Photo by Pat Padua.

The underground trolley station in Dupont Circle is one step closer to becoming an arts space.

The Arts Coalition for the Dupont Underground today announced that it has signed a five-year lease with the city for the 75,000-square-foot space. To raise the $50,000 needed to clean up part of the old trolley station and open it to the public “for use over the next five years,” ACDU, founded by architect Julian Hunt, has launched a crowdfunding campaign.

Opened in 1949, the tunnels closed in 1963 as the city’s streetcar system ended. It served as a food court in the 1990s and has sat vacant ever since. Initial efforts by ACDU, which is part of Councilmember David Grosso’s ArtsAction D.C., will focus on the east platform.

“The plan is to clean up the space, then open it up to the public,” Hunt said in a release. “We want to demonstrate what uses are best suited for the long-term.”