The hidden Union Station (Chicago): Take a tour

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Thanks for the great tour of Union Station's past. It will take a lot of money to restore the station to its former grandeur and I am not sure if enough people will appreciate the art and architecture to make it happen. But one must start somewhere and this essay is something to stimulate interest.
 
Railroad Bill said:
I am not sure if enough people will appreciate the art and architecture to make it happen.
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This.
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Granted, my experience is much more limited than most peoples' around here, but I have been impressed with how some of these old, grand buildings get cheapened (yeah, CUS, I'm looking at you!) by the additions of "food" courts, sunglass kiosks, phone accessory shops, etc. In DC last month, I felt like I was in a shopping mall that betrayed and hid the fantastic architecture implied by the exterior.

I get it, these places need to make money to provide the service, but couldn't it just be done a bit more tastefully?

Oh, and get off my lawn. :p
 
I find it astounding how much unused space there is in Chicago Union Station given how crowded the boarding, waiting, corridor, food court areas are. Even if much of that unused or unoccupied space is away from the boarding area, much of that space could have been used for retail, restaurants for revenue or additional passenger flow or waiting & meeting areas. Good that space is still there to be repurposed for a busier station, but the station is clearly an asset that has not been well managed in terms of getting annual revenue from it.
 
Tasteful will return when men quit wearing hats when they eat, thanks for the link, it brings back my youth. As for stair step movie scenes doesn't touch Sergei Eisentsteins "Battleship Potemkin"
 
Thanks so much for sharing. It's interesting to see how things were and to envision future possibilities.
 
Most of the pictures show areas that are not open to the public, but yes, they are part of the Union Station that is in use now.

The picture captioned "One of the many hidden areas of Union Station that commuters don't see" is west the Great Hall. If you would walk from the train area to the Great Hall and just keep going through the far wall, you would be there. The Great Hall is through the wall on the right side of the picture. You can make out the curved wall of an alcove.

The barbershop area is accessible from the Legacy Lounge, which you can access (at a cost of $20) from the southwest corner of the Great Hall.

The picture captioned "Above, a now-empty area where a new first-class lounge could be located" is located west of the south staircase from Canal Street down to the Great Hall. That's the underside of the stairway you see on the right side of the picture.

The picture captioned "A walled-off area in Union Station that used to house a women's lounge" is off the northwest corner of the Great Hall. Both it and the Legacy Lounge have stairways to lower levels.

There are several floors of former office space above both the areas east and west of the Great Hall, but these are not shown in the article. Amtrak hopes to convert some of the space (I believe on the second or third floor on the east side) to crew quarters for people who now are sent to hotels for their layovers. Also, Amtrak has offices on the south side of the head house, and it has Operations facilities on a floor below the Great Hall (also on the south side, if I'm not mistaken).

Did that help?
 
Yes, thank you, so there are steps going up to a street I went up to. I remember it as a busy area, but there is a non-used building across the street. I remember a drug store, to the right on that building side, maybe Walgreens. The building had many doors, all blocked or closed. I always wondered it that was part of Chicago train station. I went touring downtown from that stairway entrance.

I can't be more descriprtive, its been years. On the bottom stairway lead to trains and Metro Lounge and ticket counter and magazine shop. I am sorry, I am typing and thinking as I type.

I did go up to the Great Hall and ate a a restaurant on that level with a classy bar inside. My dad used to take me to St. Louis Union Station when it still had train service and I love big old stations, that are mostly gone now. I find PDX just a real keeper and the rehab of SEA is outstanding. St. Louis recovered and had glory days but went to pot again. Now there is new money going back there and to include adding train tracks back for future service. It will not be Amtrak, but the hope is a private service. I think future private service or charters are a big wolfcookie. But, thank you for your response, willim!
 
Perhaps they can put together a paid "behind-the-scene's" tour to show these area's, as well as history of the public area's? I don't know if there would be enough interest to make it worth doing on a daily basis, but perhaps at some interval. Chicago does have excellent architectural tours of many of its building's....

Grand Central Terminal generates revenue by conducting various types of tours...but then there is a lot more to offer there...
 
Jebr, his girlfriend, and I toured the Legacy Lounge during a visit but couldn't find the barber shop. We went straight back and then turned left toward the bathrooms. Where is the barber shop?
 
willem said:
Amtrak hopes to convert some of the space (I believe on the second or third floor on the east side) to crew quarters for people who now are sent to hotels for their layovers.
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I am not so sure that Amtrak should get itself into the "hotel" business, even if such is for use only by employees.

The reason is that one lacks the savings brought by scale. In other words, its difficult to run just one isolated hotel at the same prices paid at a large chain.

IBM tried that, back when it was flush with mucho cash, and really couldn't make a go of it.
 
With the nice hotels @ the Union Stations in St. Louis and Denver evidently a success, why not consider contracting out to one of the chains to operate a hotel in Union Station in CHI?

I agree Amtrak shouldn't get into the Hotel Biz, but having a deal with the operator for all the layover pax @ Unuin Station should save some money now going to those missing guaranteed connections for vouchers, taxis and meal money!
 
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Is the proposed "hotel space" intended for passengers who have missed connections, or is this solely intended (as described above) as "crew quarters" for Amtrak crew members on layover between trains?

