The Takoma Excalibur News [October 26, 1988]

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Montgomery College, Takoma Park, Maryland
An Independent Student Newspaper
Vol. 29 No. 4 OCT. 26, 1988
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Photos and story by Jim Speorl
On September 29th, 1988 Union Station
reopened after being closed for years, hav­ing
spent part of the time quietly decaying
and the other part undergoing a long and
slow face-lift that finally restored it to its
original elegance during the early era of
trains. This was the era before airline
pilots became the American hero in trans­portation,
when servicemen said their fond
farewells to sweethearts, when families
ran to hug arriving loved ones in die pres­ence
of enormous steam-belching locomo­tives
with that sweet scent of cinders in the
air, when streetcars carried you to and
from the front door of Union Station’s
main hall.
Yes, it was September 29th when all
those bittersweet and cherished memories
came back to many Washingtonians, as
over 75,000 gathered for a gala celebration
of the completion of a multi-million dollar
refurbishing of the grand ole station we
know as the majestic Union Station. With
its old mahogany doors, brass locks, de­corative
light stands, elegant chandeliers,
and beautifully detailed honor-guard sta­tues,
spectators ooh’d and ahh’d at the
fin a l product, which cost over
$170,000,000 to achieve.
The remodeling of Union Station is a
milestone for many railroad historical
activists who see Union Station as an in­fluence
in obtaining funds from the gov­ernment
or Amtrak for restoring other
landmark terminals that are currendy in
the midst of ruins. Such stations are in sad
shape from ridership and economic de­clines
over the past decades, some of the
same factors that affected Union Station.
In its final years before closing, Union
Station had*started a charp downhill coast,
largely due to the fact that the pre-Amtrak
railroads (the Pennsylvania Railroad Co.,
later Penn Central, the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad and Trust Co., and the Washing­ton
Terminal Railroad Co., not to mention
the Southern Railway Co.) suffered de­clining
ridership over the years. These un­happy
factors led Union Station into a state
of decay.
A “metaphor of decay” is how Amtrak
spokesman Timothy Gardner described
Union Station. And Amtrak, once it came
into existence when all national railroads
merged passenger operations into The
National Railroad Passenger Corporation
(Amtrak), had been embarrassed for years
about the station’s poor condition.
But now that’s all changed, with the
finished product being an absolute work of
art. It seems as though you’re back in time
with such authenticity. And when you en­ter
the spacious main hall for the first time,
your mouth will drop open as you gaze in
absolute awe at authentic gold-leaf design
trim of the arched ceiling.
Ruth Thompson, a spokeswoman for
the National Trust for Historic Preserva­tion,
said “they’ve been as faithful to the
original as they possibly could be.” And
seeing is believing.
The redevelopment will make Union
Station “ by far the most civilized trans­portation
terminus in America,” said
Amtrak Chairman W. Graham Claytor.
In addition to a complete remodeling of
the station, there is an extensive shopping.
center with women’s fashion and specialty
stores, a nine screen movie cinema, res­taurants,
cafes, an international newsst­and,
a bank, a show bar, and gift and craft
shops. All of these stores and shops are
divided into designated areas, with each
area catering to a specific type of vender or
service.
Upon a first visit to this massive station
and retail complex, one may get a little
confused as to what is where. The entire
place is a maze of unbelievable pro­portions.
The floor-plan goes something
like this: the main hall level is comprised
of several fine restaurants and two large
fountains, a cafe high atop a kiosk, the
newsstand, the station marketplace with
over 100 retail stores, Amtrak ticket agent
and service windows, as well as the wait­ing
rooms. On the mezzanine level is the
lower main hall and additional retail
space. And on the lower level, a visitor can
enjoy a good meal at one of 25 food outlets
and ample seating for 2 ,000, a bahk and
shops, a nine-screen cinema. All this is
linked to Metrorail by a new entrance. And
for those who are driving, there is a new
five-level parking garage for 1,400 cars
and 80 buses.
Although some skeptics question the
potential for success of the mall portion of
Union Station, Keith Kelly, the main gov­ernment
overseer of the project, says * ‘We
have a Winner.” And why shouldn’t Tie,
after all; with nine-screen cinema and over
100 stores of great variety, Union Station
* will not only serve the daily commuters to
and from the Capitol City, but will serve
the community neighborhoods and their
residents in their search of good shopping
and entertainment.
One good example of serving the com­munity
is the new model railroading store,
which will rank as only the second train
store in the district, after several others
passed out of existence in earlier years.
And what an appropriate location for a
model train store but in a full-fledged train
station. The location alone will actually
encourage those who are not into trains to
think about it.
When questioned about the chances of
Union Station’s retail mall being a suc-
■ cess, one shopkeeper observed, “It’s one
of the most exciting buildings in the coun­try.
People don’t come here necessarily to
: buy. But they’ll spend once they’re here.”
But the long haul in restoring Union
Station was not easy, and many questioned
its becoming a reality. But, in spite of
Congress’ halt to the project in 1976, the
project did resume. And the firing of an­other
contractor in 1987 caused only more
grief and delays. But the final work of art
cont’d on page 2
Thousands of balloons soar upward as Union Station is reopened
: in a gala celebration.