Tampa Union Station has been rolling strong for over 110 years, welcoming travelers and serving as one of the city’s historic gateways. And now, it’s getting the love it deserves!
The City of Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agency (you can call it the Tampa CRA) is investing $4 million to restore the station from top to bottom. Think fresh new windows, spruced-up restrooms, a repaired roof, and a makeover for those iconic red bricks that give the building its Italian Renaissance Revival charm.
The construction phase is just around the corner, so if you’re into train stations or cool old buildings (or both!), be sure to follow Friends of Tampa Union Station on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with the latest updates.
Once the renovations are wrapped, the City of Tampa is looking into adding even more community-friendly features: a coffee shop, co-working space, and a stylish event venue for everything from weddings to galas. The idea is to create a lively, welcoming destination that keeps the station humming for years to come.
And get this: Tampa Union Station is one of Amtrak’s busiest stations in Florida, serving more than 156,000 passengers last year, more than any other passenger station in Florida. That’s pretty amazing, especially since Tampa only gets two trains a day! Those trains connect us to places like West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami to the south, and Orlando, Georgia, the Carolinas, Washington D.C., and now even Chicago to the north. With Amtrak serving so many customers, it shows how we have other options than driving to popular destinations.
Our Future Leaders in Planning participants visited the Union Station during their program week. They learned about the station in general, the routes, and were able to look at the tracks and the other building that is there too. Of course, the program participants were introduced to the restoration project as well.
Want to dig deeper into the station’s story? Check out recent features by USF’s Newsroom USF’s Newsroom [usf.edu] and 83 Degrees Media 83 Degrees Media [83degreesmedia.com].