Historic Green Line Station to Become... A Library?

Photo of the historic Green Line station house by Zol87

Generally, CTA stations of the past shutter down and either disappear into oblivion or become new stations. The Garfield Green Line CTA stop first opened in time to service riders going to the World's Fair in 1893, but then shut down and reopened in the early 2000s. Two Washington Park community groups are hoping to revive the Garfield Green Line stop and transform the historic station into a library and community center to serve Washington Park and the surrounding area.

Cecilia Butler, president of the Washington Park Advisory Council, has reportedly worked on this project for about 15 years before finally being able to present it before the CTA board last year. Both the Washington Park Advisory Council and the Greater Washington Park Community Development Cooperation want to see the historic site become a communal space where residents can gather to "view cultural artifacts from the neighborhood, check out books, access the Internet, wait for transit and meet in a safe environment."

Butler argues that the renovation and revival of the station could assist residents as well as tourists, providing information about surrounding museums (including museums at the University of Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry). Although costs to renovate the old station house aren't clear, Butler insists that the proposed renovation is a necessity:

"It's needed," Butler told Going Public about the community center. "We in Washington Park, we need community pride."

It would certainly be exciting to see this historic station turned into a lively spot and bolster community pride, but could it draw in more riders near Washington Park and Hyde Park?

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By Soyoung Kwak in News on July 23, 2011 1:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Alan Gornik

I posted a waymark for this location if you are interested in more historical info on the site:
http://www.waymarking.com/waym...

Navin_Johnson

Don't really care what they do with it as long as they can keep it in good shape. It's a unique historical artifact in a city that's been really bad about preserving it's cultural heritage.

jmogs

How big is the space? It looks too small to use for much of anything when I drive by...

ScooterLibbby

I've waited for the 55 bus there many times, it's really small. It's the width of the L tracks & the old platforms, no more than 20' wide. Not very long either.
Plus there's a creepy little store just east of there where the drunks & other out of work lowlifes hang out all day. I know people that won't take the Green Line just to avoid this bus stop. They prefer the windy & noisy bus stop on the Garfield overpass at the Ryan.
Reusing in place it is a joke!

Pemulis

The Garfield Green Line stop followed by a walk through Washington Park is by far the most pleasant way to get to Hyde Park when the weather is nice. That goes double now that the Dan Ryan line is painfully slow. Whenever I try to convince people of this, they tell me that they don't feel safe at the Green Line stop. I'll grant you that it has all the signifiers of a dangerous area--empty lots, vacant storefronts, sock vendors (wtf?), you name it. But lots of people move through there, and it's basically fine. And the park is lovely.

Pretty the station up with a library or something, and for the love of god get someone to develop the lot on Garfield and King Drive, and you could probably triple the ridership on that stop as museum goers and U of C types abandon the loud, windy, and generally unpleasant 55 bus stop at the Red Line. It's all about perception.

ElectricLibraryLand

Sadly, Chicago is barely able to staff the libraries we have now. I'd love to see this building restored, but another library is not the way to go.

High_n_Dry

Hmmm, maybe we should close a library in your neighborhood to allow this one to open. (Unless you live in Washington Park then I take it back.) It could be staffed by community volunteers.

Batman1234

Awesome. I could sell drugs/prostitute outside then hop into the ol' community center for some wholesome programming and punch? Count me in!