Brick & Stone Episode 2 | Union Station
Brick and Stone: Celebrating Tacoma's Architectural Legacy
Episode 2: Union Station
No landmark, no historic building has weathered the test of time quite like Union Station on Pacific Avenue.
This once bustling train station tells the quintessential Tacoma story. Chosen by the Northern Pacific Company in 1873, here is where our reputation as the "City of Destiny" began, as the western terminus of the northern route of the transcontinental railroad (then under construction).
While not our first, it is certainly our most iconic rail station. After the construction of our first in 1883, nearly 10 years would pass before railroad use would increase rapidly as Tacoma became a hub for industrial and commercial development. It was then decided the station would need to be enlarged and moved to its permanent home on Pac Ave. Here is where renowned architect team Reed and Stem enter the picture - at the same time Union Station was under their construction, they were collaborating to design New York City's famed Grand Central Terminal. In its expanded completion in 1911, The Tacoma Daily Ledger praised it as "the largest, the most modern and in all ways the most beautiful and best equipped passenger station in the Pacific Northwest." Hypothetically you could get on the station in Grand Central Terminal and eventually arrive here, on the other side of the country, in Tacoma. Which is why it has historically been referred to as the bookend to the nation!
However, despite optimistic forecasts by railroad companies early in the century, railway ridership found its peak in the 1930’s and again in World War II, then rapidly declined as the automobile became America’s preferred mode of transportation. In the summer of the 1980’s the last passenger train departed from Union Station and the abandoned building soon fell into disrepair.
In 1987 Congress would authorize a 35 year lease to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to provide space for the federal courts. In just 3 short years the abandoned station was completely renovated and restored with an additional three-stories added. Just last year the lease expired and the city purchased it again for $1.
Today natural light still streams into the rotunda, down on the stunning collection of installed glass by legendary local artist, Dale Chihuly. Suspended from the center of the domed ceiling is one of Chihuly's most breathtaking pieces, a 20-foot chandelier consisting of over 2,700 multi-colored, balloon-like glass globes. While the station no longer serves its original function, it is so fun to think of all the journeys that began and ended here back in its heyday. And one thing is certain, the history and legacy of this iconic station will live on forever in Downtown Tacoma as a source of pride for the community.
