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Date Constructed: 1933
Address: Cincinnati, Ohio
Current Building Name: Cincinnati Museum Center
Earlier Building Names: Union Station
Architect: Roland A. Wank of Fellheimer and Wagner served as the principal architect on Union Terminal with Paul Philippe Cret.
Builder: Unknown at this time
Current Status: In use.
Designation (if applicable): National Historic Landmark - 1977
My wife and I visited here in November 2006. It's currently used as a museum. We were fortunate to be around for the free tour, which took us behind the scenes, including: the small theater, up above the lobby (behind the large bank of windows making up the front of the building), the narrow hallway behind the murals, the current Amtrak office, and into the old terminal's President's office and boardroom.
The large bas-relief scupltures on the exterior are by Maxfield Keck and symbolize Commerce and Transportation. Buses and taxis used to be able to enter the building from the sides to pick up and drop off passengers.
The murals are huge, beautiful mosaics showing the development of America (south wall - on the left as you enter) and Cincinnati (north wall on the right as you enter). They are made of mosaic tiles and painted stucco and were designed by Winold Reiss. Each mural is 105-feet long and more than 20-feet high. The Rotunda interior dome spans 180 feet, with a clear height of 106 feet.
Originally, Reiss designed 14 mosaic panels for the concourse area depicting some of Cincinnati’s specific industries like Baldwin Piano, Procter & Gamble and U.S. Playing Cards. Those mosaics were moved to the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati International Airport in the 1970s before Union Terminal's concourse was destroyed. These murals can still be seen today at the airport’s Terminals One, Two and Three. (source: http://www.cincymuseum.org/explore_our_sites/union_terminal/mosaics/)..
See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati_Museum_Center_at_Union_Terminal
and, the relocated murals now at the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati International Airport:
http://www.cvgairport.com/about/art/index.html
and, a page on the history of the murals:
http://www.cvgairport.com/about/art2.html
Photos by Jim L. Patterson - copyright 2006.
Click on the thumbnail photo to view a larger image.
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 "Commerce" |
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 "Transportation" |
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 View of downtown Cincinnati |
 Fountain was empty |
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 South mural - part 1 |
 South mural - part 2 |
 Opening to rear concourse |
 North mural - part 1 |
 North mural - part 2 |
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 Just inside the rear concourse |
 Just inside the rear concourse |
 Theater |
 Theater |
 Theater |
 Above the lobby |
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 Light above lobby |
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 South mural |
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 North mural |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 Amtrak area |
 President's secretary area |
 Secretary's desk |
 Secretary's desk lamp |
 Old photo of Secretary's office |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 Secretary area |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's desk |
 President's desk |
 President's office |
 President's office |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
 President's boardroom |
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Book About Cincinnati Union Station
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Cincinnati Union Terminal:
The Design And Construction Of An Art Deco Masterpiece
Author: Linda C. Rose, Patrick Rose, Gibson Yungblut
From appearances at Amazon, it seems that this book may now be out of print. I purchased it during my visit to the Cincinnati Railroad Club gift shop (at Union Station) in November 2006. If you go to Union Station for a visit, the Cincinnati Railroad Club gift shop is located in the rear of the entire facility in the old control tower. It appears at this time (March 2009) that the book is still available at their store at this link --> here.
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