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Teardown, Original Transbay Terminal
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Two years earlier, the old bus overpass into the Transbay Terminal had been
augmented by this new overpass. Now, both the old and new were being torn
down together. This was a high priority because they passed through the
Temporary Transbay Terminal and prevented its completion.
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Across Howard Street from the Temporary Transbay Terminal the old overpass had been
torn down and part of it lay on top of leftover rubble.
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The Temporary Transbay Terminal could be seen behind the demolition of the old bus-overpass.
The top of the elevated roadway was removed first, then the legs were demolished.
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A wide overpass used to cross over Beale Street. Here, the original roadway
had been removed. Next the horizontal trusses would be removed, and lastly the
concrete uprights.
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Rebar and other steel recyclables were piled at the base of the old overpass uprights.
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Bits of concrete still clung to the rebar exposed after the roadway was demolished.
Like bits of leaves or insects caught in a spider's web.
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A large and powerful yellow machine gathered bundles of reclaimed rebar
and moved them to a common pile for later collection.
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The old Fremont Street offramp in the distant next block used to rise again to
an overpass here. That overpass had been removed and became a pile of rubble
at the left of this image.
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The overpasses had been removed from this corner of the Temporary Transbay Terminal with allowed
it to compete construction.
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The old overpass that led into the Transbay Terminal had been reduced to a pile of rubble.
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The view looking across Beale Street at where the old overpass continued into the
old Transbay Terminal. In the distance one could still see the waiting area were
buses were once boarded.
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Symbolic of the old giving way for the new. A former overpass riser beaten into submission.
The last century about to be forced to bow before the next century.
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The Beale Street Bar And Grill
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The overpass leading into the old Transbay Terminal was already stripped
of its roadway. Notice how traffic on Fremont Street had to pass under
bare steel supports.
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The front of the closed Transbay Terminal was littered with machinery preparing for its
demolition. This used to be where one could catch an out-bound 38 Geary bus.
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With the roadway surface gone, under the overpass resembled a scene from a 1930's movie.
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Under the overpass with its roadway removed were the remains of wiring demolished.
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The former third floor bus boarding level was showing signs of demolition.
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The former first floor waiting area
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One of the first floor windows on Fremont Street used to have a photograph
of San Francisco as seen from the bay bridge. That photograph was broken
and would eventually vanish.
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The overpass that used to cross over Fremont Street
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A mass of machinery worked all day Saturday and Sunday to demolish the overpass
that crossed First Street.
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The sidewalk on First Street was closed that afternoon so that the overpass
could be demolished. Notice the rubble that had fallen to the roadway.
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First Street with the overpass gone. Just steel stubs remained. Notice the photographs
on the windows of the first floor. Those photographs would soon be destroyed.
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Whenever a property is abandoned, it becomes an object of desire for taggers (graffiti artists and
graffiti trash). Here, one of the first floor doors on Natoma Street had been covered with words.
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The sidewalk along side the Transbay Terminal after the roadway overhead had been
demolished. The building to the left was screened off for demolition and the bare
steel appeared unusually heavy overhead.
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The inside of the second level with the stairs that used to lead up to the Greyhound
Station.
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The old Transbay Terminal as seen from its front. Here its interior was
being demolished before its exterior.
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The front ground-level entry
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Several mature trees used to grow in front of the Original Transbay Terminal. They were too large to
transplant so were instead torn out and cut up. Here was the scoop used to load those tree remains
into trucks.
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The bus boarding level for MUNI buses used to also be the boarding area for trolleys.
The Market Street Subway eliminated the Transbay Terminal from trolley service.
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As the grand old terminal was demolished, so grew the pile of rubble out front.
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The Original Transbay Terminal lay gutted and laid open. All four of its floors could be seen
at once.
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The Fremont Street end of the Original Transbay Terminal was about all that was left.
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Even the grand windows a the end of the Original Transbay Terminal could not
resist the disgrace of being tagged with graffiti.
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One of the last shots possible of the interior of the Original Transbay Terminal.
Notice the grand but tagged windows at the far end toward Fremont Street.
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As viewed from Mission Street, the Original Transbay Terminal had nearly
achieved history. Nothing was left at this point that resembled the original.
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On Fremont Street was one of the original doors. Seen through this door was once
a grand old Transbay Terminal.
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Demolition could be viewed through one of the last doors that remained intact.
At the far end were other doors, but they all had cracked glass.
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