Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 147

The $2.2 million cost included building the station a quarter-mile east of the old facility (on land owned by the Chicago and North Western Transportation and adding two new platforms, two new ramps and a new tunnel. With much fanfare, the station officially opened on July 14 to coincide with "Railroad The West Chicago story demonstrates Metra's approach to rebuilding or rehabbing its 213 commuter rail stations in the Chicago area. "We try to stay away from cookie-cutter West Chicago demonstrates the approach Metra takes toward its commuter stations BY JOHN HANDLEY West Chicago native and president of Lee HE CITY OF WEST CHICAGO TAKES road logo, pride town. and A in its it train stages is heritage celebration. an emblazoned as annual a on railroad "Rail- its Days" So it's not surprising that some members of the community blew the whistle on a new commuter station that Metra proposed.

"We heard that it was going to be just an ordinary, box-type building. But we wanted something distinctive- -a turn-of-the-century type station that would reflect our railroad past," said A. Michael Lellios, a West Chicago contributed $25,000 24 CHICAGO TRIBUNE Wednesday, September To get the new station on the right track, a group was formed, the Citizens for Restoration of Turner Junction (one of the city's names before it became West Chicago in 1896). Lellios headed the committee, which hired an architect, Lockwood Martling of Downers Grove, to design a Victorian station. So far, so good.

But when the new design and Metra's design were put out for bids, the new design turned out to be more expensive. "We worked out a deal with Metra, though," said Don Foster, West Chicago's city administrator. "The city paid $25,000 for the extra architectural features, and Metra paid the rest." WEST CHICAGO WEST CHICAGO designs and work with the said Chris Knapton, Metra's director of public relations. Metra has functional requirements for its stations (they must be industrial strength to withstand abuse and vandalism), but it has no standardized architectural mold. "We encourage individuality," said V.

Clayton Weaver, Metra's division manager of technical services. About a dozen stations are improved every year at an average cost of $800,000. Weaver noted that the cost of each project may include new platforms, new stairs, new shelters and new parking, as well as the station itself. PHOTO FOR THE TRIBUNE BY ED ZURBANO to avoid having an "ordinary" train station. He said that Metra is completing an inventory of all stations in the region and developing a 10-year program for repairs.

He added that Metra is a conduit for federal, state and local funds. What determines a station's priority for upgrading? "Some are obviously in horrible condition, but others are just inadequate in size, such as in Northbrook, where the old cinder-block station was replaced by a new, much larger one last year," Weaver said. Weaver added that an increase in ridership at a station is another factor that could hasten its renovation. And sometimes it works the other way: renovation helps to increase ridership. That may be the case in southwest suburban Lockport, which is serviced by the Metra Heritage Corridor line.

The historic station, built in 1862 and on the route of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in 1865, was closed for about 15 years before the rehab. Located on 13th Street, just south of downtown and along the Illinois and Michigan Canal, it was "taken down to its locally quarried limestone walls before getting a new roof, windows and doors," said Gordon McCluskey, city administrator. The $501,000 project was completed in 1988. "It should be good for another 100 years," said Ann Hintze, executive director of the Lockport Area Development Commission. "The station is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and we hope to have it listed some day." She believes the upgrading has increased ridership, in part because of a new parking lot.

"Before, commuters had to park in a grassy field," she said. Lockport leases the station from Metra for a nominal fee and then subleases twothirds of the space to Baird a land surveying firm. "We try to lease stations to communities wherever possible," Weaver said. "It makes them feel the station is theirs and that helps with police protection and security. The town is responsible for janitorial service and minor repairs, which they can do better than we can." Another deteriorated depot that was rehabbed through local participation was in north suburban Highland Park.

The Ravinia station, just north of Ravinia Park, was built in 1889 and is the oldest active depot along the three Chicago and North Western commuter lines. "The station's shabby condition spurred action by a lot of neighborhood residents," said Mary Beth Herr-Brandstrader, assistant planner for Highland Park and the staff representative of the Historic Preservation Commission. A neighborhood group, the Friends of Ravinia Station, was formed in the mid1980s and worked with the Historic Preservation Commission to convince Metra that it should rehabilitate the depot. It is eligible for inclusion in the National 26, 1990 Section 8.