What’s Up in Chicago THEN AND NOW North Clark Street and West North Avenue
1937 It’s strange to see one of the city’s busiest intersections not packed with cars. Thanks to streetcars, the intersection of North Clark Street and West North Avenue (along with plenty of other streets in 1930s Chicago) had relatively light traffic in 1937. With more than 500 miles of rails and almost 100 routes by 1935, Chicago’s streetcar system was one of the largest in the world and the main mode of transportation for residents of the Windy City. This photo shows these relics of the city’s mass-transit past, in front of the Chicago Historical Society (now the Chicago History Museum). Tied to tracks and powered by overhead wires, this streetcar line ran along Clark between West Cermak Road and Howard Street—a 12-mile trip that took riders through the Loop and past a portion of Lincoln Park.
2017
The Chicago Transit Authority bought Chicago Surface Lines in 1947, signaling an end to the city’s streetcar system. Trains and buses replaced surface lines, and an explosion in automobile production helped turn this North Side crossing, as well as countless others, into a place you’d be smart to avoid during rush hour. Located at the border of Old Town and the Gold Coast, this intersection sits at the southern tip of Lincoln Park— home to the Chicago History Museum, Lincoln Park Zoo, Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. The west side of the street still has plenty of retail options, but the old Walgreen Drugs has since been replaced with Elly’s Pancake House.
A new gateway to the Loop
The striking new Washington/ Wabash CTA station—sure to be the subject of countless Instagrams —is about to open.
AFTER MORE THAN two years of construction, the new crown jewel of the Chicago Transit Authority’s El system is finally scheduled to open this summer. The Washington/Wabash CTA station replaces two outdated facilities in the Loop, promising riders modern amenities housed in a facade that looks like a structure in a sci-fi movie. The station features elevators to the mezzanine and platform levels (making it the first fully ADA-accessible stop along the Wabash corridor) as well as numerous green and sustainable design elements, such as
Time Out Chicago June 7–September 5, 2017 8
recycled materials and LED lighting. Bicycle racks encourage riders to pedal to and from the new depot, while recycling bins on the platform provide receptacles for newspapers and magazines. Aesthetically, the Washington/Wabash station is unlike any other CTA facility; officials tout it as a “new gateway” to Millennium Park and the Loop. Among the most striking structural details are the undulating wave-like canopies that run along Wabash Avenue and a faceted skeletal steel- and-glass design that’s meant to highlight the structure’s location along the Loop’s historic Jewelers Row. The distinctive station cost a whopping $75 million to complete, but when it’s finally up and running, an estimated 13,375 daily commuters will use it—that’s more than 4 million users per year! We think it’s money well spent, especially when you factor in how useful it will be as an amazing photo op. Jonathan Samples
PHOTOGRAPHS (TOP): COURTESY UIC UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS; CENTER:JACLYN RIVAS
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