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Pieces From Madison/Wabash Stationhouse To Be Sold At Auction

CHICAGO (CBS) -- What's left of an old Loop 'L' station is being sold off piece by piece in what some may say is an odd partnership.

Preservation Chicago hoped to save the 119-year-old Madison/Wabash stationhouse, which was on its 2014 "most endangered" list. Although preservation attempts failed, CTA agreed to give the group the station's façade.

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The preservation group had no place to store what remained. The Rebuilding Exchange stepped in and agreed to hold it until a home can be found, effectively saving the remnants from a landfill.

Rebuilding Exchange Executive Director Kelly Farley said other pieces are being sold, and some will go to an Aug. 28 auction to help defray its costs.

It marks the first time the two non-profits have worked together on such a project, Farley said.

L Station Auction
The items deemed most-sought-after will be auctioned during the party the evening of Aug. 28 at the Rebuilding Exchange warehouse. (Credit: Bob Roberts)

Items already on sale include a door and some radiators. Platform planks are for sale at $225 apiece. The items deemed most-sought-after will be auctioned during the party the evening of Aug. 28 at the Rebuilding Exchange warehouse, at 1740 W. Webster Av. Farley expects one of the most sought-after items to be pieces of the tin ceiling, which will be framed for hanging. The auction is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Rebuilding Exchange, and will feature food and drink from local restaurants, including Green Line beer. (Green Line trains regularly stopped at the station.)

L Station Auction
Items already on sale include a door and some radiators. (Credit: Bob Roberts.)

The CTA station closed in April to make way for construction of a new, fully-accessible stop at Washington/Wabash. The old stationhouse, on the Inner Loop (southbound) track, was the last stationhouse on the Wabash leg of the Loop dating back to its opening in 1896.

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