Regardless, I'm not so certain that Amtrak getting into the 'hotel' business is really that much of a stretch; The company already operates a network of rolling hotel rooms on rails (sleeping cars) complete with dining service. A stationary room would seem to be even easier to operate and manage (as an alternative, you could always contract-out the day to day operation to a local hotel operator with existing staff and experience).
 
railiner said:
Perhaps they can put together a paid "behind-the-scene's" tour to show these area's, as well as history of the public area's? I don't know if there would be enough interest to make it worth doing on a daily basis, but perhaps at some interval. Chicago does have excellent architectural tours of many of its building's....

Grand Central Terminal generates revenue by conducting various types of tours...but then there is a lot more to offer there...
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Two different organizations offer tours of Union Station - The Chicago Architecture Foundation and The Chicago History Museum. The Chicago History Museum looks like it might tour the hidden areas of the station, as per their description-

Discover the hidden stories and spaces that go unseen by thousands each day. Inspired by the exhibition Railroaders: Jack Delano’s Homefront Photography, this tour takes a closer look at one of America’s last great railway terminals. Explore the city’s rich transportation heritage while strolling through the historic Union Station and examining its monumental exterior. Tour lasts approximately 90 minutes and includes considerable walking and stair climbing.
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For anyone in the area, one of these tours is happening tomorrow, Sunday, November 15, 2015, at 1:00PM.

Links to tour info-

For The Chicago History Museum tour

http://www.chicagohistory.org/planavisit/upcomingevents/tours/walking-tours/#unionstation

For The Chicago Architecture Foundation tour

https://tickets.architecture.org/public/show.asp?shcode=457
 
SarahZ said:
Jebr, his girlfriend, and I toured the Legacy Lounge during a visit but couldn't find the barber shop. We went straight back and then turned left toward the bathrooms. Where is the barber shop?
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Imagine you just stepped into the Legacy Lounge. If you make a hard left and walk, you are moving toward stairs. (I believe they go down to the former men's shower area.) Rather than making a hard left, make a soft left, and walk past the stairs, with the stairs on your left. The door to the barber shop is roughly straight ahead, through a wall parallel to the wall of the Great Hall. It is accessed without entering the high-ceiling room. Did that help?
 
willem said:
SarahZ said:
Jebr, his girlfriend, and I toured the Legacy Lounge during a visit but couldn't find the barber shop. We went straight back and then turned left toward the bathrooms. Where is the barber shop?
Click to expand...
Imagine you just stepped into the Legacy Lounge. If you make a hard left and walk, you are moving toward stairs. (I believe they go down to the former men's shower area.) Rather than making a hard left, make a soft left, and walk past the stairs, with the stairs on your left. The door to the barber shop is roughly straight ahead, through a wall parallel to the wall of the Great Hall. It is accessed without entering the high-ceiling room. Did that help?
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Yes, thank you. :) We walked straight ahead after asking the employee (standing to the left) if we could look around. When we came back, we went left a bit (so, to the right of the door) to check out the snacks and drinks.

Next time, I'll veer left.
 
A Voice said:
Is the proposed "hotel space" intended for passengers who have missed connections, or is this solely intended (as described above) as "crew quarters" for Amtrak crew members on layover between trains?
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I asked that question; I was told it was crew quarters only. That makes sense to me, because the demand is much more predictable.
 
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SarahZ said:
willem said:
SarahZ said:
Jebr, his girlfriend, and I toured the Legacy Lounge during a visit but couldn't find the barber shop. We went straight back and then turned left toward the bathrooms. Where is the barber shop?
Click to expand...
Imagine you just stepped into the Legacy Lounge. If you make a hard left and walk, you are moving toward stairs. (I believe they go down to the former men's shower area.) Rather than making a hard left, make a soft left, and walk past the stairs, with the stairs on your left. The door to the barber shop is roughly straight ahead, through a wall parallel to the wall of the Great Hall. It is accessed without entering the high-ceiling room. Did that help?
Click to expand...
Yes, thank you. :) We walked straight ahead after asking the employee (standing to the left) if we could look around. When we came back, we went left a bit (so, to the right of the door) to check out the snacks and drinks.

Next time, I'll veer left.
Click to expand...
Yes, when my wife got the tour last summer, the guide took us over to the old barbershop room with its really unusual walls. Was nice to see the photo of what it once looked like with the men having their hair cut..
 
I don't know the square footage being allocated for crew quarters, but maybe Amtrak should consider a Hotel brand operator to lease out enough space for a hotel with an arrangement to provide space for Amtrak Crews on a daily basis. The operator maintains the hotel, provides revenue to Amtrak, and alleviates Amtrak of all the hassles of operating and maintaining a Crew Area.
 
The "hotel/rooms" idea has great merit. If Amtrak were possible of "thinking outside the box", I'd like to see them contract with a branded hotel company, and build X rooms that are of normal size, and have the normal amenities, but also build Y rooms that are almost specifically designed for missed connections, and/or crew.

Not spartan, but basic, not frills. It would eliminate the need for taxi, and the convenience would for all would be fantastic. It would HAVE to be run by a major hotel flag, or else it wouldn't work.

Amtrak would negotiate far better rates than normal, maybe, as they would be the landlord.

But, "thinking outside the box" is not Amtrak's strength, so chalk that idea up to a pipe dream.
 
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