State Center station

State Center station (formerly State Center/Cultural Center station) is an underground Baltimore Metro SubwayLink station in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a transit hub offering connections to the Baltimore Light RailLink system, the tenth most northern and western station on the line, the first one in the area viewed by many as "downtown Baltimore," and is within a 2 block walk of the Cultural Center station on the Light RailLink system, via Preston Street, and many area landmarks.

State Center
Metro SubwayLink station
Mezzanine at the State Center station
General information
Location	302 West Preston Street (Preston and Eutaw Streets) Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates	39.30158°N 76.62299°W / 39.30158; -76.62299
Owned by	Maryland Transit Administration
Tracks	2
Connections	Light RailLink (at Cultural Center station) MTA Maryland Buses
Construction
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	November 21, 1983
Previous names	State Center/Cultural Center (1983–2017)
Passengers
2017	1,661 daily[1]
Services
Preceding station Maryland Transit Administration Following station Upton–Avenue Market toward Owings Mills Metro SubwayLink Lexington Market toward Johns Hopkins Hospital
Location

The stations elevator and escalator entrance is located on the corner of West Preston Street and North Eutaw Street which is directly adjacent to the Maryland States Office Complex, hence the name "State Center." It is within the boundaries of the Madison Park neighborhood and is also very close to the adjacent neighborhoods of Bolton Hill, Mid-Town Belvedere, Mount Vernon, and Seton Hill.

State Center station platform

Artwork

Paul Daniel's "Venter" suspended over State Center station

State Center station features a mobile sculpture entitled "Venter," which is suspended in a large opening between its upper and lower level. The sculpture was created by Baltimore artist Paul Daniel at a $39,000 commission in 1983.^[2]

History

State Center station was initially referred to as the Bolton Hill station during its planning and construction, in reference to the adjacent neighborhood to the site's north.^[3]

Excavation and construction

The Bolton Hill tunnels constructed around State Center station were driven with a shield through Cretaceous alluvium and through mica schist-derived residual materials. Hand mining was required to advance the face of the tunnel in some areas where the alignment passed through more resistant, hard residual materials.^[4]

References

1. Metro SubwayLink Cornerstone Plan (PDF) (Report). Maryland Department of Transportation Maryland Transit Administration. 2018. p. 15. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
2. Dorsey, John (November 20, 1983). "The art & architecture of the new subway: tunnel visions". The Sun. Photos by David Harp. p. 313.
3. Warmkessel, Karen E (April 23, 1980). "City subway is making tracks". The Sun. p. C1.
4. Myers-Böhlke, Brenda (1983). A characterization of deep weathering profiles in foliated, metamorphic rocks for tunneling and shaft sinking (Doctoral). University of California, Berkeley.

External links

• Preston Street entrance from Google Maps Street View