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Peachtree Center (MARTA station)
Encyclopedia
Peachtree Center station is an underground Train station on the Red
and Gold
lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
(MARTA) rail system. It is the deepest station in the MARTA
rail system, at 120 feet (36.6 m) below Peachtree Street
. It serves the Peachtree Center
area of downtown Atlanta
, and is the first station north-northeast of the rail system hub at Five Points. This is one of the busiest stations on the Red/Gold Lines handling over 15,000 people per weekday. The East entrance of this station is located in the lobby of the Peachtree Center Mmall, and in the West entrance a United States Post Office is present, the closest proximity of any United States Post Office in the system.
It provides access to the Peachtree Center Business and Dining District, HardRock Cafe, The Westin Peacthree Plaza Hotel, Downtown Atlanta Hotel District,SAE Institute, Rialto Center for the Performing Arts
, Atlanta-Fulton County Library, and Woodruff Park. It provides connecting bus service to Buckhead, The High Museum of Art, The Fox Theater, Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Piedmont Hospital, Underground Atlanta, Piedmont Park, and Lenox Mall-Phipps Plaza.
The station has an island platform serving two tracks. The floor is made of gray tile, the "walls" are made of solid gneiss
rock, and the ceiling panels are made of steel. Four escalator banks are used to access the station, with the Carnegie Way/Ellis Street (southwest) entrance having the longest escalators in the system, which MARTA claims are also the longest in the Southeast U.S.. The Harris Street (northwest) entrance has a map of the MARTA system with proposed lines on it. The station was featured in the 1985 movie The Heavenly Kid
.
and North Avenue
stations on December 4, 1981, the Peachtree Center station between them did not open until September 11, 1982. A poster dating to 1982 on the station platform describes how the station was built. The poster reads:
The Design of the Peachtree Center Marta Station was done by the architectural firm of Toombs Amisano and Wells. Joseph Amisano being the last of the three original partners executed the design over the course of several years and was the major creative force behind the project.
Also the architect of the Peachtree Summit Building, located three blocks north of the station, Mr. Amisano left a legacy of structures following his death in 2008.
Red Line (MARTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line in the MARTA rail system. It operates between North Springs and Airport stations, running through Sandy Springs, Atlanta, East Point and College Park....
and Gold
Gold Line (MARTA)
The Gold Line is a rapid transit line in the MARTA rail system. It operates between Doraville and Airport stations, running through Doraville, Chamblee, Atlanta, East Point and College Park....
lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
(MARTA) rail system. It is the deepest station in the MARTA
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority or MARTA is the principal rapid-transit system in the Atlanta metropolitan area and the ninth-largest in the United States. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit system consisting...
rail system, at 120 feet (36.6 m) below Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street
Peachtree Street is the main street of Atlanta. The city grew up around the street, and many of its historical and municipal buildings are or were located along it...
. It serves the Peachtree Center
Peachtree Center
Peachtree Center is a multi-block neighborhood located in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings that make up the district were designed by Atlanta architect John C. Portman, Jr.. Many of the buildings are connected by a network of enclosed pedestrian sky bridges...
area of downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta
Downtown Atlanta is the first and largest of the three financial districts in the city of Atlanta. Downtown Atlanta is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters, city, county, state and federal government facilities, sporting facilities, and is the central tourist attraction of the city...
, and is the first station north-northeast of the rail system hub at Five Points. This is one of the busiest stations on the Red/Gold Lines handling over 15,000 people per weekday. The East entrance of this station is located in the lobby of the Peachtree Center Mmall, and in the West entrance a United States Post Office is present, the closest proximity of any United States Post Office in the system.
It provides access to the Peachtree Center Business and Dining District, HardRock Cafe, The Westin Peacthree Plaza Hotel, Downtown Atlanta Hotel District,SAE Institute, Rialto Center for the Performing Arts
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
, Atlanta-Fulton County Library, and Woodruff Park. It provides connecting bus service to Buckhead, The High Museum of Art, The Fox Theater, Emory Crawford Long Hospital, Piedmont Hospital, Underground Atlanta, Piedmont Park, and Lenox Mall-Phipps Plaza.
The station has an island platform serving two tracks. The floor is made of gray tile, the "walls" are made of solid gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
rock, and the ceiling panels are made of steel. Four escalator banks are used to access the station, with the Carnegie Way/Ellis Street (southwest) entrance having the longest escalators in the system, which MARTA claims are also the longest in the Southeast U.S.. The Harris Street (northwest) entrance has a map of the MARTA system with proposed lines on it. The station was featured in the 1985 movie The Heavenly Kid
The Heavenly Kid
The Heavenly Kid is a 1985 comedy film directed by Cary Medoway and starring Lewis Smith, Jason Gedrick, Jane Kaczmarek, and Richard Mulligan.-Plot:...
