WOODLAWN — Upgrades are coming to the Cottage Grove Green Line station, the closest stop to the planned Obama presidential library, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday.
The station will get architectural improvements, new lighting and possibly new stairs a new canopy and other changes, the mayor’s office and CTA said.
"We are still finalizing our revitalization plans for Cottage Grove and the area directly around the station. However, the concepts we are exploring include visual, architectural and lighting treatments outside the station to improve the experience of CTA customers and pedestrians," said CTA President Dorval Carter Jr.
He said the investment would be the largest in the station in a generation.
The costs of the updates are still unknown as the CTA explores the menu of options for the station. No funding has yet been identified for any of the possible renovations and there is no timeline for when the work would start or be completed.
“It’s about investing in the neighborhood,” Emanuel said.
The station is immediately next to a new residential and retail development by Preservation of Affordable Housing that broke ground last week. It is also the closest CTA train station to the proposed site for Barack Obama's library in Jackson Park, though it is several blocks way.
“If we’re putting housing in, putting after-school activities in for kids, we have to make sure our transit systems are working so kids can get to those great new facilities,” Emanuel said.
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Chicago) said the improvements to the station could be the latest sign that Woodlawn is recapturing some of its glory days.
"Everybody gathered and centered their thoughts and activities around this area at 63rd and Cottage Grove," Rush recalled. "We had world-renowned entertainment and the best restaurants in the city in my opinion.”
Community meetings are expected once the CTA has more firm plans for the station.
The Cottage Grove Green Line stop is expected to get upgrades. [CTA]
“It’s about investing in the neighborhood,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday announcing plans to update the Cottage Grove Green Line Stop. [DNAinfo/Sam Cholke]
The upgrades to the Cottage Grove Green Line stop come as new development comes near the stop. [DNAinfo/Sam Cholke]
