San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  The grand opening of BART's $42 million parking garage at the Dublin-Pleasanton Station has been put on hold after Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty went ballistic over the gray slab's "hideous" looks and demanded a $500,000 paint job to pretty it up.

  Or else.

  Haggerty, who also sits on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, has branded the seven-story garage "the tower of torture."

  He is so furious at the colorless colossus that's gone up in his district that he has threatened to vote against BART's $30 million plan for new trains unless the hulk gets a makeover.

  The 1,513-car garage sits alongside Interstate 580, near the Interstate 680 interchange.

  Dublin has long been known for its nondescript car dealerships and big-box stores, but the town has worked hard in recent years to spiff up its image to passing freeway motorists, Haggerty said.

  "Now they have this monster of a parking garage sitting there in what is truly the gateway to Dublin ... and it's a disaster," Haggerty said. "If they were an influential community like Walnut Creek, they would have no problem having brick" on the facade.

  Granted, the big Dublin garage might not be a beauty, counters a slightly chagrined BART spokesman Linton Johnson, but "it's not like county officials weren't part of the planning committee from day one."

  Maybe, but Haggerty said it wasn't until recently that it became clear that the architectural drawings he'd been shown early on were a far cry from the mass of concrete and metal panels that sprang up near the freeway, just north of the BART station.

  Three weeks ago, Haggerty contacted BART to demand that something be done. The system's officials balked, citing the cost of painting the garage and maintaining the paint job.

  Haggerty countered with $500,000 from the little-known Alameda County Surplus Property Authority to cover the initial paint job.

  Toss in the supervisor's chest-beating about holding back BART funds, and faster than a speeding bullet train, BART officials reversed course and announced Friday they had reached a deal for the garage to be painted.

  It'll be a nice earth tone, BART says. As for the maintenance costs, BART is stuck with them.

  In the meantime, the ribbon-cutting originally planned for March 28 will be rescheduled.