St. Louis Union Station
Encyclopedia
St. Louis Union Station, a National Historic Landmark
, is a passenger train terminal in St. Louis, Missouri
. Once the world's largest and busiest train station, it was converted in the early 1980s into a luxury hotel, shopping center
, and entertainment complex. Today, it is one of the city's major tourist attractions and serves only local rail (Metro) transit passengers.
. Designed by Theodore Link
, it included three main areas: the Headhouse, the Midway and the 11.5 acres (46,538.9 m²) Train Shed. The headhouse originally housed a hotel, a restaurant, passenger waiting rooms and railroad ticketing offices. It featured a gold-leafed Grand Hall, Romanesque
arches, a 65 feet (19.8 m) barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The clock tower
is 280 feet (85.3 m) high.
Union Station's headhouse and midway are constructed of Indiana limestone
and initially included 42 tracks under its vast trainshed terminating in the stub-end terminal.
At its height, the station combined the St. Louis passenger services of 22 railroads, the most of any single terminal in the world. At its opening, it was the world's largest and busiest railroad station and its trainshed was the largest roof span in the world. In 1903, the station was expanded to accommodate visitors to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
In the 1940s, it handled 100,000 passengers a day. The famous photograph of Harry S. Truman
holding aloft the erroneous Chicago Tribune
headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman
," was shot at the station as Truman headed back to Washington, DC from Independence, Missouri
after the 1948 Presidential election.
As railroad passenger services declined in the 1950s and 1960s, the massive station became obsolete and too expensive to maintain for its original purpose. With the takeover of national rail passenger service by Amtrak
in 1971, passenger train service to St. Louis was reduced to only three trains a day. Amtrak stopped using Union Station on October 31, 1978; the six trains daily did not justify such a large facility. The last to leave Union Station was a Chicago-bound Inter-American. Passenger service shifted to an "Amshack" one block east, now the site of the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center
.
remains one of the largest adaptive re-use projects in the United States. The hotel is housed in the headhouse and part of the train shed, which also houses a lake and shopping, entertainment and dining establishments. Omni was the original hotel operator, followed by Hyatt Regency Hotel
chain and now Marriott Hotels as of December 2008.
Some architectural elements from the building have been removed in renovations and taken to the Sauget, Illinois
storage site of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation
.
In January 2010, St. Louis Union Station is under major redevelopment with the expansion of the station's Marriott Hotel in the main terminal building. The hotel will take over the Midway area of the station and all stores have been relocated to the train shed shopping arcade. These major improvements and redevelopments will be finished by 2011 according to Marriott St. Louis Union Station.
, the St. Louis light rail mass transit system, serves Union Station from its station directly below the trainshed in the Union Station subway tunnel.
The St. Louis Union Station serves the Red Line
and Blue Line
.
It takes about 30 minutes to travel to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
's East and Main Terminals via the Metro Red Line.
service to Memphis, Tennessee
, Kansas City, Missouri
and Chicago
from Union Station.
Approximate travel time by taxi, non-rush hour:
is located next to Union Station. It serves the city's rail system and regional bus system MetroBus, Greyhound
, Amtrak
and city taxi services.
movie Escape from New York
, doubling for Madison Square Garden
during the film's gladiatorial fight. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082340/trivia
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, is a passenger train terminal in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Once the world's largest and busiest train station, it was converted in the early 1980s into a luxury hotel, shopping center
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
, and entertainment complex. Today, it is one of the city's major tourist attractions and serves only local rail (Metro) transit passengers.
History
The station opened on September 1, 1894, and was owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. LouisTerminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a terminal railroad owned by railroads in St. Louis, Missouri which handles traffic through its metropolitan area.-Components:It was founded in 1889 in a deal orchestrated by Jay Gould by:...
. Designed by Theodore Link
Theodore Link
Theodore C. Link, FAIA, was a German-American architect.Born in Germany, Link trained in engineering at the University of Heidelberg and, later, at the Ecole Centrale in Paris before emigrating to the United States. He moved to St. Louis in 1873 to work for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad...
, it included three main areas: the Headhouse, the Midway and the 11.5 acres (46,538.9 m²) Train Shed. The headhouse originally housed a hotel, a restaurant, passenger waiting rooms and railroad ticketing offices. It featured a gold-leafed Grand Hall, Romanesque
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
arches, a 65 feet (19.8 m) barrel-vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows. The clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
is 280 feet (85.3 m) high.
Union Station's headhouse and midway are constructed of Indiana limestone
Indiana Limestone
Indiana Limestone, also known as Bedford Limestone is a common regional term for Salem limestone, a geological formation primarily quarried in south central Indiana between Bloomington and Bedford....
and initially included 42 tracks under its vast trainshed terminating in the stub-end terminal.
At its height, the station combined the St. Louis passenger services of 22 railroads, the most of any single terminal in the world. At its opening, it was the world's largest and busiest railroad station and its trainshed was the largest roof span in the world. In 1903, the station was expanded to accommodate visitors to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
In the 1940s, it handled 100,000 passengers a day. The famous photograph of Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
holding aloft the erroneous Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman
Dewey Defeats Truman
"Dewey Defeats Truman" was a famously inaccurate banner headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948, the day after incumbent United States President Harry S. Truman beat Republican challenger and Governor of New York Thomas E...
," was shot at the station as Truman headed back to Washington, DC from Independence, Missouri
Independence, Missouri
Independence is the fourth largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri, and is contained within the counties of Jackson and Clay. It is part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area...
after the 1948 Presidential election.
