(rshsdepot) Union Terminal (Cincinnati, OH)

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From the Cincinnati Enquirer.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Union Terminal turns 75
March 26 2008 

By Sara Pearce 
 
Some buildings transcend bricks, mortar, concrete and glass to become much  
more to a community. 
 
Cincinnati Union Terminal, which celebrates its 75th birthday this year, is  
one of those. 
 
Its vast rotunda echoes with the sobs of families sending sons and brothers  
to war, the cheers of fans greeting world champion athletes, presidential  
candidates and Hollywood stars, the weary sighs of traveling salesmen returning  
home, and the hurried footsteps of tourists. 
 
For Georgetown’s Betty Bunch, 70, it’s a reminder of seeing her brother  
Louis off to the Army in 1942. “When it was time for him to go, my brother  
laughed and picked me up and said ‘Goodbye,’ ” she recalls. “I loved my brother  
very much and at that moment my interest in the building faded as I realized 
he  was leaving.” 
 
When he returned home at the end of World War II, the family gathered again  
at the terminal. “As we waited for the train to appear, all the relatives were 
 laughing and hugging each other and, then, Louis appeared!” 
 
Every time Marian Blum, 82, of Finneytown hears the “Hallelujah Chorus”  
from Georg Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” it brings to mind her days as a member of 
 the University of Cincinnati Glee Club from 1943 to 1947 and their annual  
concerts in the rotunda during the holidays. 
 
The building’s curvy outline and enormous half-dome made it a beacon to  
Fritz Steiner, dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas  
Austin and a University of Cincinnati graduate. 
 
“It is the apex of railroad terminals, like the great railroad stations of  
Europe,” he says. 
 
If it had not been for World War II, Union Terminal would have been  obsolete 
when it was dedicated on March 31, 1933. It brought seven railroad  companies 
together under one roof but was one of the last major train stations  to be 
constructed in the United States. Other cities had built their united  stations 
decades earlier. 
 
By the time the $41 million project – which included 22 structures and the  
Western Hills viaduct under its umbrella – was complete, passenger rail travel  
had peaked in the country. 
 
But Union Terminal survived – barely. Passenger trains dropped from 216 a  
day to two, and passenger travel was halted in 1972. 
 
The next year, the concourse was razed and in an ironic twist, 14 of its  
mosaic murals were moved across the river to the airport. 
 
The city of Cincinnati bought the terminal from the railroad companies in  
1975. It paid $1 for the building and $1 million for the surrounding 15 acres. 
 
A science center moved in and out. 
 
A shopping mall moved in and out. 
 
Eventually, the rotunda would be filled again with crowds. A bond levy was  
passed in 1986 to preserve it as a museum site. The Cincinnati Museum of 
Natural  History and Cincinnati Historical Society announced they were moving to the 
 terminal, and it opened in November 1990 as the Cincinnati Museum Center at  
Union Terminal. 
 
Passenger trains returned in 1991 when Amtrak moved to the terminal, where  
its Cardinal travels through town three days a week en route to Chicago and New 
 York. 
 
There are thousands of reasons why this behemoth – designated a National  
Historic Landmark in 1977 – resonates with people, but we’ve narrowed the list  
to five: 
 
WOW ’EM ARCHITECTURE 
 
The lean Art Deco lines of the terminal have inspired accolades since it  
opened. 
 
With the aid of architects Paul Philippe Cret and Roland Anthony Wank, the  
original discreet classical design of Alfred Fellheimer and Steward Wagner was  
transformed into what architecture critic Paul Goldberger has called “perhaps 
 the most exuberant train station ever built, as monumental and awesome a 
piece  of art deco as Radio City Music Hall.” 
 
It’s deco through and through from the curving tiers of the entrance  
fountain to the vibrant bands of color on the interior of the half dome – the  second 
largest in the world – to the type on its signs. 
 
“It and the Netherland Plaza are the only great Art Deco interiors left in  
the country,” says Patrick Snadon, associate professor in the University of  
Cincinnati’s School of Architecture and Interior Design. 
 
A 2007 poll by the American Institute of Architects put the terminal at No.  
45 on a list of America’s 150 favorite works of architecture. 
 
STUNNING MOSAIC MURALS 
 
Winold Reiss, a Modernist artist who immigrated to the United States from  
Germany, won the commission and created 23 murals. 
 
“He was a great interior and graphic designer, and that, added to his fine  
arts training, comes together in the mosaics,” says Julie Aronson, the  
Cincinnati Art Museum’s curator of American Painting and Sculpture. Reiss  selected 
glass mosaic as his medium. 
 
The rotunda murals on the south side depict the development of the country,  
and those on the north side cover Cincinnati’s progress. The concourse murals  
pictured Cincinnati’s A-list industries (Baldwin Piano Co., U.S. Playing Card 
 Co.), civic leaders, key project personnel, Rookwood Pottery, and included  
arrival and departure murals that now flank the entrance to the historical  
society library. 
 
LURE OF THE RAILS 
 
The Cincinnati Railroad Club has kept the train tradition alive for 50  
years. Since the beginning, its meeting place has been the terminal, but Tower A  
became its permanent home in the 1990s. The club footed the $130,000 bill for 
an  extensive renovation of the tower, which had been abandoned for 17 years 
and was  occupied by birds, bats and mice. 
 
