JC UPTONWhere along Clinton St is the former exit?
It is exactly mid-point in the CUS building along Clinton street as well as mid-point in the GREAT HALL waiting room......directly across from the TO TRAINS signage that leads down to the track platforms.
CSSHEGEWISCH An additional entrance on the Clinton Street side is not an absolute necessity. The existing entrances on Clinton near Adams and Jackson generally serve Metra riders and are quite sufficient for the existing traffic.
An additional entrance on the Clinton Street side is not an absolute necessity. The existing entrances on Clinton near Adams and Jackson generally serve Metra riders and are quite sufficient for the existing traffic.
Where along Clinton St is the former exit?
from the Far East of the Sunset Route
(In the shadow of the Huey P Long bridge)
CSSHEGEWISCHAn additional entrance on the Clinton Street side is not an absolute necessity. The existing entrances on Clinton near Adams and Jackson generally serve Metra riders and are quite sufficient for the existing traffic.
Yes so I suspect they want a central entrance for both fire code (panic exit) and so they can market the food court better to sidewalk traffic but I am not 100% sure they are putting one in. I thought I saw one in the artists rendering with a sign above it saying UNION STATION FOOD COURT or something to that effect.
So it looks like Amtrak is rehabbing the former Harvey Lunch Counter area of Union Station that burned in 1980 and was walled off to the public (former Clinton Street exit). They are going to restore the four large windows that let sunlight in from the street and also into the Great Hall to an extent. The new square footage which looked substantial is going to become a new or a relocated food court we will see which because CUS already has a food court of sorts. It should bring in more revenue for Amtrak though as station owner and one wonders why it took Amtrak so long to develop the space instead of having it walled off for so long. The former Clinton Street exit and lunch counter entrance is directly across the Great Hall from the hall that you enter to head to board the trains. If you remember the Christmas or other displays it was that small indent across the Great Hall with the coffered cieling that allowed room for the whole Polar Express display. I never realized it was a walled up entrance but it is. The four large window openings were walled up as well with Cinder block so from the street it looks like they were never there......same with the main Clinton Street entrance. So this project should be interesting to see once it is complete.
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