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 11.21.2005 Restrooms Worth A Mint At Metra Stop |
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
BY MARK J. KONKOL Transportation Reporter
Once an unfinished basement of a train station, Metra s made-over Randolph Street stop just got a bit bourgeois -- at least in the bathrooms.
That s where bow-tie wearing attendants greet travelers with all the courtesy of their counterparts tending to restrooms in upscale eateries and hip nightspots.
The station s bathroom butlers aren t dolling out cigarettes, hot towels and cologne, but riders are offered a mint as a sort of public-toilet parting gift.
It s an attempt at ridding Randolph Street of its reputation as a dingy dump of a depot. Beitler Co., which has a 20-year contract to manage the station, has plans to fill the depot -- soon to be dubbed Millennium Park Station -- with a dozen new shops.
"It adds something special to the station and commuters. We want riders to feel like someone is taking care of them," Beitler spokeswoman Sharyl Rothschild said. "It s something we see in other countries."
Folks say they appreciate the service, which Rothschild says will be a permanent bathroom fixture.
"A public toilet like that, always clean with attendants there, it s the best," said Allen Gilmore of Hyde Park.
Retail stores recruited
Attendant Angelica Segovia says she can tell riders are sometimes surprised to see her perched on a stool at the bathroom door, but the regulars are getting used to it.
"They take a mint. They say they never see [a station bathroom] like this," Segovia said.
For Dee Smiddy, a tourist from Indiana who came in on the South Shore Line, the train station bathroom attendant experience was "very weird."
"It s not a place you d expect [bathroom attendants] like a restaurant," she said. "But maybe it won t be so bad once they finish getting stores in here."
Rothschild said Beitler is already recruiting retail stores, and two companies -- which she wouldn t identify -- have signed "letters of intent" to open up shop at the station.
Peter Sedrak of Merrillville, Ind., said they re off to a good start. The clean sinks, extra attention and complimentary mints make his commute just a little bit better.
"It s pretty cool, totally different," he said of the bathroom attendants. "And look, [the mint wrapper] even says, Thank You. Only in Chicago." |
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