Loyola University and city officials launched a joint effort Monday to reduce crime in the Edgewater neighborhood by opening a police substation underneath the Granville CTA stop.Commander Bruce Rottner of the 24th District, a longtime neighborhood resident, said the station will provide a constant police presence while giving his officers 'somewhere to hang out, get in out of the cold, have a cup of coffee, and do their paperwork.'

The station opened with a ceremony dedicating the building to Eric Solorio, a Loyola graduate and Chicago police officer who died in the line of duty last month. The station has two emergency call boxes, one outside of the station as well as one inside. Both are connected to Loyola's campus police.

Loyola students can gain access to the inside of the station using their student identification cards.

The station has been three years in the making. The funding for the station was achieved through the efforts of Alderwoman Mary Ann Smith (48th Ward), who worked with U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) to find federal money for the project.The federal government paid to install a waterproof membrane to protect the station and adjacent storefronts from leakage. Loyola then spent more than $10,000 renovating the police facility.