(The Chicago Tribune posted the following article on its website on October 13.)
CHICAGO — After years of balking at the prospect, Metra has decided to make it easier for fans to attend White Sox games.
As early as the 2008 baseball season, a new Metra station could open along the Rock Island line, which runs through the heart of traditional Sox territory on the South Side and in the southwest suburbs.
The commuter rail line’s board of directors on Friday approved an $800,000 design contract for a new station at 35th Street, just across the Dan Ryan Expressway from U.S. Cellular Field.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Sox marketing vice president Brooks Boyer said. “That line goes right through a hotbed area of White Sox fans.”
The contract signals a new ballgame for Metra. In 2003, then-Chairman Jeffrey Ladd said he opposed adding a train station to serve the ballpark, even though Rock Island and SouthWest Service line tracks run nearby.
Because the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red and Green Lines already had stations at 35th Street, Ladd said he believed it would be a poor use of resources for Metra to build a station that would only be used for about 81 home games a year. Before he stepped down in June, Ladd acknowledged the station was needed.
Metra Executive Director Philip Pagano said Friday that many others besides the White Sox would benefit from the new station. The Near South Side is home to booming development from Bronzeville to Bridgeport. The station would also serve the Illinois Institute of Technology and De La Salle Institute.
Money for the contract comes from a $1 million federal appropriation obtained by U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.).
Funding for the new station was included in Metra’s 2007 capital program and $554 million budget.