As railroad passenger services declined in the 1950s and 1960s, the massive station became obsolete and too expensive to maintain for its original purpose. With the takeover of national rail passenger service by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
in 1971, passenger train service to St. Louis was reduced to only three trains a day. Amtrak stopped using Union Station on October 31, 1978; the six trains daily did not justify such a large facility. The last to leave Union Station was a Chicago-bound Inter-American. Passenger service shifted to an "Amshack" one block east, now the site of the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center
Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center
The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Gateway Transportation Station or Gateway Station, is a rail and bus terminal station in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Opened in 2008 and operating 24 hours a day, it serves Amtrak, St. Louis MetroLink, MetroBus regional buses, Greyhound...
.
Renovations
In August 1985, after a $150 million renovation, Union Station was reopened with a 539-room hotel, shopping mall, restaurants and food court. Federal historic rehabilitation tax credits were used to transform Union Station into one of the city's most visited attractions. The station rehabilitation by Conrad Schmitt StudiosConrad Schmitt Studios
Conrad Schmitt Studios is an architectural arts studio located in New Berlin, Wisconsin. It provides ecclesiastical art, stained glass artistry, art glass, decorative painting, mosaics, murals and sculptural arts. The studio specializes in restoration services for buildings of architectural,...
remains one of the largest adaptive re-use projects in the United States. The hotel is housed in the headhouse and part of the train shed, which also houses a lake and shopping, entertainment and dining establishments. Omni was the original hotel operator, followed by Hyatt Regency Hotel
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...
chain and now Marriott Hotels as of December 2008.
Some architectural elements from the building have been removed in renovations and taken to the Sauget, Illinois
Sauget, Illinois
Sauget is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. It is part of Greater St. Louis. The population was 249 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sauget is located at ....
storage site of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation
St. Louis Building Arts Foundation
The St. Louis Building Arts Foundation started as the personal collecting hobby of Larry Giles, a historic preservationist in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. It later received assistance and monetary aid from the developer Stephen Trampe....
.
In January 2010, St. Louis Union Station is under major redevelopment with the expansion of the station's Marriott Hotel in the main terminal building. The hotel will take over the Midway area of the station and all stores have been relocated to the train shed shopping arcade. These major improvements and redevelopments will be finished by 2011 according to Marriott St. Louis Union Station.
MetroLink (subway/rail)
MetroLinkSt. Louis Metrolink
MetroLink is the light rail transit system in the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri and the Metro East area of Illinois. The entire system currently consists of two lines connecting Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Shrewsbury, MO with Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, Illinois through...
, the St. Louis light rail mass transit system, serves Union Station from its station directly below the trainshed in the Union Station subway tunnel.
The St. Louis Union Station serves the Red Line
Red Line (St. Louis MetroLink)
The Red Line of the St. Louis MetroLink is a light rail service operating between 28 stations in Greater St. Louis. It is the oldest and longest line in the system.-Route description:...
and Blue Line
Blue Line (St. Louis MetroLink)
The Blue Line of the St. Louis MetroLink is a light rail service operating between 24 stations in Greater St. Louis. It is the newest line in the system.-Route description:The Blue Line branch starts in Shrewsbury just west of River des Peres...
.
It takes about 30 minutes to travel to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is a Class B international airport serving Greater St. Louis. It is located approximately northwest of downtown St. Louis in unincorporated St. Louis County between Berkeley and Bridgeton. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state with 250 daily...
's East and Main Terminals via the Metro Red Line.
MegaBus service
Megabus provides express intercity busIntercity bus
An intercity bus is a bus that carries passengers significant distances between different cities, towns, or other populated areas. Unlike a municipal bus, which has frequent stops throughout a city or town, an intercity bus generally has a single stop at a centralized location within the city, and...
service to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
from Union Station.
Taxis
St. Louis Union Station has 24-hour taxi service at its north entrance on Market Street.Approximate travel time by taxi, non-rush hour:
- Downtown St. Louis hotels: 5–8 minutes
- St. Louis International Airport: 25–30 minutes
- MidAmerica St. Louis Airport: 30 minutes
- Gateway Arch/Laclede's Landing: 8 minutes
- America's Center/Convention Center: 8–10 minutes
- Midtown/Theatre District: 12 minutes
- Central West End: 10–15 minutes
- Clayton Business District: 15 minutes
Gateway Transportation Station
The city's major transportation hub station, Gateway Multimodal Transportation CenterGateway Multimodal Transportation Center
The Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center, also known as Gateway Transportation Station or Gateway Station, is a rail and bus terminal station in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Opened in 2008 and operating 24 hours a day, it serves Amtrak, St. Louis MetroLink, MetroBus regional buses, Greyhound...
is located next to Union Station. It serves the city's rail system and regional bus system MetroBus, Greyhound
Greyhound
The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...
, Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and city taxi services.
Filming
In 1981, the disused Grand Hall was used in John Carpenter'sJohn Carpenter
John Howard Carpenter is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, editor, composer, and occasional actor. Although Carpenter has worked in numerous film genres in his four-decade career, his name is most commonly associated with horror and science fiction.- Early life :Carpenter was born...
movie Escape from New York
Escape from New York
Escape from New York is a 1981 American science fiction action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security...
, doubling for Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
during the film's gladiatorial fight. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082340/trivia
External links
- Official Website
- Explore St. Louis profile
- St. Louis Union Station Marriott
- 360 Degree Virtual Tour of St. Louis Union Station