CTA Green Line station pushed to 2021
The much-anticipated new CTA Green Line station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street is going to be finished in 2021, not 2020 as originally anticipated, city officials said on Friday.
Asked about the new date, city officials said they had to wait for the design of the station house to be complete before awarding a construction contract. The design is now mostly complete and the city expects to award the contract this summer. CTA officials and Mayor Rahm Emanuel broke ground Friday morning to start work on the station’s foundation.
There was another groundbreaking last spring for Lake Street reconstruction, which also involved preparatory work for the station, including relocating “L” support columns. Work on the actual Damen station house will start late this year and is expected to take 18 months, according to city officials.
Announced in February 2017, the station is intended to fill the 1.5-mile gap between the existing Green Line stations at California and Ashland Avenues. It is currently expected to cost about $60 million — the price has shifted between $50 million and $60 million in previous official statements.
The station will feature a glass-covered bridge over the platform that will provide connections between inbound and outbound trains and views of the Chicago skyline. The design is by Perkins + Will, an international architecture and design firm.
Art for the station will be created by Folayemi “Fo” Wilson, a Chicago artist who teaches at Columbia College, the city said. Wilson plans murals for the station that will focus on aspects of the West Side’s history, including ethnic migration and culture.