St. Louis Union Station

St. Louis Union Station opens on September 1 1894, built by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis and designed by Theodore Link with a 11.5‑acre train shed engineered by George H. Pegram; at that moment it is the world’s largest railroad station and its trainshed holds the longest roof span on the planet. The station expands in 1903 for the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, retains the title of the largest American terminal through the 1920s, and in the 1940s serves 100,000 passengers daily, the highest daily volume of any U.S. station. Amtrak abandons the facility on October 31 1978 after the Inter‑American departs, and the building is designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1981. A joint venture between the Rouse Company and Oppenheimer Gateway Properties redevelops the site, reopening it as Union Station Mall and a 539‑room hotel on August 29 1985; Omni Hotels first operates the hotel, later succeeded by Hyatt Regency and Marriott. After a Hard Rock Cafe opens on August 24 1998, the mall declines, leading to foreclosure by an Illinois bank in March 2003 and near‑empty status by 2005, while the 2010s and 2020s bring further renovation and expansion of its entertainment and office spaces.