Union Station preps for Centennial celebration
Union Station will celebrate its Centennial this fall with a series of special events that were announced this week.
The celebration will begin on Friday, Sept. 5 with a night of free festivities.
“The story of Union Station will be depicted in a huge digital projection onto the facade of the historic depot in a celebration of its centennial on Sept. 5,” according to The Kansas City Star. “Organizers also promise a national music act and fireworks for the free community party that is being timed to coincide with First Friday in the Crossroads and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Red Friday bash ahead of the football team’s home opener.”
Reporter Matt Campbell’s story in Thursday’s Star continued:
The 10-minute digital show is being prepared by Quixotic, a local arts organization that presented a similar production in April 2013 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The Union Station show will use 12 high-tech, digital projectors to display moving images on a section of the station as wide as a city block. It will depict the construction of Union Station in 1914 and pages from its history, including the multitude of soldiers who passed through it to and from the two world wars. The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial is a collaborating partner for the show. “It’s the right time and the right reason, and it kicks off 60 days of celebration,” Union Station CEO George Guastello told The Star, referring to other planned events leading up to the station’s actual 100th anniversary in late October. The majestic landmark opened and was dedicated on October 30, 1914. During its opening ceremony, Union Station was heralded as one of the most beautiful train stations in the country and that tradition continues today. Union Station is still considered one of the top 23 train stations in the country. READ MORE
Union Station became the region’s transportation hub for decades, serving as the gateway to the West for many people traveling through and moving to other parts of the country. It also was the station where the greatest number of soldiers traveled through on their way to or way home from World Wars I & II. Union Station has been Kansas City’s favorite landmark for decades. During the 1960s and 1970s when train traveled declined and the Station fell into disrepair, citizens from across the region came together to save and restore this historic monument. In 1996, a historic short-term bi-state tax, along with federal dollars and private donations, raised the funds to fully restore the station to its original beauty. Union Station re-opened on November 10, 1999.
Today, Union Station is a thriving civic center for Kansas City, featuring many special attractions and as the host site for big community events, festivals, business and education forums. It also is one of the favorite destinations for visitors and residents. Union Station will celebrate its Centennial Anniversary with a number of special events the weekend of October 30 – November 2, 2014.
For the
