Cincinnati’s Union Terminal is one of the most majestic and iconic landmarks of Cincinnati but arguably all of the Midwest. It sits as a testament to the Cincinnati spirit, majestic but also coming 20 years after many other major us cities had built some form of a consolidated passenger rail terminal. Cincinnati had thrown around this idea of consolidating its 5 passenger rail terminals into one singular rail terminal, with a noted proposal having this passenger terminal near the present-day Fort Washington Way trenches lay in 1912.

But like many Cincinnati ideas, it was discussed, thrown around, heavily debated, but left unsettled for years. This lateness allowed it to be particularly unique for two reasons. The July 1927 agreement between 7 railroads to utilize one passenger terminal in Cincinnati represented the first time in any major US city all railroads agreed to use the same terminal for passenger operations. The station was also designed during the zenith of art-deco in the United States Architecture, which in this case was a cost-saving measure as original rotunda designs had the Terminal in a more neo-gothic sense. 

Constuction began in 1928 and would last until 1933. This coincided with other massive projects ongoing in the City of Cincinnati at the time; The Carew Tower complex, Krohn Conservatory and the Western Hills Viaduct. The Western Hills Viaduct was built as a part of the Union Terminal project due to compromise from protest by west side neighborhoods on railyard expansion/demolition of the Liberty St and Harrison Avenue viaducts cutting off those neighborhoods in full to the Cincinnati Urban Basin. It cannot be overstated enough how massive of a civil works project the entire Union Terminal project was – which saw massive railyard expansion, new power plants, rerouting some of Mill Creek, eliminating much of the Bald Knob Hill for Fill for the foundation. It opened 6 months ahead of schedule in March 1933 at at total cost of $41 million. 

Union Terminal was opened with 17 tracks and a massive complex designed to handle 216 trains and 17,000 passengers a day. Despite its granduer and being an incredible feat of engineering and architecture, it was obsolete from the moment it opened. The 1930s marked the beginning of declining passenger revenues and ridership for most railroads. The terminal was also put into a location while that did serve its purpose for inter-city travel made it hard for the city to even consider commuter rail as an option in the terminal, something that would not have been a problem with a location on Third St. It never got close to its designed capacity, except for the 1940s and World War II when it did for half the decade sometimes even exceed its designed capacity. This time it saw massive crowds and was a huge hub for the USO and troop shipments across the US. However, after 1945 it resumed its massive decline in usage. 

By the 1960s city leaders were openly pondering Union Terminal’s future and solicited ideas that included things from an office complex to a convention center or museum. None of those panned out. By 1972 the station was in immediate danger of demolition due to being purchased by the Southern Railway company and passenger service being suspended in October. A massive movement overtook the City of Cincinnati to Save Union Terminal, which had demolition permits pending and was on the brink of being demolished. Councilmember Jerry Springer and others on City Council quickly acted to make it a historic building and eventually purchased the property. It was found that it would be too expensive to save the concourse (lifting it for freight rail operations underneath would have cost a staggering $1.5 million), so demolition proceeded on the concourse by the Southern Railway. All the Winold Reiss murals of the staggering concourse but the grand map of the United States were saved by a multi-million-dollar campaign. 

 Save The Union Terminal - Jerry Springer folk song called “Save the Union Terminal” from 1973. 

The building was turned into a mall by 1980, which was short lived and closed by 1984. Many fixes were band-aid fixes to the structure but stabilized the situation. Finally, in 1986, Hamilton County voters narrowly approved a sales tax increase to turn the complex into a Museum Center for the Historical Society and the Natural History Museums. This complex opened to much fanfare in 1990, and finally in July 1991 after 18 years, passenger rail service returned to Union Terminal.

After a massive $228 million dollar renovation (the first full renovation since its opening) funded by a half cent sales tax in 2017-19, Cincinnati Union Terminal’s future as a historic attraction and landmark for all of Cincinnati is secure and bright. Current passenger rail service is pitiful for the grandeur of the building, with 6 trains a week coming in during the middle of the night as a part of Amtrak’s Cardinal service.

However, the future is bright indeed for passenger rail service in Ohio. With a plethora of long-distance route options being proposed going through Cincinnati, Amtrak’s willingness to consider a daily cardinal, and a burgeoning potential with 3C+D Rail between Cincinnati and Cleveland, there may be a time in the next 10-15 years that we see the familiar hum of trains and activity last seen in mid-century in the Rotunda. There are station improvements needed to safeguard this future, a platform that is for the modern age, dual platforms, waiting rooms with familiar amenities and concessionaries that are open and willing to take passenger rail passengers. The most critical of these is a direct link between Union Terminal and Downtown Cincinnati, which currently has one bus route, the 49, serving this purpose (very infrequently at night). A streetcar route along Ezzard Charles Drive to the terminal could drive needed interconnectivity to the Terminal which feels like an island surrounded by desolate light industrial and highway wasteland and future considerations of Transit Oriented Development around a magnificent regional landmark.

Making Union Terminal a regional transportation hub, even if it was not built in the most ideal location for such, can happen with coordination and action between activists and local stakeholders. We should utilize this magnificent piece of infrastructure for intermodal transportation, which can heavily complement the civic institutions and museums within the structure. All of this accomplished will drive the City of Cincinnati and region forward into the 21^st century, a brighter future with a bustling transportation hub for the People of Cincinnati.