(The following story by Joseph Ruzich appeared at chicagotribune.com on December 3, 2008)
CHICAGO, Il – As the nation suffers through a recession, the blue-collar western suburbs of Bellwood and Melrose Park are dreaming of a bustling and modern downtown district, spurred on by a new $15 million Metra train station.
A ground-breaking ceremony was held Tuesday for the station, which will include an indoor pedestrian bridge that connects to a 680-space, two-story parking garage. Village and state officials said the current Melrose Park and Bellwood train stops will be demolished to make way. Construction is slated to start next year.
The station, to be built near 25th and Grant Avenues in Bellwood, is the first phase of a transportation-oriented plan to redevelop 55 acres of village-owned properties in both villages—about 60 percent in Bellwood and 40 percent in Melrose Park—for a new shared downtown. Officials hope the area will be made of retail and housing, replacing the mostly industrial area it is now.
“We are really proud of this project,” said Melrose Park Mayor Ronald Serpico. “This is going to be a great stimulus for the area.”
President Anthony Bruno, of the Elmhurst-based Illinois Development Services Corp., said two-thirds of the train station project will be paid through tax-increment-financing dollars, with the rest to be paid using federal transportation grants.
Bellwood officials placed the area in a TIF district in 2006 and voted unanimously to fund the station, near Melrose Park’s border, in August.
Union Pacific Railroad spokesman Mark Davis said his company has been in negotiations with Bellwood for two years. Davis said Union Pacific has begun infrastructure work at the site.
The station’s construction will start after infrastructure improvements are done in late 2009, Davis said. The three-story brick station also will include a clock tower and an adjacent ground-level parking lot.
“This new station will spur $300 million in new development,” said Bellwood Mayor Frank Pasquale.