[denizen467]

Could there be major program elements to accommodate the particularly large surges of riders that will occur during McCormick events -- like many more elevators (or extra-large elevators), escalators, or extra wide platforms or anything? Not that Wrigley and Grant Park (for example) events don't bring their own surges, but those stations weren't originally designed for sudden crowds. Also, I have some vague recollection of talk of an entrance or exit that stretched (presumably as an elevated walkway) all the way to the east side of Wabash, though that might've been our own wishful-thinking internal banter. Some of these high-capacity features could be locked closed when high-traffic events are not going on, if vandalism is a concern.

Alternatively, could the $50 million include funds for land acquisition for and construction of a larger station building that includes extra space for retail tenants (or just concourse space to shelter the crowds, if there is a logjam going into or out of the ticket gates and it's howling freezing winds outside)? This comes to mind because there seems to be a lot of vacant land next to the station site.