Pretty much the truth. Historic preservation is/was a joke in Chicago. There are a few reminders left in the entrances off Canal St. & Clinton ST. underneath the train shed portion. I only wish I had spent more time exploring the building when I was working there. Where Grand Central sat is still a vacant lot. I've always thought it would make a great site as a hub for a real high speed rail network out of Chicago.

However to put things in perspective the C&NW sold the depot for $18 million dollars and that same year they had profits of only $500,000. The sale kept them out of Bankruptcy long enough to get the coal financed. Those were some pretty tough years for the RR business at that time. Sometimes companies have to make regretable decisions in order to survive.