Various community and interest groups are preening for our new mayor and his administration, flashing shiny new objects, hosting ribbon cuttings and the like to draw attention to their part of the city. As for our neighborhood, apparently Mayor Rahm Emanuel was actually living at Van Buren and Green streets for several months, so he’s gotten a firsthand taste of the West Loop without a lot of preening on our part.

Hopefully Emanuel already sees what we do — a walkable community with short commutes to the Loop, and the diversity offered when a one-time manufacturing district becomes a mix of industry and residential housing — but we have a way of preening for the mayor too, with the help of our various delegate agencies.

Chicago’s Department of Housing and Economic Development funds local chambers of commerce and community development corporations among others so they can work with the city and seek services on behalf of their constituencies. The West Loop Community Organization, Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, Near West Side Community Development Corporation and Randolph Fulton Market Association (RFMA) are all delegate agencies providing services to the Near West Side.

In the case of the RFMA, members are industrial businesses (manufacturing and wholesale companies) in the Randolph/Fulton Market area bordered by the Kennedy Expressway, Ogden Avenue, Washington Boulevard and Grand Avenue. As a delegate agency, the RFMA receives funds to advocate for the interests of the meat, fish and produce packing community among others, some of whom have been operating here for more than 100 years.

The Market and its stark, industrial feel is a huge part of what makes our neighborhood unique, and the RFMA exists to push for what is best for its businesses.

One such RFMA push has resulted in a new Green Line el stop at Morgan and Lake Streets. RFMA advocated heavily for the public transit stop to get members’ employees to and from work, and to support those wholesale members who also sell goods to the public. The disconcerting thing is that the structure going up looks to be meant more for future high-end retail and restaurant row on Randolph Street than for the utilitarian el access requested by the industries that RFMA is funded to protect.

The $38 million price tag and all that comes with it seems high for a station funded by the Kinzie Industrial Corridor Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district and nestled amongst manufacturers and wholesalers. The glass-encased stop boasts two elevators, enclosed stairways, granite floors and a covered transfer bridge over the tracks allowing for passenger access from one side of Lake Street to the other. The structure is even a story taller than the old, industrial buildings surrounding it because the elevator serves both the el platform and the walkway above. If ADA compliance wasn’t the reason for elevator service to the walkway, then we paid a lot of money to send CTA riders over Lake Street instead of simply taking them across a two-lane street with a four-way stop.

I’m not arguing the need for the stop, but rather the expense of it. Had there been any clear opportunity for community input, people would have asked questions about the walkway and the use of granite floors and glass enclosures. Although federal funds have since been granted, most of the cost will still be covered by the TIF. I would think RFMA’s goal of working to preserve the industrial corridor should have served as a priority, and the station’s costs should have been limited in favor of putting moneys into other parts of the corridor’s infrastructure.

Historically, parts of the Green Line have been active since the late 1890s, with a Morgan Street stop in service until 1948. The line also had a Halsted Street stop until 1994 at which time the entire line was shut down for major renovations. When talk of rebuilding a West Loop stop began in the early 2000s, I don’t imagine anyone had a nearly $40 million structure in mind.

At the RFMA’s annual Taste of Randolph/Fulton Market recently, 27th Ward Ald. Walter Burnett spoke about the history of the Market, and the importance of supporting local businesses in a time of economic strife. He also discussed the benefits of having a new administration to work with, given that new people are more open to listening to communities’ ideas. I wish they’d have been in time for a cost analysis and some community input on the Morgan el stop.

The new station is set to open in mid-2012. Talk about some preening.