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Rebuilt in 1996, the California Green Line station has a modern design of glass, white steel, and green wire mesh grilles developed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, looking north on July 15, 2003. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield) |
California
(2800W/120N)
California Avenue and Lake
Street, East Garfield Park
Service Notes:
Green Line: Lake
Accessible Station
Quick Facts:
Address: 2800 W. Lake Street
Established: November 6, 1893
Original Line: Lake Street Elevated
Previous Names: none
Rebuilt: 1977-80 (new fare controls), 1996
Skip-Stop Type:
Station
Status: In Use
History:
Because the fare controls were at track level, this required two separate station houses per station: one per direction, connected to each platform. The interiors of these stations had floor to ceiling tongue-in-groove paneling and wood moldings, with a wood floor, peaked ceiling, circular windows on the walls at the peaks, benches along the walls, and wood-burning stoves in the center of the room to heat the station. The ticket offices in the Lake Street stations were on the trackside walls of the interior. The platforms had short canopies, covering just a few cars, which were actually extensions of the station house roofs. By the 1970s, the station was suffering from deterioration, resulting in vandalism and misuse. In July 1977, the eastbound station house fell victim to a fire and was subsequently removed. It was replaced simply by Plexiglas enclosures and partitions and a wooden agent's booth on the platform. By 1980, the westbound station house was gone as well and replaced with a treatment similar to the eastbound side. The station retained a few of its original features, like its ornate canopies, but was otherwise of a simple, utilitarian design.
Ironically, only a few years after closing as a result of low ridership, California was resurrected during the Green Line rehabilitation of 1994-96. There was intense political pressure to retain stops and this situation had the unusual result of the decision to replace a station that had been closed for poor performance and cost-recovery a few years before with an all-new facility. California's brand new design was developed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), who had been selected in 1993 as a lead architecture/engineering firm for the renovation of the stations along the Green Line. The new station was executed, at a basic level, following the "open plan" design. The new station house, located at track level, is constructed of white steel, large glass windows and green accents. Unlike the previous incarnations of the station, only one fare control area was provided for the both directions, located at track-level on the south (inbound) side. An elevator on the southwest corner of Lake and California, decorated in white tile with green stripes, stands ready to bring passengers to the station house. To access the outbound platform on the north side, riders must utilize another set of elevators east of the station house, connected over the tracks by an elevated bridge. The canopy extends the entire width of the platforms, but unlike the horizontally flat canopies of many new "L" stations of the preceding decades, this one has a peaked roof with postmodern, unusual angled latticework in the center section. Because of construction delays, the new California station did not open when Green Line service resumed on May 12, 1996. Although the stop did open, it was operated with temporary facilities until the main fare control area was completed. The platforms were largely done in May, but the ticket agents were located in temporary wooden booths at the auxiliary exit stairs at Mozart Avenue, a block east of California. The station was officially dedicated on July 13, 1996 and the new station house and elevators came into use on August 5. At that time, the Mozart fare controls were removed and those stairs became auxiliary exit-only, as intended. |
The California platforms looking east on July 15, 2003 from the west end of the station, with the elevator towers providing accessible access between the platforms visible in the background. For a larger view, click here. (Photo by Graham Garfield) |
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