LINCOLN SQUARE — Neighbors want the soon-to-be-renovated plaza at the Western Avenue Brown Line stop in Lincoln Square to match the neighborhood’s architecture near Giddings Plaza.
The Brown Line plaza on the southeast corner of Western and Leland avenues is one of the areas of improvement highlighted in the 2019 Lincoln Square Master Plan.
The area is outdated, unsightly and needs an overhaul to improve visual continuity and access to the neighborhood’s nearby shops and restaurants, according to a 2018 study.
Ald. Matt Martin’s (47th) office, the Chicago Department of Transportation and Teska Associates, Inc. asked neighbors to weigh in on two designs for the plaza during a Friday open house at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
“The public gave us so much great input back in 2022 and also in 2019, during the master plan,” said Jodie Mariano, principal at Teska. “We still wanted to offer concepts for the community to weigh in on and two bubbled to the top.”
The majority of people who attended the open house voted for the plaza to have an Old World, European aesthetic over a more contemporary design, she said.
The improvements coming to the plaza are separate from the work being done to upgrade the Western Brown Line station, officials said. However some of the funds for the improvement are tied to the Western Avenue North TIF district, which is set to expire at the end of the year.
“We have a very tight timeframe because we have a funding source that has to be spent by the end of this year,” Mariano said.
In addition to aesthetic improvements, both design concepts incorporate native plants, permeable pavers, LED lighting and enlarged planting areas to help with stormwater runoff, Mariano said.
Neighbor Nancy Wade voted for the plan that incorporated Old World design elements and appreciated that both designs features plaza upgrades focused on sustainability, she said.
“It is incredibly important that Chicago take to heart that we’re in a climate emergency, as the City Council declared several years ago, and have construction everywhere [that has] green elements to it,” she said.
The plaza upgrade is just part of a flurry of construction activity in the heart of Lincoln Square this year, said Josh Mark, Martin’s chief of staff.
Construction on affordable housing at 4715 N. Western Ave. is underway, the Brown Line transit station at Western Avenue is getting a $20 million upgrade this year, as is the Leland Greenway and repaving of Western Avenue in the 47th Ward to add pedestrian and cyclist safety improvements, Mark said.
“It does feel kind of unbelievable, that we’re getting to the place where, frankly, we can still be in office when we are executing on the plans of this community,” Mark said.
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