Chicago Union Station Chicago Landmark Designated: May 1, 2002 Union Station is a major railroad station that opened in 1925 in Chicago, replacing an earlier station built in 1881. It is now the only intercity rail terminal in Chicago, as well as being the citys primary terminal for commuter trains. The station stands on the west side of the Chicago River between West Adams Street and West Jackson Boulevard, just outside the Chicago Loop. Including approach and storage tracks, it is about nine and a half city blocks in size. Its facilities are mostly underground, buried beneath streets and skyscrapers. Chicago Union Station is the third-busiest rail terminal in the United States, after Grand Central Terminal and Penn Station in New York City. It handles approximately 120,000 passengers on an average weekday and is one of Chicago’s most iconic structures, reflecting the city’s strong architectural heritage and historical achievements. Its combination of Bedford limestone Beaux-Arts facades, massive Corinthian columns, sparkling marble floors, and magnificent Great Hall, all highlighted by brass lamps, creates an environment that captures the allure and imagination of passengers and visitors that access its premises. In addition to standing out architecturally, Union Station has features that reflect its commitment to sustainability. In 2011, its lighting system was replaced with more energy-efficient light bulbs and motion sensors, reducing the station’s carbon footprint by 4 million tons annually. Chicago Union Station was designated as one of America’s “Great Places” by the American Planning Association (APA) in 2012. The “Great Places” program by APA highlights places streets, neighborhoods, and public spaces around America that exhibit “exemplary character, quality, and planning.”[6] These places are unique in their cultural and historical significance, sense of community, and vision. Other criteria include “architectural features, accessibility, functionality, and community involvement.” Chicago Union Station is considered a “Great Public Space” by APA, which are spaces in the public realm that promotes social activity and community cohesiveness. These spaces are safe and inviting, well-maintained, and attractive, both visually and in functionality. In addition, local culture and history are reflected within the space. Union Station is laid out with a double stub-end configuration, with 10 tracks coming in to the station from the north and 14 tracks from south. Trains do not pass through Union Station, all rail passengers traveling through Chicago must change trains to reach their final destination. There are 2 pass-through tracks to allow movement between the north and south side, one has a platform to allow extra long trains to board. Between the north and south sides of the station is a passenger concourse. Passengers can walk through the concourse to get from any platform to any other without stairs or elevators. Odd-numbered platforms (1–19) are on the north half of the station, and even-numbered platforms (2–30) on the south half. The northern platforms are used for Amtrak services to Milwaukee, Portland and Seattle; and the Metra Milwaukee District West, Milwaukee District North and North Central Service lines; the southern platforms are used for the rest of the Amtrak and Metra services. Two station management structures – known as glasshouses – one on each side of the terminal, monitor train to track assignments and the flow of traffic in and out of the station. Actual oversight and control of switching and signalling is accomplished by two train director positions, one for each side of the station, located in the Amtrak control center in the headhouse of the station. Inside the concourse are ticket counters for both Metra and Amtrak services, as well as three waiting rooms and a baggage claim for Amtrak passengers, a set of restrooms, and offices for Metra and Amtrak. The concourse also has a mezzanine level between platform and street level, containing a food court featuring local vendors as well as national chains. Located west of Canal Street, Union Stations headhouse occupies an entire city block. At its center is the Great Hall, a 110-foot (34 m)-high atrium capped by a large barrel-vaulted skylight. Arrayed around the Great Hall are numerous smaller spaces containing restaurants and services, and a wide passageway leading to the concourse. Above the headhouse are several floors of office space, currently used by Amtrak. Original plans called for many more floors of offices, forming a skyscraper above the Great Amy Hall. This was never completed, although the plan has been revived in recent years. Numerous entrances provide access to Union Stations underground platform level. The main entrance is on Canal Street opposite the headhouse, but passengers can also reach the platforms directly from the headhouse via an underground passageway. Two secondary entrances are located in Riverside Plaza near the Jackson Boulevard and Adams Street bridges. On Madison Street, directly across from Ogilvie Transportation Center, are a set of entrances to the north platforms. The current Union Station is the second by that name built in Chicago, and possibly the third rail station to occupy the site. The need for a single, centralized station was an important political topic in 19th and 20th-century Chicago,] as various competing railroads had built a series of terminal stations. The numerous stations and associated railyards and tracks surrounded the citys central business district, the Loop, and threatened its expansion. The various stations also made travel difficult for through-travelers, many of whom had to make inconvenient, long, and unpleasant transfers from one station to another through the Loop. On December 25, 1858 the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad opened as far as Van Buren Street in Chicago. It built the first station at what would eventually become todays Union Station on the west bank of the Chicago River. The first Union Station On April 7, 1874 five railroads agreed to build and share a union station just north of the original Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railroad station site at Van Buren Street. These railroads were: Pennsylvania Company (a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad) Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Michigan Central Railroad Chicago