The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1908-08-21
NORTHWESTERN PLANS
MAGNIFICENT TERMINAL
THE $2o,ooo,ooo CHICAGO STATION
A WORK OF BEAUTY.

Inc chicago Northwestern rail-
way has announced that the architec.
| tural plans for the new Madison
street terminal are completed and
drawings about ready for exhibition
to the public.
The drawings indicate that the Chi
cago terminal will be one of the fin
est architectural features of the city
"a splendid structure of classic de-
sign, the essential feature of which
! is a great COlonnade entrance or por-
tico of lofty proportions. monumental
in type, that towers to a height of
one hundred and twenty feet above
Madison street. Before this imposing
front is a broad pavement or esplan-
ade from which will rise the granite
columns that guard the inner vesti.
bule. The esplanade will be lighted
by monumental brass lamp standards,
from which clusters of electric lights
will blaze at night; and four big
clock dials, each twelve feel in dia-
meter, will look down from the gran.
lite walls.
There are six other public entran-
ces to the building, and the stairways
are so ample that if placed side by
side they would form steps one hun
dred feet broad
100000 Capacity.
Growing traffic requirements have
made this big $2O,O0O,OOO improve.
ment an early necessity. The present
Wells street station, with capacity OF
handling fifty thousand passengers
per day, will soon be overtaxed, and
the new terminal, with facilities for
taking care of quarter of million of
people every twenty-four hours,
needed to take its place. For many
years President Hughitt has been
weighing the needs of the case, and
with broad forethought. has planned
to give the travelling public a fitting
place for arrival and departure, and,
at the same time, to provide Chicago
one of the finest architectural monu-
ments of which the city can boast
beautiful building, designed along
classic lines, and built under instruc-
tons to make the very best building
in every particular that modern ar
chitectural enterprise can build.
The Northwestern officials believe
they will have the new terminal
ready for occupancy by January, 1910.
An Elevated Terminal.
The plans call for an elevated ter
minal, reached by two elevated ap-
proaches of four tracks each, and
train shed $40 feet long and 800 feet
wide that will contain sixteen tracks,
each with capacity of fifteen cars.
The approaches alone to this struc-
ture embrace some 80 acres of
ground, Is acres for the north and
an equal amouL; for the west ap-
proach. This is entirely separate, and
in addition to the main lines.
Between Kinzie street and Madi-
son street and Clinton and Canal
streets some thirteen acres will be
occupied by the tracks and station.
it is difficult to comprehend the mag
nitude of the building: for instance,
the area of the basement is over two
acres; the street floor of the station
building is ~ acres; the train sheds
six acres.
There will be practically ten acres
of floor space devoted to public use.
The new terminal will occupy practi-
cally four city blocks, bounded by
Madison street on the south, KinZie
street on the north, Clinton street on
the west and Canal street on the
east, passing over Washington and
liantly lighted subways.
For a clearing understanding of the
architecture of the new terminal 1t
must be born in mind that there are.
first, the street level; second the
train shed level, or main floor; and
above this a third floor, containing
several features such as rest rooms
and emergency rooms for the care
of invalids.
On the street level, the essential
feature of the whole Ioor is the great
lobby, or cOncourse, where all the
''''iiiN'' VI ~ 'pCll III III llCNtl 10
conducted. The lofty vestibule or
porticO which forms the Madison
street entrance, opens directly into
this public cOncOurse, which has an
area of 100 feet by $50 feet. Surround
ing it are ticket offices, cab Offices
news stands, baggage checking rooms,
telegraph offices, telephone booths, an
automobile office, taXicab office, and
a well stocked shop or store in which
may be purchased practically every
thing that a traveller is likely to be
in need of, from a hand bag or pack
age of shoe polish to the usual fruits,
candies and material for luncheons
The management proposes to develop
the store into a feature the like of
which has never been seen in Chi
cago and it will be completely
stocked with all travel conveniences.
There will be lunch room on this
fioor-quite a large one-occupying a
I,N. ,1,S,,y