Yesterday, Union Station announced that it had record attendence during the 90-day run of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. During the 90 Days, Union Station averaged just under 2,000 visitors a day, besting the previously most successful exhibit, the Titanic.
For most of the last decade, Union Station has been a proverbial whipping boy of the city. After spending $250 million of a bi-state tax on the renovation of the station, it has undergone several bits of mis-management that have caused it to be labeled as a failure by many in this city.
Union Station is anything but a failure. Even though many of the management criticisms are warrented, labeling the renovation project a failure is far from the truth.
In 1996, when I first moved to Kansas City, Union Station sat in a blighted part of our city. I passed by it a couple of times, on my way to Crown Center, which sat as the lone oasis in a sea of blight.
Since Union Station's renovation, the area that surrounds it has become an economic boom for the city. The rail house across the tracks was renovated and now houses three fine KC restaurants. The neighboring Crossroads is now filled with fabulous art galeries and restaurants, the TWA headquarters that sat abandoned and in disrepair for decades, now houses the city's largest advertising agency. One abandoned warehouses now contain $800,000 lofts and condos.
To the South, the Liberty Memorial, the only memorial built for World War I prior to World War II, has been renovated into a world-class museum. The Federal Reserve Bank is nearing completion on its new headquarters, and the post office has moved inside the museum, leaving the old Post Office building to become part of the new IRS Headquarters building (the new part has won many awards for green design) and brought over 5,000 jobs to the area.
Meanwhile, in spite of the struggles of the Station itself to get into the black, it remains a showpiece for tourists and residents, a place that houses major events and weddings, has a beautiful fountain separating it from the Liberty Memorial. It also contains two fabulous restaurants. And Science City is still a great place for kids, even if it is less than it could be. It has also become a routine stop for some outstanding Smithsonian exhibits including the Titanic Exhibit, the 9/11 Exhibit, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Exhibits that previously would have bypassed KC for other areas.
For this, Union Station often gets labeled as a failure. Sure, some of the downtown renaissance may have happened anyway, but the Union Station remodel signified a dedication by the people in the city toward downtown, created a centerpiece for the revitalization, and opened the door for the IRS HQs move. Regardless of whether the station ever gets in the black, the remodel was well worth the metro's cost. The picture to the left shows Union Station Circa 1983...hardly an upbeat sight.
Here's to hoping that the Dead Sea Scrolls Exhibit is a new start to showing off the city's showpiece.
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