Damen Green Line station to open Aug. 5

The Damen Green Line L stop is set to open next week.

The station, at the intersection of Lake Street and Damen Avenue, has been years in the making and fills a 1 1/2-mile gap between the Ashland and California stops. It will open on Aug. 5, a spokesperson with the Chicago Department of Transportation told the Chicago Sun-Times.

It's been over seven years since plans for the station were first announced. The stop is less than a half-mile walk to the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention will be held Aug. 19-22. But this isn't the first time a L stop will be at this location — the city shuttered a station there 76 years ago.

"This long-awaited addition to the city's train network will not only bridge a crucial gap between existing stations but will also provide vital access for residents, workers, and visitors to the area," said Ted Villaire, a spokesperson with the Active Transportation Alliance. "This fully accessible station represents an important step towards a more connected and inclusive Chicago."

The $80 million project is led by the city Transportation Department and funded by the Kinzie Industrial Corridor Tax Increment Financing District. The station was designed by Perkins & Will, a Chicago-based architecture firm.

CTA officials said in June the stop will be fully accessible. The 5,000-square-foot station will include a mural, escalators, elevators on both sides of the platform and a pedestrian walkway over the tracks.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans for the station in 2017. It was originally slated to open in 2020, but delays plagued construction for years. In earlier official statements, the cost for the new station was about $50 million.

Construction didn't begin until August 2022, Block Club Chicago reported at the time. Pandemic delays and supply chain issues were partly to blame.

This isn't the first time a CTA stop has been at this location. One of the city's first L stops, originally called the Robey station, was at the spot from 1893 to 1948. It was one of 10 stations along Lake Street to close in 1948 due to low ridership and to speed up service, according to a Chicago Tribune article from April 1948.

The Morgan stop along Lake Street was also closed in 1948. The city opened the station in 2012 to service the Green and Pink lines.