By 1902, the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) was formed and the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) had taken over the rail system of Henry B. Plant. Tampa Union Station (TUS) built in 1912, was designed by architect J.F. Leitner in Italian Renaissance style, and served both railroads. The companies contributed $250,000 to build the station, which was managed by Tampa Union Station Company. During the Depression, America's passenger railroad earnings fell by half. Higher revenues during WWII were offset by costs of overworking their stock to meet war needs. To increase profits, they reinvested in sleeker, more modern rolling stock, resulting in the "Streamliner Era." Notable trains that served TUS then included ACL's West Coast Champion, South Wind, the Southland and the SAL's Silver Meteor, Silver Star and Sunland. In 1971 Amtrak began operating the nation's passenger rail services and today runs trains out of Tampa Union Station. In 1991 the non-profit Tampa Union Station Preservation & Redevelopment, Inc., puchased the 1.97-acre terminal and baggage building, renovating it in 1998. Ownership was transferred to the city of Tampa in 1999. The station is on the National Register Of Historic Places.
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Union Station (Tampa)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tampa Union Station (TUS) is an historic depot in Tampa, Florida, United States. It is located at 601 North Nebraska Avenue (SR 45).
Opened on May 15, 1912, by the Tampa Union Station Company, its original purpose was to combine passenger operations for the Atlantic Coast Line, the Seaboard Air Line and the Tampa Northern Railroad at a single site. On June 5, 1974, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. After its condition deteriorated substantially, Tampa Union Station was closed in 1984; Amtrak passengers used a temporary prefabricated station building located adjacent to the station platforms after the building was closed.
Tampa Union Station was acquired in 1991 by the non-profit Tampa Union Station Preservation & Redevelopment Inc. (TUSP&R) via a mortgage held by CSX, the freight railroad company which was the corporate descendant of its original railroad owners. TUSP&R raised over 4 million USD for the building's restoration through grants and loans from sources including the Florida Department of Transportation (ISTEA funds), the City of Tampa (grant funds) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation (no interest loan). At the completion of the restoration in 1998, the station reopened to Amtrak passengers and the public. CSX donated the station to the City of Tampa that same year.
During the course of the restoration, numerous abandoned documents from the Pullman Company, Tampa Union Station Company, and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad were discovered in the station. TUSP&R volunteers sorted these documents and preserved them by archiving them at the University of South Florida Library (USF) Special Collections Department and (in the case of the Pullman Company materials), the Newberry Library in Chicago.
The City of Tampa's Real Estate Division manages Tampa Union Station for the City. The Division has leased portions of the facility to private tenants, including a second floor office once occupied by the Pullman Company, and the former baggage building (which housed an art gallery until spring 2008; it now serves as the offices of a real estate firm).
In September 2008, a permanent endowment for the care and upkeep of Tampa Union Station was established at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay by a group of private donors. Income from the endowment goes to the City of Tampa to assist with the maintenance of the facility.
Additionally, 2008 saw the founding of Friends of Tampa Union Station, an all volunteer, nonprofit organization which advocates for the preservation and use of Tampa Union Station as both a landmark and transportation asset. The group was founded in cooperation with the City of Tampa and the Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers.
The City of Tampa's official Poet Laureate, James E. Tokley, Sr., in 2009 authored a poem, "The Epic of Union Station" which commemorates Tampa Union Station's history. Mr. Tokley performed a dramatic reading of the poem at Union Station on May 9, 2009, as part of National Train Day festivities held at the station on that day.
Currently, Tampa Union Station operates as an Amtrak station for the Silver Star line. It also provides Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach services to Orlando, Lakeland, Pinellas Park-St. Petersburg, Bradenton, Sarasota, Port Charlotte and Fort Myers.
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