Monday, after years of planning, delays, and, ultimately, construction, the CTA opened the new Damen Green Line L station at Damen Avenue and Lake Street on Chicago’s Near West Side. The station, approved in 2017, features lots of green, a pedestrian bridge between the inbound and outbound sides of the platform offering a spectacular view of the Chicago Skyline, and a mosaic art installation by local artist Folayemi Wilson in the atrium-style entrance lobby off Damen Avenue.

The Damen elevated platform fills a 1.5-mile-long service gap between the Ashland station to the east and the California station to the west, allowing West Side residents easier access to transit. It also adds a convenient transportation option for sports and concert fans going to and from the United Center, joining the Ashland Green /Pink Line station to the east and the Illinois Medical District Blue Line station across the Eisenhower Expressway as the closest L platforms to the arena.

F.H. Paschen is the general contractor on this build for the Chicago Transit Authority. They chose Perkins&Will to do the design work. The city issued a new construction permit for the station on August 10, 2022, with an estimated cost of $50 million. It is estimated the overall costs for the station have risen to $80 million.

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