.
Nearby landmarks and popular destinations
- Peachtree CenterPeachtree CenterPeachtree Center is a multi-block neighborhood located in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings that make up the district were designed by Atlanta architect John C. Portman, Jr.. Many of the buildings are connected by a network of enclosed pedestrian sky bridges...
/Peachtree Center Business District - Mall at Peachtree Center
- Central LibraryAtlanta-Fulton Public Library SystemThe Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System is a network of public libraries serving the City of Atlanta and Fulton County, both in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is currently administered by Fulton County...
- Hard Rock CafeHard Rock CafeHard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
- American Cancer Society Center (formerly Inforum)
- Georgia AquariumGeorgia AquariumThe Georgia Aquarium, located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, at Pemberton Place, is the world's largest aquarium with more than of marine and fresh water housing more than 120,000 animals of 500 different species...
- World of Coca-ColaWorld of Coca-ColaThe World of Coca-Cola is a permanent exhibition featuring the history of The Coca-Cola Company and its well-known advertising as well as a host of entertainment areas and attractions...
- Centennial Olympic ParkCentennial Olympic ParkCentennial Olympic Park is a 21 acre public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA that is owned and operated by the Georgia World Congress Center Authority. The park was built by the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as part of the infrastructure improvements for the Centennial...
- Woodruff ParkWoodruff ParkWoodruff Park, named for Robert W. Woodruff, is located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The park's are north of Edgewood Ave, between Peachtree Street NE and Park Place NE...
- Rialto Center for the Performing ArtsGeorgia State UniversityGeorgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
- Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
- Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel
- SAE InstituteSAE InstituteThe SAE Institute is a private college founded in 1976 by Sound Engineer, Record Producer and businessman Tom Misner. The first school was opened 1977 in Sydney,...
- Various downtown Atlanta hotels
Connection to other transit systems
- Cobb Community TransitCobb Community TransitCobb Community Transit or CCT is the bus public transit system in Cobb County, Georgia, one of metro Atlanta's three most populous suburban counties...
- Gwinnett County TransitGwinnett County TransitGwinnett County Transit or GCT is the bus public transit system in Gwinnett County, Georgia, USA, one of metro Atlanta's three most populous suburban counties...
- Georgia Regional Transportation AuthorityGeorgia Regional Transportation AuthorityThe Georgia Regional Transportation Authority or GRTA is a government agency in the U.S. state of Georgia...
Construction
Although the operation of the North Line began between the GarnettGarnett (MARTA station)
Garnett is an elevated Rail station on the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system, located in South Downtown. It has an island platform between two tracks. This station has three levels to it. It was opened on December 4, 1981...
and North Avenue
North Avenue (MARTA station)
North Avenue is an underground train station on the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority rail system, named after the nearby North Avenue. The walls are made of white tile and painted with a mural of green hills, a blue sky, and clouds. It is among the busiest...
stations on December 4, 1981, the Peachtree Center station between them did not open until September 11, 1982. A poster dating to 1982 on the station platform describes how the station was built. The poster reads:
- MARTA's moving Atlanta, 120 feet below Peachtree Street.
- The Peachtree Center station was built by tunneling through solid gneiss, a grainitelike rock formed of layers of quartz and mica. This rock provides underground support for the station. Soft ground or mixed tunneling was used where there was insufficient rock structure for underground support. With this method, compressed air twice the normal atmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressureAtmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...
was used to support the walls while permanent structures were being built. Like deep sea divers, workers on this section of the rapid rail transit system were required to undergo 30 minutes of compression/decompression when entering or coming out of the tunnel. This station is only one of a few tunnels in the world where the walls and the ceiling were carved from solid rock.
- Length of longest escalator serving the station entrance across from the Atlanta Public Library is 190 feet- the longest in the southeast. Cost of Station: approx. $45 million. Station depth: 120 feet. Station length: 900 feet.
The Design of the Peachtree Center Marta Station was done by the architectural firm of Toombs Amisano and Wells. Joseph Amisano being the last of the three original partners executed the design over the course of several years and was the major creative force behind the project.
Also the architect of the Peachtree Summit Building, located three blocks north of the station, Mr. Amisano left a legacy of structures following his death in 2008.