Speaking of showing some respect to historic stations...
can anybody tell me why Union Station (the main building) has gotten such unfair treatment over the years?
First, it loses its concourse in a sacrifice to the gods of commerce, resulting in what is perhaps Chicago's most boring office tower - which, by the way, is a carbon copy of One Shell Square in New Orleans.
The concourse had an interior atrium modeled after those at Penn Station in New York - an open, glassy space with lots of lacy ironwork. In another sacrifice to the gods of commerce, Burnham designed the headhouse to be capped off with an office building. But with or without an office building, the result is an extremely ungainly and awkward classical structure that is only redeemed by its wonderful atrium.
The former concourse.
Then, in a series of annoying but understandable moves, Metra decides to shift EVERYTHING, including ticket sales, Amtrak baggage, shops, and waiting rooms to the mezzanine level above the tracks, moving everything out of the only remaining part of the Burnham design and hiring - get this - Lucien Lagrange to build the new, cramped underground facilities.
Today, Union Station is all but forgotten, hiding in plain sight. Its taxi turnarounds are shut down for national security reasons, although they aren't within range of anything passenger-related, thanks to Metra's eastward shift. Its atrium is still soaring and awe-inspiring, but the benches are just used by people eating lunch or grabbing some Zs. The train departure sign in the center is scuffed, tacky, and far too small for the space. Just off the main space is an arcade - the video game kind - where you can find Dinosaur Hunter and a Playboy pinball machine. Hardly fitting of Burnham's legacy.
While many other cities have repurposed their unused and/or oversized railroad stations, Chicago continues to let our station languish. They barely even clean it. The West Loop Transportation Center notwithstanding, Chicago needs to find a good use for this space that draws the crowds. Hopefully Metra and Amtrak can undo their mistake and move train-related stuff back into the headhouse. If they don't, then the city needs to find restaurants and museums and other things to bring the people in.