A renovation is on the way for the Vermont Street Station

Jeannette Sorrell, founding artistic director of the baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire, works with the Southland College Prep choir on a piece for the October 26th concert launching the Matteson School District 162 Strings Program. Photo by Eric Lites
Jeannette Sorrell, founding artistic director of the baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire, works with the Southland College Prep choir on a piece for the October 26th concert launching the Matteson School District 162 Strings Program. Photo by Eric Lites

 A renovation is on the way for the Vermont Street Station

The Metra Blue Island Vermont Street
station, located at 2300 W. Grove St.,
will have a new appearance. The Blue
Island Mayor Fred Bilotto announced
that the Metra Board of Directors has
approved a $3.1 million contract to
renovate the renowned Vermont Street
on the Rock Island Line.

It was originally built in 1868 and
served as the mainline. Roughly
600 commuters used it before the
COVID-19 pandemic. It is in Metra
Zone D and is also one of the busiest
stations in the Rock Island District. A
number of trains end there and many of
the rush hour trains stop at this station.

“We are pleased that we will be creating
a more welcoming, more comfortable
experience for the Rock Island Line
customers while retaining the historic
nature of this facility. The riders of my
Metra deserve nothing less,” Metra CEO
and Executive Director Jim Derwinski
said in a statement.

The Rock Island service was first
initiated in 1852, and the present brick
station Vermont Street replaced the
initial frame depot in 1868. The Beverly
Branch separates from the main line
and runs at the base of the ridge serving
stations in Blue Island and in the neighborhoods
of Morgan Park and Beverly.

In 2018, the Blue Island-Vermont
was the 84th busiest of Metra’s 236
non-downtown stations with an average
of 595 weekday boardings. The station
is comprised of six tracks for in-service
trains with Rock Island having four
tracks and Metra Electric having two. A
coach yard is located just north of the
station and is used to reserve out -of service
trains that are not in use.

The project will include an interior
renovation, the roof, a replacement
of the gutters and downspouts and
reconstruction of the chimneys.
The renovation also will consist of a
replacement of all doors and windows,
custom brick replacement and masonry
staining; asbestos and lead-based paint
abatement; new landscaping and site
improvements. The renovation is funded
by a grant from the Regional Transit
Authority’s Innovation, Coordination
and Enhancement (ICE) program.

ICE provides funding assistance to
enhance the coordination and integration
of public transportation and to
develop and implement innovations to
enhance the quality and delivery of public
transportation. Projects like this also
provide dependable and suitable transit
services and refining efficiency through
successful management, innovation and
technology.

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