Open House 34th District Office #twill

If you live in the 34th state house district, you can visit the open house for the 34th District Office located at 113 E. 95th Street, Suite A on Saturday, September 7, 2019 from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM.

Want to learn more about state Rep. Nick Smith visit his website at RepSmith34.com

#tbt Martinique Restaurant formerly stood near 95th/Western

It's funny to find this about The Martinique restaurant/Drury Lane Theater that formerly stood at 2500 W. 95th Street. What exists on this site today includes a Walmart and Sam's Club. You can see an article about this here.

In the early 1990s at least this was the site of my 8th grade class banquet for Bennett School.

What I see from Pete Kastanes on his twitter page I got a kick out of seeing a pic of this ashtray.

Here is an ashtray from The Martinique Restaurant/Drury Lane Theater once located at 2500 W 95th St in Evergreen Park, IL. It’s one of the most missed places in the Chicagoland area that is still talked about today. pic.twitter.com/2cgIUEdFBf

— Pete Kastanes (@DefunctChicago) February 6, 2019

Also here's a photo found from one of Kastanes' FB pages. This was certainly a striking site driving west on 95th Street especially during the 1990s when the restaurant was in operation. I'm glad someone out there took some pics of the sign. Click through the embed to see more pics of this facility.

BTW, GO BADGERS😛

Curbed Chicago: CTA completes $280 million 95th Street terminal overhaul #Ward09

I know this is old news at this point and had already shared one article about this, but Curbed Chicago also covered the opening of the north terminal at 95th. It really does look like a hub of activity, and it does seem like an airport. Perhaps CTA's answer to Midway Airport...

CTA completes $280 million 95th Street terminal overhaul https://t.co/TLw6J8IHJ2 pic.twitter.com/sSNLJK4VvM

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) January 4, 2019

There are some other articles I would like to share with regards to transit projects in Chicago.

The new 95th terminal is now open... #Ward09 #BuildingwithBeale

The CTA terminal at 95th is 90% complete. The north terminal is now open as of Friday morning. As a result it gives me the excuse to share this article from the Tribune before the north terminal opened:

The $280 million project replaces the original 50-year-old rail and bus terminal at the southern end of the Red Line, which runs along the Dan Ryan Expressway. The station, one of the busiest on the CTA system, serves 20,000 daily commuters and sees about 1,000 CTA, Pace and Greyhound bus trips on an average weekday, CTA officials said.

The four-year station construction was also a necessary step in building the extension of the Red Line south to 130th Street, which is part of the agency’s long-range plan.

“This is a huge, huge accomplishment for the city of Chicago and the Far South Side,” said Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th. Beale said the station will be more user-friendly for bus, rail and pedestrian traffic and will draw business to the area.

The south terminal was completed last spring. Having two terminals eliminates the conflict between eastbound and westbound buses on 95th Street, allowing eastbound buses to use the south terminal and westbound buses to use the north terminal, CTA officials said. Previously, there was only a north terminal.

The new station includes a heated, glass-enclosed pedestrian bridge over 95th Street, connecting the north and south terminals and cutting down on conflicts between cars and people walking. The number of bus bays has increased to 26, from 12, CTA officials said.

The station also will have more turnstiles and Ventra vending machines, a longer train platform to reduce overcrowding, additional bike racks, and new signage.

“I think it’s a great lift to the community,” said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr., 21st. “It’s a beautiful station. It will spur additional economic development down 95th Street, and it will ease traffic going down that corridor.”

As for that future CTA Red Line extension:

The construction of the new station needed to be done before the Red Line can be extended to 130th Street, CTA officials said. Last year, the CTA picked a route for the extension, which will include four new rail stations. The agency is now preparing to complete the preliminary design and engineering work needed to pursue federal funding for the project.

You want to know the financial scale?

The cost of the station exceeds that of two recent big projects: the $203 million Wilson Street station rebuilding on the Red Line’s north branch and the $75 million Washington/Wabash station in the Loop. The 95th Street station construction was larger than the other projects and included track work in the rail yard at 98th Street, CTA officials said.

Finally seems like an unnecessary expense:

The new station, which has a distinctive red roof, will feature two new public art displays by Chicago native Theaster Gates. The south terminal will have a pair of tapestries made from the strips of decommissioned fire hoses that are sewn together, and the north terminal will include a radio station and DJ booth that will broadcast over the station’s public address system.

A DJ Booth and a radio station, really? Though I hear that there will be public bathrooms available. Still not sure about that idea of DJ at a transit terminal.

Regardless can't wait to see the finished project... 

Did you see the pedestrian bridge over 95th?

[VIDEO] Well this is old news, but for the last week if you've been driving along 95th Street across the Dan Ryan Expressway you see a bridge over the street. It's a pedestrian bridge that will connect the new south terminal with the original north terminal.

I did a quick snapshot when I noticed the bridge and finally posted it to our IG page. I think some of the structure for the bridge was staged at the old service station at 95th & State before it was eventually put up.

Thanks to the continuing work at 95th according to WGN:

Drivers along 95th Street will notice lane reconfigurations for the next 2-3 weeks as crews work to put the glass enclosures and flooring in place. For the latest details, visit transitchicago.com/alerts.

Here's our ig post

Body found near 95th Street in 21st Ward

I think this is something you need to know, posted to The Sixth Ward on Tuesday. I hope that you all stay safe out there. Hopefully this woman who was found in a trash can in the Brainerd community will be identified and we can determine how she got into that trash can.

Body found in trash can on west 95th Street last week! https://t.co/clocNP2fmj

— The Sixth Ward (@TheSixthWard) September 18, 2018

A New Abbott Park Advisory Council

49 E 95th St

Got this in an e-mail from the West Chesterfield Community Association. The Abbott Park Advisory Council fired up this past spring and are certainly looking not for people to attend especially if you live nearby. They're especially looking for people to serve on the council and as officers.

