Hey Mike,
Why does the train station look like it does?
—Jon
I’m glad you asked, Jon. And not just because I like having an excuse to look at old pictures. If you look at this picture, everything looks mostly the same, except the billboard doesn’t say WEED WOLF. That’s neat!
Before 1970, Logan Square was the end of the Blue Line, surrounded by a stockyard and the types of businesses that train people patronize (I’m assuming mostly diners?).
In 1970, the Logan Square L stop inherited a number of architecture characteristics common in the 70s, which is why it looks the way it does.
Because Logan Square has a number of buses and a train converging at the same spot, the neighborhood lucked out and got the deluxe station with the tracks running underground through to Jefferson Park. In your face, Montrose!
Then in 1984, the Blue Line, as we know it, was completed by traveling all the way to O’Hare. (This isn’t really relevant, but it took them that long to make the train travel to O’Hare? Get it together!)
Since then, the Logan Square stop has remained unchanged, sitting around for 30 years getting older and cruddier.
In 2000, the station was cleaned up and rehabbed with metal and concrete to keep it from falling over, and a nifty elevator was installed, which I’m assuming smells great.
That pretty much gets us up to date, except for when they sandblasted everything in 2011 and the station was clean for like a week.
—Mike
Mike says Logan Square was surrounded by stockyard but I think he meant rail yard.
The Logan Square and Belmont subway stops were both designed by the Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. The stations feature modern architecture that emphasizes simplicity and the idea the form follows function. That’s why these stations have clean lines and platforms unencumbered by support beams. The use of stainless steel for the ticket booths and other structures are part of this design philosophy.
The newly extended train lines needed additional train cars to support them. The 2200-series CTA cars that were put into service in 1969-1970 were designed to visually complement these new stations. The stainless steel exteriors and the curve of the roof are some of the visual cues that SOM incorporated when they helped design these cars. They’re still in service today and can be identified by their fluted/ribbed exterior and the blinker doors that open in on themselves.
So basically Logan Square was as much a trend setter back in 1970 as it is today. We can thank the station for influencing how CTA cars look today.
Thanks for the additional information, YS.