History

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 Steward 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 34,000 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 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 ® Theater. On July 29, 1991, train service was officially restored to the terminal. The success of the Union Terminal renovation made it possible for Amtrak to schedule a Cincinnati stop on its Chicago-bound route from Washington, D.C. The Cincinnati History Museum, Cincinnati Historical Society Library, the Museum of Natural History & Science and the Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX Theater merged operations in January 1995 as Cincinnati Museum Center, and welcomed the Children's Museum of Cincinnati in July 1997. The Duke Energy Children's Museum at Museum Center opened as the Cinergy Children's Museum in October 1998. Since its opening in 1990, Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal has attracted more than one million visitors each year.

About Union Terminal: Architecture

About Union Terminal: Facts

About Union Terminal: Mosaics