Are you ready to see Union Terminal in all its renovated, fresh-faced glory? Mark your calendars. The quintessential Cincinnati landmark will fully reopen to the public Nov. 17.
The 85-year-old Terminal building was originally constructed as a train station and spent a brief time as a shopping mall before it became the home of the Cincinnati Museum Center. It has never been renovated before. Parts of the building have remained open during the nearly three-year, $224 million renovation effort funded by a Hamilton County sales tax levy and private donors, but many of Union Terminal’s biggest attractions — the half-dome rotunda, Cincinnati History Museum and the Museum of Science and Natural History — have been out of commission as crews work on the building. Some parts of the museum, including the Duke Energy Children’s Museum, are already open, but will close one final time between Oct. 22 and Nov. 1 as workers put finishing touches on repairs.
You’ll be able to get back into the Children’s Museum and check out special exhibits on Nov. 2, and a couple weeks later, you can come check out the unveiling of the restored rotunda as the building comes back into regular use.
Early next year, the building will also become home to the Holocaust & Humanity Center, which broke ground on its new museum spaces and offices at Union Terminal in July.
This article appears in Aug 15-22, 2018.
