A crowd of about 50 people gathered Monday to watch the CTA move a 127-year-old house in East Lakeview as part of a project that will reconfigure “L” tracks with the aim of giving commuters a faster ride.
The Vautravers Building, which has been in the CTA’s path for over a century, is being moved 30 feet to the west in the direction of North Clark Street. The property’s original owners, who built the house in the 1890s, wouldn’t sell when work to construct the Red Line began, resulting in the construction of “L” tracks that looped around the building.
The move, which continues Tuesday, is one component of the CTA’s expansive Brown Line flyover project worth $570 million. The plan aims to reconstruct train tracks and create a flyover spanning three blocks. That project is the first part of an even bigger Red-Purple Line modernization project, which will be completed in 2024.
The Vautravers Building, a designated historic landmark that is part of the Newport Avenue historic district, is the only structure remaining in the flyover’s path after the CTA bought and demolished 16 buildings in preparation for the project. According to the CTA, the historic diversion created by the Vautravers apartment building still affects CTA speeds today — not just in Lakeview, but across the entire train system.
Ridership of the Red Line has almost doubled in the last five years, according to CTA spokesperson Stephanie Cavazos, and the apartment’s move is an effort to ensure that “rides are as efficient as possible” for the city’s busiest line.
The building was purchased by the CTA for $1.75 million in 2016, and work to move the apartment building at 947-949 N. Newport Ave. began in April, when CTA did exterior work and installed jacking beams and other equipment throughout the months of June and July to prepare for the move Monday. The estimated cost for moving and restoring it is another $1.75 million.
“Today has gone very smoothly,” said Cavazos, adding that the project is on track to be finished Tuesday.
As it is moved, the building is being supported by metal beams placed in a crisscross pattern underneath, as well as on the front and back of the building to hold everything in place. This move is a first for the CTA, which “has never moved a building for a construction project,” said Cavazos.
But some have expressed concerns about how CTA construction projects have been prioritized.
According to Dr. Kate Lowe, an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies urban planning and policy with a focus on public transport, while this project is important, it’s also an example of unequal prioritization that leads to “inadequate levels of investment” on the city’s South and West sides.
“We often see transit projects that serve affluent communities expedited, while projects in Black and brown communities may take longer,” Lowe said.
jyan@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jadeluciayan
