New Lenox train station near being completed

The new New Lenox train station is almost completed and will be ready for use in just a few weeks. Extra landscaping will need to be done in the spring, but the building will be able to be used this winter.

Mayor Tim Baldermann said the village will have a ribbon cutting ceremony soon.

“We’re excited to have this,” he said. “The people needed something that is functional.”

He added that was one of the biggest complaints the village received with its old train station building. The building was not owned by the village, but the New Lenox Historical Society wanted it and Metra gave it to them.

“It had fallen into disrepair and there wasn’t much effort to put money into it,” he said.

The new building, which was moved further east on the property accommodate for the larger lot, is big enough to allow people to congregate, as COVID-19 regulations allow. But for now, still gives people a warm place to stand during the cold months.

The inside will have some sort of shop, possibly a coffee shop.

“We didn’t want it to be too elaborate or over the top because people spend just a few minutes in there (waiting for their train),” Baldermann said.

Baldermann is also excited about the overall redevelopment of the area with the additions of Joey’s, Starbucks, CVS, which replaced an old BP gas station that was not functional, an old dry cleaners and an old bar.