The construction phase of the restoration of Union Terminal reached a milestone this month, marking its one year anniversary. With 16 months of construction still remaining in the $219 million restoration of the National Historic Landmark, officials looked back at the accomplishments of the past 12 months.
For the first time in its history, Union Terminal is undergoing a full structural restoration with the help of masons, historic preservation architects and structural, mechanical and electrical engineers from across the country.
Originally built from 1929 to 1933, the Art Deco train station has suffered severe water damage and natural deterioration, necessitating the current restoration to address structural steel and the exterior envelope. Outdated mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems are being updated, making the building more efficient and cost-effective to operate.
“The restoration of Union Terminal is such a complex project due to the building’s age and size, the scope of the work, the construction techniques used in the 1930s and the interventions in the 1970s, 80s and 90s,” says Wick Ach, president of Union Terminal Corporation and original member of the Cultural Facilities Task Force that led the efforts to advance the restoration of both Union Terminal and Music Hall in 2014. “We appreciate the impressive expertise of our national and local partners to ensure the project is completed with the level of care and thoroughness the National Historic Landmark deserves.”
Over the first year of construction, crews numbering as many of 240 people each day have been working to transform Union Terminal. Over the project’s first six weeks, crews constructed a temporary lobby in the Rotunda, using a sophisticated counterweight system to anchor the support scaffolding without damaging the historic terrazzo tile floor. Masons removed over 35,000 linear feet, nearly six and a half miles, of caulking from between limestone joints on Union Terminal’s exterior. Using acid digestion analysis to determine the composition of the building’s original mortar, masons then tuck pointed mortar into the joints up to two inches deep by hand. Teams also removed over 1,270 windows from the Rotunda façade, cleaning and repairing the windows and their metal frames over a period of seven months before reinstalling the windows in July 2017.
Inside the building, new electrical panels were installed in October 2016 as part of the electrical system upgrade. The new panels, 45 feet long and nine feet tall, carry 480 volts and 8,000 amps, more than 40 times that of a typical household’s electrical panel. As part of the mechanical upgrade, three of the building’s new air handling units have been installed and are in the process of being hooked up to new ductwork snaking through the building. In total, 23 new air handling units will carry conditioned air through 478 tons of new ductwork. The new system replaces air handling units formerly located on the roofs of Union Terminal’s north and south ramps (the current homes of the Museum of Natural History & Science and Cincinnati History Museum, respectively). The outdated units were removed with the help of a 550-ton crane that was assembled onsite.
“The Greater Cincinnati community has such remarkable assets that it has committed to taking care of,” says Tim Maloney, president and CEO of the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation and a member of the Cultural Facilities Task Force. “I’m excited for the reopening of a revitalized Music Hall in October and to watch the continued progress toward a restored Union Terminal in the fall of 2018.”
Financing for the $219 million project received a boost in February 2017 with the addition of federal historic tax credits and bridge financing from PNC Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Fifth Third Bank . The award of $5 million in historic tax credits from the state of Ohio in June 2017 further complements the income from a five year one-quarter of one percent Hamilton County sales tax (set to expire in 2020), a state of Ohio capital grant and funding from private donors. Despite the scope and scale of the Union Terminal restoration, the project remains on budget and on schedule for a late fall 2018 completion.
“Union Terminal has been the setting of some of people’s most unforgettable, treasured memories for more than eight decades, including welcoming loved ones home from war, the beginning of their first trip across country and the spark that ignited a thirst for knowledge,” says Elizabeth Pierce, president and CEO of Cincinnati Museum Center. “We’re honored to continue that legacy with a restored Union Terminal and are taking the next steps into 2018 and beyond to rebuild and improve new permanent exhibits for new generations of knowledge-seekers.”
Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC) at Union Terminal is a nationally recognized institution and national historic landmark. CMC was awarded the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and received accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums in 2012. Organizations within CMC include the Cincinnati History Museum, Duke Energy Children’s Museum, Museum of Natural History & Science, Robert D. Lindner Family OMNIMAX Theater and Cincinnati History Library & Archives.
Cincinnati Museum Center