• A New Abbott Park Advisory Council

  The Chicago Parks Consortium, West Chesterfield, Roseland Hts and Red Line Extension Coalition (RLEC) helped organize a New Abbott Park Advisory Council and invite your to attend its 6:30 p.m. meeting July, 18, 2018 in the Abbott Park Field House.
  
  These organizations thank the Chicago Park District (CPD) for addressing many Abbott Park operation service requests since the September 19, 2017 CPD Budget Hearing Meeting. The community would like Abbott Park and the 95th Street area to be a “Preferred Point of Destination” that has good business neighbors, level 1 schools, a great park… all of which will improve area walkability and the use of public transportation within the ¼ mile to ½ mile transit-oriented development area of the at the $280 million 95th CTA Terminal.
  
  Since 2017 the CPD planted 140 new trees at Abbott Park, installed Exterior Lights on the field house, trimmed Low tree branches, planted 1040 trees, install a new sink and water heater and drain pipe in the cultural center, repaired park benches and under ground pipes have been repaired in the center field of the.
  
  Michael LaFargue, Chicago Parks Consortium president, congratulates Ms. Lori Burns and Sharon Banks Pincham, Co-Chair’s of the Park Advisory Council for Abbott Park. The PAC is working on its by-laws and goals for the next year.

BTW, I wanted to explore this but will do so at a later time even if it's already a done deal. There is an old playlot on 98th & Michigan that has long since been dismantled and has often seen little activity. Perhaps someone might have a picnic there rarely and sometimes more frequently grown folks or Harlan student just loitering there.

All the same, there is finally a plan to turn this former playlot into a dog park that should've been debated at the last Roseland Heights Community Association meeting in June. I should ask for an update although unfortunately I didn't attend this meeting to observe the results. Though I hope to talk more about this soon and I'm sure this is a topic of conversation at the Abbott Park Advisory Council also.

I even took some more pics recently of the playlot close to 10 years after snapping some shots there as the future of this lot was still uncertain!

From Playlot on 98th/Michigan

The new 95th street is coming along

Snapped this shot of the new south of 95th terminal  on Friday. And snapped other shots around the station Friday morning and evening. They took some of the fencing away and perhaps it won't be too long before this new station is open. Of course the original north of 95th station remains open and there is some construction there as well.

Here's a post from ig that includes the above pic and additional shots with some video.

A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Apr 6, 2018 at 10:45pm PDT

Scary police chase on Thursday

[VIDEO] So along the Dan Ryan or Bishop Ford Expressways on Thursday a scary car chase was going on. Three jurisdictions tried to stop the car and they were undeterred, but ultimately the guys in blue got their men. There were injuries, thankfully no one was killed. Two suspects in custody.

As you will see the chase went through West Chesterfield at one point then all the way up to 87th by the Jewel Store off the Dan Ryan and then back west along 95th. Ultimately the chase ended at 93rd & May.

Video courtesy of CBS 2 Chicago. And a map of where this chase ultimately ended.

The Walgreen's on 95th & King Drive is closing

In about one month the Walgreen's location at 347 E. 95th Street will be closed permanently on June 27, 2016. It'll just be another vacant storefront just like the former Wendy's across the street on 95th.

The flyer you see below is seen on a table as you enter the store and signs are posted in that location alerting customers of the impending closing. This particular space had only been open for roughly a decade.

Standing water at Abbott Park

After Thursday's heavy rain this is how Abbott Park at 95th & Michigan had fared earlier this afternoon. After the heavy snow melts and with heavy precipitation it seems prone to standing water in the grassy areas of the park. And standing water on the sidewalks surrounding the park.

Abbott Park flooded #weather #rain #chicagogram #chicagoparks

A post shared by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Mar 30, 2017 at 12:20pm PDT

If you have any weather related pics send them to us or tag us on Instagram.

Crossposted from sixthward.us

1970: 95/Dan Ryan CTA terminal

As of now the CTA terminal at 95th endures. It has undergone some changes over the years, a reconstruction in 2003-04, the shutdown & reconstruction of the Red Line south in 2013, and of course the expected overhaul expected to be completed in 2018. The ig post below from the CTA's ig profile shows a scene not too unfamiliar to today's transit riders who begin or compete their commutes at 95th street.

This 1970 photo (from our historical photo collection) shows a busy 95th/Dan Ryan bus terminal as people get off of buses and make their way to the train, not long after it opened. In 2014, construction began on the 95th Street Terminal Improvement Project, which will expand and greatly improve the 95th/Dan Ryan station (the south terminal of the CTA Red Line). #cta #cta70 #chicago #ctaredline #buses #terminal #busterminal #princetonpark #westchesterfield #roseland #longwoodmanor

A post shared by Chicago Transit Authority (@chicagocta) on Mar 11, 2017 at 5:20pm PST

At 95th an unused disconnected phone #gogreyhound

On Tuesday I noticed the remnants of a phone which about where Greyhound buses used to stop for pick-ups and drop-offs. It's been a few years since I've taken a Greyhound from 95th Street and remember Greyhound personnel perhaps the drivers using the phone. The station where you can buy your tickets was actually in the terminal near the fare controls, however, that changed in the late 90s.

By 1999 at least one of the last few times I took a bus from 95th the actual ticket office was moved to the back where the 29 State bus starts its journey. Sometime after an overhaul which had been in 2002-03 Greyhound began drop-offs and pick-ups at their ticket office in the back of the CTA terminal.

Sometime during the past decade this phone was disassembled and then the line cut. Funny part is that I knew it was there but hadn't thought about it in years until seeing this recently. Whenever CTA finish the new 95th terminal this ancient device will be history.