Ornate, chandelier-encrusted railway stations may seem like a Gilded Age wonder of the past. But many of these old buildings are earning second chances, as elderly railway stations across the United States continue to be repurposed. Some have even become unique tourist attractions in their own right.
What are some examples of this development?
Denver’s Union Station and Detroit’s Michigan Central Station are two of the most notable buildings being brought back to life by developers. Union Station was a “bustling transit hub, welcoming as many as 50,000 passengers per day,” but “by the early 2000s, it sat mostly empty,” said Condé Nast Traveler. Then a $54 million renovation was “completed in 2014 and transformed Union Station from a neglected relic to a must-visit gem, complete with shops, restaurants, bars, comfy seating areas and a luxury hotel.” All the while, it has remained an active train depot, and “more than 10,000 people pass through Union Station daily.”
Detroit’s Michigan Central Station was “once a sign of the city’s stagnation,” but the “long-vacant former train station is now a symbol of its revival,” said Bloomberg. The building hasn’t been used as a train station since 1988, and was long in disrepair. But a $1 billion investment from Ford means the station now “includes workspaces for startups and other companies.” It also has a “variety of public outdoor spaces,” including a 13-acre park and walking trail. The building’s ornate features have also been “restored to their original glory.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week’s Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Asher Adams luxury hotel is located in Salt Lake City’s Union Pacific Depot train station, and opened last year after a multi-stage renovation. The station was built in 1909, but when it “stopped operating as a train depot in 1986, its grand hall was used for a variety of purposes, including weddings and art exhibitions,” said The Salt Lake Tribune. In addition to the hotel, the depot’s “cafe, restaurant and bars all pay homage to train travel.”
What makes old train stations attractive to developers?
Their large footprint often makes them prime real estate, and cities “have been finding creative ways to breathe new life into the historic structures, helping them regain their cultural cachet while offering travelers an intriguing glimpse into the past,” said the BBC. Many “towns and cities were built up around their train stations,” said Glenn NP Nowak, an architecture professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, to the outlet.
As a result, these stations are “located in highly desirable areas” for developers, said the BBC. Many also have “generously arched entryways or tall columns that strategically frame what are now historic downtowns or other attractions.” The buildings themselves were built to “withstand the wear and tear of a steady flow of passengers,” making them a prime contender for refurbishment. If “they have good bones, these buildings built of stone or brick will last another century,” Diana Melichar, the president of architecture firm Melichar Architects, said to the BBC.
It is unlikely that this trend of refurbishing train stations will end soon. Projects to renew stations remain ongoing in cities across the U.S., including Washington, D.C., Baltimore and more.
