Need a New CTA Station? There's an App for That

Apple may have big plans for Red Line stop

If you need to rejuvenate an old, run-down train station, there's an app for that.

According to AppleInsider and ChicagoBusiness.com, Apple Inc. is in talks with the CTA to renovate the North & Clybourn Red Line station adjacent to a future Apple store location.

In exchange for advertising and naming rights, Apple will spend up to $4 million on the dilapidated station, which is music to the cash-strapped CTA's ears.

Naming rights! So North & Clybourn could soon be named iStop or iStation?

Of course, you might have to purchase special accessories just so you can adapt to the iStop, and the iStation won't be compatible with any other Stations on the Line.

Apple has stated that its main interest in the location is not the naming rights, however. Because the new retail store, expected to open next year, will be next to the Red Line station, the electronics and software behemoth wants to improve "the look and quality of the surrounding neighborhood."

But don't expect the new Apple store to look like the one on Michigan Avenue. The 15,000-square-foot retail space will be designed by a different firm—specifically, the group that designed the famous glass cube in Midtown Manhattan.

There is no word yet on when the station rehabilitation could begin, but we're pretty sure the construction project won't include new Windows.

Matt Bartosik, a "between blogs" blogger, is a recent iPhone convert and uses the new NBC Chicago app.

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