Gary Metro Center (also known as the Adam Benjamin Metro Center) is a multimodal commuter hub operated by the Gary Public Transportation Corporation. It was built in 1984 as an elevated replacement of the previously ground-level Broadway Street station. Named in honor of local Representative Adam Benjamin Jr., who died in 1982. It serves as the central bus terminal and the Downtown Gary station on the South Shore Line. It also serves as a stop for Greyhound Lines and other intercity bus systems.

It is one of three NICTD electric train stations in Gary, and serves the Genesis Convention Center and the U.S. Steel Yard baseball park, home of the Gary SouthShore RailCats baseball team. The RailCats's full name, SouthShore RailCats, honors the South Shore Line.

The station is just south of the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) and the disused Gary Union Station. The tracks of the former Baltimore and Ohio (now CSX) and New York Central Railroads (now Norfolk Southern) also lie near the station.

Structure

The station consists of a single elevated low-level island platform with mobile wheelchair lifts to allow passengers with disabilities to board and disembark. The platform can be accessed from the second floor of stairs located adjacent to Broadway as well as via the second floor of the station building. The station was designed by Gary-based architectural firm H. Seay Cantrell Associates.

Bus connections

Gary Public Transportation Corporation

Local Routes

  • Route L1: West-Central via Grant
  • Route L2: Oak/County Line via Aetna
  • Route L3: Crosstown Connector
  • Route L4: University Park

Regional Routes

  • Route R1: R1: Lakeshore Connection
  • Route R3: Burr Street and Lake Ridge
  • Route R-BMX: Broadway Metro Express

Greyhound Lines

History

A westbound train at Gary in August 1975

Gary station opened in 1908 as an inaugural stop along the new Chicago, Lake Shore and South Bend Railway; it was located at Broadway and Third, near the United States Steel Corporation plant and several steam railroad stations. The station building had a footprint of 23 by 78 feet (7.0 m × 23.8 m) and featured a tile roof. A 200-foot (61 m) platform, level with car floors, was provided for passengers and freight handling. A storage yard and wye were also provided. It contained a ticket office, waiting rooms, and baggage room. A new station building had replaced the original by the 1950s.

The modern station was dedicated on October 16, 1985.

Bibliography

  • Ogorek, Cynthia L. (2012). . Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-738-59419-4. OL .

External links

  • Media related to Adam Benjamin Metro Center at Wikimedia Commons
vteGary train stations
South Shore Line to Chicago (Millennium) Gary/Chicago Airport Pennsylvania Railroadto Chicago Union Station Gary (PRR) B&O to Chicago (Grand Central)NYC to Chicago (LaSalle St.) Gary Metro Center Gary Union Station Broadway New York Central Railroadto New York (Grand Central) Miller Gary–Lake St Pennsylvania Railroadto New York (Penn) South Shore Line to South Bend Baltimore and Ohio Railroadto Jersey City
South Shore Line to Chicago (Millennium)
Gary/Chicago AirportPennsylvania Railroadto Chicago Union Station
Pennsylvania Railroad
to Chicago Union Station
Gary (PRR)B&O to Chicago (Grand Central)NYC to Chicago (LaSalle St.)
B&O to Chicago (Grand Central)
NYC to Chicago (LaSalle St.)
Gary Metro CenterGary Union Station
BroadwayNew York Central Railroadto New York (Grand Central)
New York Central Railroad
to New York (Grand Central)
MillerGary–Lake St
Pennsylvania Railroadto New York (Penn)
Pennsylvania Railroad
to New York (Penn)
South Shore Line to South BendBaltimore and Ohio Railroadto Jersey City
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
to Jersey City