometimes the same posters) who really want natural light in the platform area.

The "gap" provides much of the natural light that many (me included) value. You cover that gap and you lose lots of the light.

Which is it? Pick a lane.

I guess the optimal solution would be to close the gap with a massive skylight?
 
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Some photos of the train station. You can see the really big gap between the station house and the new building/track platform. A worker said they had plans to eventually enclose the opening. I hope he was right.
They should paint a long yellow line along there as a "mind the gap" reminder.
 
Simple. Cover it with glass or something transparent, and everybody is happy.

There's a lot of conficting hopes for how this all eventually turns out and I'm not sure some people are fully aware how they're at odds with one another, given that some folks have expressed hope for both. There are those who are super concerned about the above referenced "gap" and then there are others (although sometimes the same posters) who really want natural light in the platform area.

The "gap" provides much of the natural light that many (me included) value. You cover that gap and you lose lots of the light.

Which is it? Pick a lane.

I guess the optimal solution would be to close the gap with a massive skylight?
Simple. Cover it with glass or something transparent, and everybody is happy.

The amount of natural sunlight that gets through is so minimal, and would only benefit people walking in a hurry to get on their train (or arriving), that the argument for leaving it open is not really that strong. The place that really needs light is inside the waiting area, and that natural sunlight is already gone.
View attachment IMG_0726.jpg
 
There are some conficting hopes for how this all eventually turns out and I'm not sure some people are fully aware how they're at odds with one another, given that some folks have expressed hope for both. There are those who are super concerned about the above referenced "gap" and then there are others (although sometimes the same posters) who really want natural light in the platform area.

The "gap" provides much of the natural light that many (me included) value. You cover that gap and you lose lots of the light.

Which is it? Pick a lane.

I guess the optimal solution would be to close the gap with a massive skylight?
I don't think people were complaining about natural light for the outside platform area. Multiple people had mentioned that now the existing interior Concourse is going to be dark. I don't think that small gap between the old and new structures was going to provide any natural light. At least, that was my assumption.
 
Oh, I know ^^^.

Gap-worriers aren't countered by those advocating for the gap b/c it'll bring natural light to the station interior. I'm just saying that having the gap remain at least adds *some* natural light and given that we've lost the bulk of said light, maybe we want to hold onto what remains?

I dunno. Nothing about the gap concerns me one way or the other, really.
 
It bothers me for two reasons:
1) It looks unfinished. (Because it is. Hopefully they do actually enclose it as the construction worker told me they would.)
2) Rain and wind and snow. If you're warm inside waiting for your train, you don't want to get wet just before you get on your train. That would suck... especially if you're elderly, in a wheelchair, etc.
 
I guess I just don't see that tiny stretch of exposure to rain or snow as something that "sucks." If you leave your home and take any type of transportation, you are going to, at some point, come into contact with the weather and if it's raining you'll get a little wet.

I used to be at South Station taking the Acela to NYC all the time and whenever there was any weather I (and everyone else) got a little wet or cold. Big deal.
 
I guess I just don't see that tiny stretch of exposure to rain or snow as something that "sucks." If you leave your home and take any type of transportation, you are going to, at some point, come into contact with the weather and if it's raining you'll get a little wet.

I used to be at South Station taking the Acela to NYC all the time and whenever there was any weather I (and everyone else) got a little wet or cold. Big deal.
That's great that you don't mind getting wet when it's cold. Not everybody is as hearty as you. Hopefully the architects of this project were thinking of others.
 
Yeah, seriously. I have no desire to get soaked going from the station to platform. Sure I might from the station to my house, but at least I won't have to ride the train doused in water.
 

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