Construction of the Damen Green Line Station continues at 2001 W Lake Street in the Near West Side, under the management of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). Initiated in 2017, the project has faced delays and a budget increase, now totaling $80.2 million. This development aims to reintroduce rail service to an area that has lacked it since the original station’s demolition in 1948. The original Damen Green Line station, constructed in 1893, was ultimately demolished 55 years later, alongside nine other stations, due to decreased demand and the CTA’s efforts to improve service efficiency.
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Rendering of Damen CTA Green Line Station platform by Perkins & Will
Rendering of connection bridge of Damen CTA Green Line Station by Perkins & Will
The forthcoming station, a 5,000 square-foot structure designed by Perkins & Will, will feature a prominent glass-enclosed main entrance with a large front plaza space, an artistic mural by Folayemi (Fo) Wilson, and a green trussed bridge equipped with an illuminated tower.
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Damen CTA Green Line Station. Photo by Jack Crawford
Rendering of entry to Damen CTA Green Line Station by Perkins & Will
Rendering of Damen CTA Green Line Station by Perkins & Will
F.H. Paschen is leading the construction effort, which includes building the station and a $13 million enhancement of more than a mile of railway track to integrate the new stop with the existing Green Line route. As reported in a recent Axios article, the project is slated for completion around the middle of this year.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Looks like they forget to include the cell towers in the render. LOL
Beautiful but why not include a consession vendor or coffee shop in the space as well seeing how massive it is.
I think, given the vacancies in the area, the CTA isn’t interested in becoming a landlord where the supply of space isn’t particularly tight.
Glad this is happening, but seems extremely overbuilt. I guess you need to handle game day crowds, but Addison and Sox-35th seem to do just fine handling larger crowds with a smaller footprint. Seems like you could’ve scaled this back and used the savings to build a Pink Line stop at Madison, which would reduce postgame crowding anyway.
Also, maybe I’m reading the renders incorrectly, but are there stairs to the street from the westbound platform? Or do folks using that side need to go up and over to the south side of the station?
Seems MASSIVELY overbuilt. This is like 5x the complexity of Addison. Could’ve been a mixed use 500 unit building/station entrance but no we have a labyrinth passage up and over to head west… makes no sense.
Came here to say this too, what a waste of the land that they could have sold to have developed instead. Also does anyone know what’s going on at the lot at the northwest corner of Damen and Lake? Looks like a parking lot was built there?
Wow. Such a waste of space, why is this so big? Could have built some retail mixed use building next to it. Something like this would have not flown on the north side. Will really be out of place as this area develops.
I don’t think it really is that big. It’s only the end of the block on the south side. It’s not like there isn’t other land available in the area. I don’t think it’s so much that the CTA was forced by neighbors to make it small up north as much as they just couldn’t afford to make them more spacious like this. My guess is that a less compact station makes it easier to maintain in the future.