CUS rehab to start this year, $12 m

Chicago Tribune announced this morning that the long overdue Union Station rehab will begin sometime during this year with the primary intent of alleviating overcrowding. Also addressed will be climate control and some cosmetics.

I assume that, as usual during construction, things will get worse before they get better...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-union-station-funding-met-20150128-story.html

Chicago Sun-Times also has an article with a little more detail.

Hopefully the long promised construction of a larger Metro Lounge by the Great Hall and the relocation if the Amtrak ticket counters will be included!

Also all LD Coach Passengers should be able to utilize the Great Hall as a waiting area and the Bullpen Coach Torture Chamber and the line ups in the hall waiting for the gate dragons to board passengers will be a thing of the past!

Cosmetic touches are nice, but on a limited budget, operational and safety issues must get priority! The A/C and heating problem fixes are really needed as Union Station can be a Deep Freeze in the Winter and a Sweat Box in the humid Summer!

"The agency also will repair the station's facade, Magliari said, and hopes to replace the marble steps that lead to the historic Great Hall. Foot traffic has greatly worn down the stairs, which were highlighted in a scene from the 1987 movie "The Untouchables.""



I like that you can see the foot wear on the steps. It adds to the history. I like to think about all of the people who've walked up and down those steps over the decades.

All I ask for is please get more comfortable chairs in the coach waiting room area. The current grey metal chairs were designed by someone who had absolutely no sense of what body support people need in chairs to be comfortable. That and maybe better hvac so wintertime in the waiting room isn't like waiting in a freezer...

Really vague article. The Metro lounge relocation has to be included, as that's the only possible way to open up the concourse to allow more space, which is explicitly specified as part of the project. It's not clear to me what else will be relocated (plans discussed moving the Amtrak police, the ticket counters for both Amtrak and Metra, the main escalators, etc.)

Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun-Times, writing on his blog about the renovation plans:

Union Station is a hell hole — loud, crowded, smoky, cold, in winter, airless in summer, dripping cascades of what please God is water all year round.

So news that Amtrak finally plans to toss $12 million into fixing has to be welcome, although anybody who has spent anything on home repair has to immediately wonder how far $12 million is going to go. Announcing a $12 million facelift of Union Station is like me saying I'm spending $600 to put in a new bathroom in my home.

Click to expand...

The only way to improve the concourse is to move the lounge. They will need some way for red caps to go back and forth to the trains. Those carts on the ramps and narrow halls with crowds are going to be a problem.