The renovation continues, but the swift fix of one of the ugliest, dampest, most depressing subway entrances outside of the Loop, the southwest entry to the Chicago and Ogden Blue Line stop, emerged from decades of neglect in early October to unexpected spiffiness; two other entrances are under reconstruction. A few paces from pre-mayoral Rahm Emanuel’s night boîte of choice, the Matchbox, the subterranean passage belied any improvement or gentrification aboveground with its 1940s-style design left to molder under leaks and stalagmites of rot that offered a truer picture of the state of infrastructure than huge new platforms with soaring roofs and admirable public art. Now, a white mosaic wall is inlaid with a cool blue arrow that rounds the corners toward the descent into the depths. May the vanished filth never return; It’s always infrastructure week when you neglect the truism, “Things fall apart.” (Ray Pride)\
