Union Station (Providence)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Union Station
nrhp_type =

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caption =
location= Providence, Rhode Island
locmapin = Rhode Island
area =
built =1898
architect= Stone,Carpenter & Willson
architecture=
added = February 20, 1975
governing_body = Private
refnum=75000003cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

Union Station describes two distinct defunct train stations in Providence, Rhode Island.

The original Union Station was Providence's first, opening in 1847 to accommodate the needs of the newly thriving city. It was considered "a brilliant example of Romanesque architecture" in its time, and the longest building in America. As the city continued to grow, so too did the need for terminal space, ultimately resulting in the paving over of the remnants of the city's inland bay in 1890. The question of what to do with the now undersized station was spontaneously answered in February of 1896 when the station suffered a catastrophic fire.

A much larger Union Station was opened in 1898, clad in distinctive yellow brick, which the Providence Journal heralded as "a new era of history of this city". [cite book |last=Woodward |first=William McKenzie |title=PPS/AIAri Guide to Providence Architecture |year=2003 |publisher=Providence Preservation Society |location=Providence, RI |isbn=0-9742847-0-X |pages=303–304 ] The station was designed by the firm of Stone, Carpenter, and Willson, which had also designed other Providence buildings. [ [http://www.risd.edu/charlespendleton.cfm RISD : Rhode Island School of Design : MUSEUM HISTORY ] ] Though rail use was expected to grow, by the 1980s rail traffic had dropped 75 percent. City planners saw the opportunity to dismantle the "Chinese Wall" of train tracks that hemmed in Providence's central business district and moved MBTA and Amtrak service to a new, smaller station about a half mile north in 1986. [cite book |last=Woodward |first=William McKenzie |title=PPS/AIAri Guide to Providence Architecture |year=2003 |publisher=Providence Preservation Society |location=Providence, RI |isbn=0-9742847-0-X |pages=13 ]

Just after the move, Union Station caught fire amidst $11 million in renovations, forcing a change of plans. Parts of the original station have now been renovated and the building contains offices and restaurants, including the Union Station Brewery.

References

* [http://www.artinruins.com/arch/stillinuse/unionstation/ Art in Ruins:Union Station]
* [http://www.rifoundation.org/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_430_A_PageName_E_AboutHistory1UnionStationHisto The Rhode Island Foundation:One Union Station History]

External links

* [http://www.artinruins.com/arch/stillinuse/unionstation Art in Ruins] link. Accessed December 5, 2006.