Science City at Union Station

Kansas City, MO

Built in 1914 as the second largest train station in the nation, Union Station had fallen on such hard times by the 1980s that Amtrak installed a plastic tent inside to house ticketing. As train traffic dwindled to just a few trains a day, Union Station had lost its once-vital role in downtown Kansas City. EE&K’s design not only reestablished Union Station as a major intermodal transit hub for the city, but also created a vital new “place” for the downtown.

A dispersed and poorly connected array of local and regional transportation services- including metro and intercity buses, regional and intercity passenger trains, airport shuttles and trolleys -already operated in and around Union Station. The key elements of EE&K’s vision for recasting Union Station as a new transportation hub that would connect each of these modes included:

• Restoration of the Station’s landmarked former horse and carriage drop-off, and adaptation into a hub for local buses, trolleys and shuttles;

• Transformation of a highway and parking lot into a new arrival and forecourt extending the beaux-arts Liberty Memorial Park to the museum entrance;

• A new below-grade 350-car park n’ride garage;

• The adaptive reuse of the historic headhouse as a science museum to anchor a new cluster of restaurants and retail;

• A new enclosed pedestrian walkway – nicknamed “the Link” – connecting Science City to the proposed Light Rail system, the nearby hotels, retail and office buildings of Crown Center, and surrounding parks;

• and an outdoor plaza and fan-shaped glass canopy, connected with the Link, that creates an exciting new station for intercity buses and entrance on the Station’s east side.