Tower A overlooks the tracks and still has the impressive track board that  
once detailed the comings and going of hundreds of trains daily. It now houses 
a  railroad museum and research library that includes books, movies and  
photographs. It’s open to the public for free, 8-11 p.m. Thursday, and noon-4  p.m. 
Saturday and Sunday. 
 
The club meets in the Tower on the first Thursday of each month. 
 
TOURIST ATTRACTION 
 
With its collection of museums – Natural History and Science, Cincinnati  
History, Children’s – an Omnimax theater, the Cincinnati Historical Society  
Library, the Arts Consortium, shops and more, the Cincinnati Museum Center is a  
tourist magnet. It gets 1 million visitors annually. 
 
It also hosts special touring exhibitions, such as the current Bodies … The  
Exhibition and Freedom’s Sisters. It organized the latter in collaboration 
with  the Smithsonian Institution. It also draws visitors via a series of annual  
cultural festivals, organ recitals, private events and more. 
 
UP ON THE ROOF 
 
OK, visitors can’t go on the roof but they can go inside the steel  structure 
of the half-dome, into the posh executive offices of the former  Cincinnati 
Union Terminal Co. and across the thick glass skywalk inside the  façade’s 
windows. 
 
That’s thanks to the active Cincinnati Heritage Programs volunteer docents.  
The group, which operates as part of the historical society, leads regular  
on-site tours. The knowledgeable guides rarely get stumped by a question.  
Lectures and off-site tours, such as the popular Haunted Cincinnati, also are  part 
of their program. 
 
Learn more about Cincinnati Museum Center Heritage Programs and History  
special programs and events. 
 
ANNIVERSARY EVENTS 
 
March 29 
 
High Steel Tours climb into the rafters above the Rotunda. $15; $10  members, 
sign up at the Heritage Program table in the Rotunda. 
 
“Died Young,” a 29-minute WCET documentary about the terminal’s history.  
Free, Newsreel Theater. 
 
Mosaic Figures Game, find the mystery mosaic figure and win passes to the  
museum. Free, Rotunda. 
 
10:15 a.m.: “Gateway to the City: Cincinnati Union Terminal at 75” exhibit  
ribbon cutting, Ruthven Gallery. Free through Oct. 12. 
 
11 a.m.: Opening of the terminal’s 1958 time capsule and voting on what  
should be in the 2008 capsule; a performance by Nick Lachey’s winning choir Team  
Cincinnati (minus Lachey). Free, Rotunda. 
 
“Living Murals,” selected mural figures “speak” about their lives. Free,  
Rotunda. 
 
1:30 p.m.: “Trains! Trains! We All Love Trains!,” an interactive musical  
for ages 4-8. Free, Losantiville Café. 
 
3:30 p.m.: The Singing Trainmen belt out a musical journey through railroad  
history. Free, Reakirt Auditorium. 
 
March 30 
 
High Steel Tours, “Died Young,” Mosaic Figures Game and “Living Murals”  
continue. 
 
1:30 p.m.: “Trains! Trains! We All Love Trains!” 
 
3:30 p.m.: The Singing Trainmen. 
 
April 14 
 
“Music in the Museum” with organist Gerre Hancock on the 1929 E.M. Skinner  
concert organ, accompanied by May Festival Chorus. $18, Rotunda. Tickets:  
513-287-7001; _www.cincymuseum.org_ (http://www.cincymuseum.org) , or  at the 
door if not sold out. 
 
April 17 
 
Tour the Geier Collections and Research Center, a behind-the-scenes look at  
artifacts not on display. Free; reservations required. 513-287-7021. 8:30-10  
a.m. Also May 14 (3:30-5 p.m.), June 10 (8:30-10 a.m.), July 22 (4:30-6 p.m.). 
 
April 19-20 
 
Celebrating Union Terminal’s Architecture, led by docents of the Cincinnati  
Heritage Programs. Includes a high steel visit. $15, $10 for members,  
reservations required: 513-287-7021. Also May 17-18; Sept. 20-21; Oct. 11-12. 
 
May 15 
 
NPR’s StoryCorps mobile unit arrives today for the public to record their  
oral histories for free for the Library of Congress. Reservations accepted  
starting May 1: 800-850-4406; _www.storycorps.net_ (http://www.storycorps.net) . 
Through June 7. 
 
May 23 
 
Free Friday gets you into all three museums 4-8 p.m. (excluding Omnimax and  
``Bodies`` exhibit). Repeats June 27, July 18, Aug. 15, Sept. 12. 
 
June 6 
 
“Union Terminal in the 1940s: Half-Day Guided Tour” led by Heritage  
docents, visits the USO, Newsreel Theater, World War II exhibit, outdoor train  
platforms, offices of the terminal’s president and includes a ‘40s-style lunch  
from an authentic ’40s menu. $45 (register by May 28): 513-287-7021. 
 
June 21-22 
 
1940s Weekend includes adding your memories to the terminal’s oral  histories 
collection, swing dance lessons, 1940s cars, Rotunda tours, visits to  Tower 
A, food demonstrations based on WWII rations, ‘40s movies, cartoons and  
newsreels and a ‘40s-style radio program. Rotunda and High Steel tours also  
available, $15, $10 for members, 513-287-7021. 
 
Oct. 10 
 
Diamond Jubilee Gala, a black tie affair. Details to be determined. 
 
Oct. 24 
 
Children’s Museum celebration in honor of the 10th anniversary of the  
Children’s Museum’s move into the building. Continues through Nov. 4. 



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1700
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org