and Alton Railroad Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (The Milwaukee Road) The Michigan Central, which had previously been using the Illinois Central Railroads Great Central Station, soon decided to back out of the agreement, and continued to use the Illinois Central Depot. The Chicago and North Western Railway, not part of the original agreement, considered switching to the new station from its Wells Street Station but deferred instead. In 1911 it built the Chicago and North Western Passenger Terminal for its operations. The remaining four original companies used the station when it opened in 1881. The headhouse of the Union Depot, a narrow building, fronted onto Canal Street and stretched from Madison Street to Adams Street. Tracks led into the station from the south, and platforms occupied a strip of land between the back of the headhouse and the bank of the Chicago River. South of the station, Adams, Jackson, and Van Buren Streets rose over the tracks and the river on bridges. Growth in passenger traffic, as well as a civic push to consolidate numerous railroad terminals, led to a proposal for an enlarged Union Station on the same site. The second Union Station would be built by the Chicago Union Station Company. This was a new company formed by all the railroads that had used the first station, save for the Chicago and Alton, which became a tenant in the new station. The architect was Daniel Burnham of Chicago, who died before its completion. The firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White completed the work to Burnhams designs. Work began on the massive project in 1913, and the station finally opened twelve years later on May 16, 1925; some viaduct work continued into 1927. The construction cost was projected to be $65,000,000. Construction was delayed several times by World War I, labor shortages and strikes. It is one of about a dozen monumental Beaux-Arts railroad stations that were among the most complicated architectural programs of the era called the American Renaissance, combining traditional architecture with engineering technology, circulation patterning and urban planning. Union Station was hailed as an outstanding achievement in railroad facility planning. The stations ornate Beaux-Arts main waiting room, the Great Hall, is one of the great interior public spaces in the United States. It has vaulted skylight, statuary, and connecting lobbies, staircases, and balconies. Enormous wooden benches were arranged in the room for travelers to wait for connections, and two specially-designed underground taxicab drives were built to protect travelers from the weather. The station featured a large, open concourse along the river, with massive steel arches holding up the roof, and several stairways leading passengers down to the platform. The large amount of land above the tracks and platforms has tempted property owners and developers. Possibly inspired by the Terminal City built atop New Yorks Grand Central Terminal, Chicago moved to develop the air rights above Union Stations tracks. The first building to be built was that of the Chicago Daily News in 1929. Designed in the Art Deco style, it was the first structure to add a public promenade along the river, which would be named Riverside Plaza. Soon after, in 1932, the new Chicago Main Post Office opened. Also in the Art Deco style, it was a gigantic structure that occupied two full city blocks. The Great Depression and subsequent World War II halted development, but in the 1960s, work began on Gateway Center, a Modernist complex of five buildings. Only the first four were built, and construction lasted into the 1980s through several economic cycles. Most recently, in 1990 the Morton International Building opened. Now named for Boeing, it is the tallest building yet to be constructed over the tracks. It received awards for its innovative engineering. Several sites remain above the tracks to be developed. During World War II, Union Station was at its busiest, handling as many as 300 trains and 100,000 passengers daily, many of them soldiers. After the war, however, traffic both at Union Station and on the American passenger rail system declined severely with the growth of highway construction and private ownership of automobiles. In 1969 the expansive Beaux-Arts concourse at Union Station was demolished to make way for a modern office tower. A new, modernized (but smaller) concourse was constructed beneath the tower. In 1991, this concourse was renovated by Lucien Lagrange Associates. Included was a renovation of the Great Hall, and the restoration of the skylight, which had been blacked-out during the war and not restored. Restoration of Union Station continues. Numerous spaces within the station have yet to be renovated, and many sit unused, especially within the headhouse. Due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks, the pair of taxicab drives was closed by Amtrak. Passenger traffic has increased and is exceeding the capacity allowed by the 1991 renovation. Numerous improvements have been planned to accommodate the expected growth in passengers from the planned high-speed trains of the proposed Chicago Hub Network. In 2010, Amtrak (the current owners of the Chicago Union Station Company) announced that the Great Hall would become air-conditioned for the first time since the 1960s. That year a Chicago Tribune investigation revealed high levels of diesel soot on the underground platforms of Union Station. Metra established an Emissions Task Force to study this problem and recommend solutions to improve air quality in the underground areas. Union Station remains a busy place: as of 2007, approximately 54,000 people use the station on a daily basis, including 6,000 Amtrak passengers.[16] Union Station currently serves all Amtrak intercity trains to Chicago, as well as Metra commuter rail lines – the North Central Service, Milwaukee District/North Line, Milwaukee District/West Line, BNSF Railway Line, Heritage Corridor and SouthWest Service. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Union_Station Photo 1 Chicago Union Station facade. en.wikipedia.org Photo 2 1925 dedication of the new station. wikipedia.org Photo 3 Grand Hall in Chicago Union Station panoramio Photo 4 Grand-Staircase Union-Station dreamstime
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 21:00:45 +0000
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