After more than a year of construction and seven years of planning, officials of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) officially dedicated the East 55th Street Rapid Station on Oct. 11, 2011.

The $9.4 million, ADA-accessible station — an icon in the Slavic Village neighborhood — is as versatile as it is aesthetically pleasing.

The original station was located in a valley west of East 55th Street, and was largely hidden to passers-by. The new station was built on the northeast corner of I-490 and East 55th Street, making a more visible landmark and providing easier access to pedestrians and vehicles.

The East 55th Street facility is one of the few stations that services the Red, Blue, and Green lines, connecting east side and west side transit, and linking bus service to rail service.

The new parking lot and entrance allow buses and automobiles to drop passengers off right at the station door. Also new is a center platform that allows convenient transfer between the Red, Blue, and Green line trains without having to cross the tracks. The 800-foot long platform was a major piece of engineering.

The design process

The station is in the St. Hyacinth portion of the Slavic Village neighborhood. The modern design was selected to embrace the neighborhood's future. The stone facade was selected to represent the many churches in the East 55th Street vicinity.

Many groups helped in the design phase, including Slavic Village Development, residents, stakeholders, current Ward 12 Cleveland City Councilman Anthony Brancatelli, and City Councilman John Cimperman, who represented the area during the early years of the planning process.

Ken Emling of Richard L. Bowen + Associates, Inc. designed the station. He talks about the design process.

"The design started with talking to the community. They were tired of the old industrial setting along East 55th Street, with the junk yards and used car lots. They said they wanted a building that made a statement, was highly colorful and met the needs of the public."

"The concept for the overall shape of the building came from their request...we wanted the architecture to be bold, striking and make a statement that this area, and this community, are important to Cleveland. The design incorporated curved elements to signify movement and transit (never stagnant, but free flowing). Each part of the building has its own curve, so as a passenger experiences the building from different vantage points, the curved theme is always present."

"The colors came again from the community's request for a station that was colorful, fun and exciting. The purple of the bridge highlights the entrance to the building from the street level and clarifies your path to get to the trains. Other colors are more subtle, but are enhanced by the vibrant red of the RTA signage. All the various colors come together to unify the design. The public artwork helps to continue the theme of movement throughout the station."

"So now the community and RTA have a new, 21st century station that rises up from the track level above the 55th St. bridge and signifies a new beginning for this entire area."

• The public art mural entitled Space, Speed, and Time created by Shan-Shan Sheng - a renowned public artist who recently installed the art at the CSU Education building. The 25-30 colorful art panels are meant to depict train tracks. They reflect light from the windows as they hang in the bridge walkway.
• Michael Murphy -- who created the bust of Stephanie Tubbs Jones at the Transit Center at CSU -- created colorful red figures within the stairwell and fences throughout the station. These red figures are completed in a series to portray motion and movement associated with public transit and in particular, train travel.