Cincinnati's Union Terminal *Taken Today*

[montecarloss]

It was such a beautiful day in Cincinnati today. The weather called for summer cloths and it was the second to last weekend that the traveling Cooperstown collection (Baseball Hall of Fame) was to be at the Museum Center and since my family and I are all members, we thought we would take advantage of the beautiful day and spend it at the center. Needless to say the Cooperstown was top notch. I almost felt like I was actually at Cooperstown.

The museum offers a FREE behind the scenes tour of Union Terminal that runs at 1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 PM Saturday and Sunday. I decided to check it out and got to see some cool parts of the Museum that I didn't know existed. The Museum center fully restored a closed off and unused part of the center that used to house the presidents office, receptionist room and meeting room. It was incredible to here about all the damage done to these places when the rail companies abandoned the station in the 1970's. The restoral was incredible and Union Terminal has some of the best art deco I have ever seen and that includes the great "Palms Restaurant" of Carew Tower. The pictures do no justice to the center but offer a glimpse of the inside to many that have never seen it. The tour is free for non members and I highly sugest you check it out, as it is worth it.

Here are some of the pics I took today

Cincinnati Skyline from Union Terminal

Union Terminal Kiosk

Union Terminal Mosaics

Blurry pic of other side of the Terminal

Original desk of the secretary of the President of Union Terminal

Original Union Terminal President's Office - Pic does this room no justice, I also didn't take a picture of the Art Deco Fireplace with the cool Aluminum Hood.

Rail Yard

Here is a little history behind the terminal if you are interested.

Cincinnati Union Terminal

Cincinnati's magnificent art deco style railroad terminal building, now the home of Cincinnati Museum Center, was dedicated on March 31, 1933. Union Terminal was first proposed in the early part of the 20th century as a solution to the chaotic existing railroad system, which consisted of seven lines operating out of five stations. Initial planning began in the early 1900s, but floods, inter-railroad squabbling and World War I delayed the plan until the late 1920s.

The construction of Union Terminal was a cooperative project of seven railroad companies that served the city from five different terminals, Union Terminal centralized the freight and passenger operations of the Big Four (later the New York Central), Pennsylvania, Chesapeake & Ohio, Norfolk & Western, Southern, Louisville & Nashville, and the Baltimore & Ohio railroads.

New York architects Alfred Fellheimer and Stewart Wagner, recognized leaders in the planning of urban railway stations, were hired to design the Union Terminal building. Their first designs were classical until 1930 when Paul Phillipe Cret, a friend of Steward Wagner, was engaged as a consultant in 1930 and influenced the art deco style of the building. Construction began in August 1929 and was completed March 31, 1933.

Cincinnati Union Terminal stands on a prominent location one mile northwest of the center of the city on land that once was Lincoln Park. Visitors approach the massive 10-story, arched, limestone and glass east facade of the building from Western Avenue and Ezzard Charles Drive through a quarter-mile plaza. The building is flanked on either side by curving wings. An illuminated fountain, cascade and pool are in the center foreground. On either side of the main doors, bas-relief figures designed by Maxfield Keck symbolize Commerce and Transportation.

During World War II, Cincinnati Union Terminal experienced unprecedented success. As a major transfer point for soldiers, the station served as many as 20,000 passengers on some days. But in the 1950s, the sudden expansion of interstates and airlines led to the rapid decline of the railroad industry. By the early 1970s, only two trains a day passed through Union Terminal and in 1972, train service was halted completely.

In 1975, the City of Cincinnati bought the terminal and ran advertisements in the Wall Street Journal, which read, "World-famous Cincinnati Union Terminal for lease - $1 per year." In 1980, a Columbus developer converted the terminal into a shopping mall.

The recession of the early 1980s caused the project to fail. During the mid-1980s, the administrators of the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History and The Cincinnati Historical Society developed plans for a joint museum project. The spaciousness of Union Terminal, coupled with its history and design, made it the top choice as a location for the project. In 1986, Hamilton county voters approved a $33 million bond issue for the restoration of the terminal. The State of Ohio and the City of Cincinnati also contributed to the restoration with grants of $8 million and $3 million, respectively. In one of the city's most successful capital campaigns ever undertaken for a Cincinnati cultural organization, more than 3,000 Cincinnati individuals, corporations and foundations contributed to the building's renovation.

In November 1990, Cincinnati Union Terminal reopened as the Museum Center, an educational and cultural complex featuring the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, The Cincinnati Historical Society Museum and Library and the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX

[Guest donaltopablo]

Excellent photos and excellent historical follow up.

[Scott]

What a fantastic place! I love the office it's so "Daily Planet". This tour must have been a blast! Art Deco buildings are my favorite and this one is amazing. I wonder how many people have stared at that clock as they ran up those steps running late to get a train.

[Allan]

Wow! Awesome pics, Montecarlosse !!

[turlough]

nice i like that historial builidng. Can you take a night time shot of it ti looks like somsthing like a old train lights up a night on the fornt of the building.

[BGT]

Great pics.

[Shoowaa]

Great photos and thread Montecarloss-this building is one of my favorites out of the art-deco design (its gorgeous! ). Sometime I'll have to travel Amtrak through there on the way to DC from Denver via Chicago.

Albert (Shoowaa)

[tocoto]

Thanks for the phototour of a really nice looking building. Cincy has some great architecture.

[montecarloss]

Thanks all for the compliments.

I will take a nighttime shot next time I am down there with my camera.

[BGT]

I have another request. Do this one at night.

[monsoon]