Museum Center hopes home's 75th anniversary reignites love for building

The Cincinnati Museum Center hopes that the 75th anniversary of Union Terminal will reignite peoples' love for the Art Deco masterpiece.

The celebration starts March 29 with the Diamond Jubilee Kick-Off Weekend and concludes on October 10.

Elizabeth Pierce, vice president of marketing and communications for the Museum Center, hopes that the festivities will remind people that, to last another 75 years, we need to maintain this remarkable gem.

A 2005 analysis showed severe water damage and corrosion to the structural steel, numerous cracks in the cement, failure of portions of decorative plaster and an inadequate HVAC system installed in 1985.

Some of the funds would also be used to restore and re-install many of the murals that are currently in storage, and could even lead to more of the building being opened to the public.

Cincinnati Museum Center management has set a goal of $120 million to restore the building.

"We hope to reinforce, create pride in the community for this incredible architectural icon we have," Pierce says.

She points out that Union Terminal placed 45th out of 150 in the American Institute of Architects' recent poll of America's most beloved buildings.

Laura Partridge, the marketing manager of the Museum Center, agrees that it's a local and national treasure - one rooted in the memories of Cincinnatians and of the thousands who have traveled through it.

"The project was so massive that it can be compared only to the largest projects of the 1930s - Hoover Dam, Golden Gate Bridge, and Rockefeller Center," she says.

Union Terminal cost $41 million - or about $586 million in today's dollars - to construct, a staggering figure when considering that it was built during the Great Depression.

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: Elizabeth Pierce, vice president of marketing and communications, Cincinnati Museum Center; Laura Partridge, marketing manager, Cincinnati Museum Center
1933 Photo courtesy of Union Terminal
Photography by Scott Beseler