A Union Station Plan, Lusting After New Towers

[Amtrak Tower, 300 S Canal Street]

When we posted earlier this week about the Union Station Plan public presentation, we alluded to long-term plans for another tower adjacent to the station. The thrust of the yesterday's presentation was near-term (though not ticky-tacky) and medium-term stuff like the building of a street-level bus terminal, a BRT from the station to the lake, the re-engineering of passenger flow, fixing the chaos of Canal Street, sacrificing extraneous baggage and mail platforms for expanded passenger capacity, and building better passages to the street. Amtrak has an expansionist agenda these days, thanks to increased ridership, and fewer threats to its existence. It wants to drive more track through and around Union Station for smoother long-distance hauls, and focus retail and restaurant development on the site. This may include a tower or two at some point, and there are new renderings to suggest it, presented by CDOT and brought to our attention by the Chicago Architecture Blog (hop on over to see the presentation slides). So, it seems like new air conditioning was just the tip of the iceberg.
·Two new skyscrapers, otherwise a modest future for Union Station [CAB]
·Un-arrested Development [Curbed]