LACMA Lobbies for Extra Purple Line Entrance

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is asking Metro to build an extra entrance/exit to the proposed Purple Line station at Wilshire and Fairfax one block east at Orange Grove Avenue for better access to the museum, and the museum has offered to pay for it, reports Curbed LA.

"LACMA is supportive of a primary portal at Wilshire/Orange Grove as this location serves not only the cultural institutions along this stretch but also the office workers and residents who work and live in this area," LACMA's Director of Communications Miranda Carroll told Curbed LA.

The Metro Board of Directors may support this idea. Last week, a post on Metro's blog The Source indicated staff is now favoring a stop on Wilshire at Orange Grove instead of Fairfax.

There was one change to the staff recommendations for the project with staff now saying that the station entrance for the Fairfax station should be at Wilshire and Orange Grove, which is directly across Wilshire from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Staff had originally proposed an entrance on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Fairfax but noted that increased attendance at the museum plus the commitment of LACMA to raise money for a second portal on the north side of Wilshire made that entrance more desireable.

This switch has been criticized by the Miracle Mile Residential Association and the Legal Rights Center at Loyola Law School because it will make it more difficult for the disabled to catch city buses on Fairfax, reports Curbed LA.

The Metro board is on the Final Environmental Impact Statement/Report on Thursday.

To read the complete Curbed LA article, click here.

To read more Patch articles about the Westside Subway Extension, click here.