Amtrak

Chicago’s Union Station is a key national transportation hub and one of our city’s iconic structures, but in some ways it’s sadly underutilized. The Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable transportation and development in the region, wants to change that. Their fifth annual placemaking contest, Activate Union Station, challenges Chicagoans to come up with low-cost ideas for activating three of the station’s grand public spaces: the Great Hall, the east-facing Canal Street arcade, and the riverside plaza of the station’s east building.