A history of Union Station architecture

In 1925, when Union Station opened nearly two decades after it was proposed, the Chicago Tribune wrote: “In respect to both architecture and utility, the new station is one of the most impressive in the world.”

The centralized terminal was part of architect Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago. Burnham died in 1912 and the next year construction began on his designs under the firm Graham, Burnham and Company. Later, known as Graham, Anderson, Probst and White.

There are many Union Stations across the U.S., the moniker is often given to terminals with several lines from different companies. Chicago’s Union Station was funded by a collection of several railroad companies and was an important structure that consolidated the city’s railroad terminals. It was built as development west of the river was just beginning to take shape.

The continued use of Union Station is the product of its utility as well as its exhilarated architecture and design. Here, we examine the terminal’s history and its position in the city’s landscape now.

Railroads were important to Chicago’s growth

The first railroad in Chicago was established in 1836, a year before the city was incorporated. Eventually, it grew into a network of lines radiating out in more directions than from any other city in North America at the time. This network was integral to the grain and meatpacking industries and assisted in the cities rapid recovery after the Great Fire of 1871. The flames torched thousands of buildings, but left Chicago’s rail infrastructure intact, allowing building materials to be moved rapidly into the city from all points.

The railroad also allowed Chicago’s population to grow. The railroads were frequently traveled by African Americans moving from the south into the north. Trains from the eastern part of the country carried Bohemians, Czechs, Germans, and Polish from Atlantic ports. Later, Chicago’s role as a hub between the East and West Coast meant that millions would idle in the impressive station after arriving from New York or Los Angeles.

A thoughtfully planned design

Burnham’s 1909 design anticipated future traveler’s need for convenience. Unlike earlier terminals, its entrances accommodated car traffic (the Ford Model T had launched production in 1908) with places for drives to pull up curbside. Inside, the hulking station arranged amenities like ticket offices, concourses and platforms, waiting and baggage rooms, and shops all on one level for ease of use. At the time of its opening, the station also housed a hospital, a chapel, and a jail cell.

Considering its place in Chicago now, the Neoclassical exterior is in stark contrast to the glassy contemporary structures that now surround it. Its stocky first two floors take up a full city block. Monumental colonnades and wide porticos dominate the entrances. It’s a space so big it feels divine.

The opulence is shown off right away with street level entrances boasting Classical geometric Bedford Limestone. However, the best way to see the station is to arrive by train. Moving from the narrow platforms to the concourse and then out into the expansiveness of the Great Hall—the most memorable place in the building.

The cavernous room has a barrel-vaulted skylight, textured Roman travertine marble columns, and leafy golden Corinthian capitals. There are coffered insets with rosettes that line the upper volume. Two dramatic sculptures of figures guard the hall—Night with an owl and Day with a rooster. Henry Hering designed these and is known for creating similar sculptures for the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry.

Amtrak, courtesy of Goettsch Partners

A second chance

Burnham’s design wasn’t always revered and protected. After train travel peaked in the 1940s, Union Station’s owner demolished the historic Beaux-Arts concourse filled with marble, glass, and iron in 1969. Eventually replacing it with a glassy high-rise and a cramped concourse underneath. The creation of the Regional Transportation Authority, which united regional train lines and the Metra commuter rail, brought the station into the modern era.

Parts of Union Station remained vacant as they required extensive renovations. A patchwork of repairs began in the 1990s which included fixing leaky parts of the barrel skylight, renovations to lighting, and improvements to windows. In 2016, the women’s lounge was restored into The Burlington Room and billed as an event space. Finally in 2019, the Great Hall was given the restoration it deserved. Amtrak funded a $22 million renovation which fully rehabbed and protected the skylight, restored original materials, and properly lit the intricate Beaux Arts interior.

Currently, the station has landmark protections for its architectural features. The city gave it a designation in 2002 that prevents its exterior, rooflines, and its interior public spaces from alterations.

Union Station in the 2020s

Today, Union Station is still a central part of the city’s transportation. All within a few blocks: A CTA bus terminal on Jackson Street, a Greyhound station, a water taxi stop on the other side of the river, and Metra’s Olgilvie Transportation Center. Plus, it’s the nation’s fourth busiest train terminal seeing a combined 38 million Amtrak and Metra passengers per year.

This surge of work and recent attention feels as if Union Station is preparing itself for an even grander revival. While restoration was a part of a 2012 Master Plan presented by city agencies, so was a proposal to maximize Amtrak’s real estate value through the use of air rights.

The area is buzzing with new development project. Union Station Tower plans to open in 2022 with a high-end offices and a 1.5 acre park. The development team is also restoring the station’s historic headhouse and turning it into a 400-room hotel. Amtrak also has plans to rehab the Fred Harvey lunchroom, a space that was damaged in a fire and has sat vacant for four decades, into a multi-level food hall.

Union Station was built to support what seemed like futuristic transportation, and through decades changes, it has remained significant. Once again, it is playing an important role in the growth of Chicago. With these large projects underway, Union Station reasserts itself as a transportation stalwart.