Union Station entered a precipitous decline in the 1950s that coincided with the nationwide decline in passenger rail traffic. The incident prompted a federal investigation and reforms to the FBI, including permission for agents to carry firearms. Seeing that their rescue attempt had failed, the shooters fled the scene. Four officers were killed in the shootout, as well as Nash himself. As they were placing Nash into a vehicle in front of Union Station, three of his associates armed with machine guns opened fire on the group in an effort to rescue Nash. On June 17, 1933, several law enforcement officers, including some FBI agents, were escorting convicted mobster and escaped prisoner Frank Nash to the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. The eastern entrance to the building was the site of the Union Station Massacre (also known as the Kansas City Massacre), which left five people dead. A young Walt Disney took a one-way train from the station to Los Angeles in July 1923 with all his possessions in a single suitcase.
Thousands of soldiers traveled through here during both world wars during World War I, over 200 trains a day passed through the station. For many years, it was a bustling center of activity in Kansas City. Until 1938, it also served as the headquarters for the Fred Harvey Company, which operated a chain of restaurants and hotels along major railroads. Union Station contained railroad offices, lobbies, restaurants, a barbershop, post office, drug store, jail, hospital, and power plant. At the time of its opening, it was the third largest train station in the United States. Notable features include a 95-foot-high ceiling, a six-foot-wide clock, and several 3,500-pound chandeliers. The six-story, 850,000 square-foot, T-shaped building was made with limestone and polished granite at a cost of $5.7 million, over twice the original budget. Chicago architect and City Beautiful supporter Jarvis Hunt designed the station in the Beaux-Arts style. The urban planning campaign sought to improve and beautify the community through the construction of lavish public buildings, parks, and other facilities and amenities. Its creation was part of the “City Beautiful Movement” in Kansas City during the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 1914, the Kansas City Terminal Railway, a partnership between a dozen area railroads, constructed a massive new Union Station along Main Street.
Damages caused to the depot in a 1903 flood provided an impetus for leaders to seek a new location. Additionally, passengers transiting through the depot complained about the nearby stockyards as well as surrounding gambling halls, saloons, and brothels. The continued growth of the railroad industry quickly rendered the depot inadequate for the city’s needs. Critics nicknamed it “Kansas City’s Insane Asylum” for the extravagant design. Built at a cost of $410,000, the building incorporated aspects of Victorian and Gothic architecture, with extensive ornamentation and a 125-foot clock tower. Union Depot, as it was known, was located in the West Bottoms neighborhood for close proximity to the stockyards. In 1878, a group of businessmen pooled their resources and constructed a large, single train station to accommodate the increase in traffic. It grew into a booming transportation hub, with numerous railroads crossing through the city to ship cattle and other agricultural products. The expansion of railroads after the Civil War spurred significant economic development in Kansas City. Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. It serves as a model for the potential of adaptive reuse in historical structures. Community efforts starting in the 1990s led to a $250 million project to restore the station and revitalize it as a major commercial and educational center. The facility experienced a period of decline and deterioration from the 1950s to the 1980s as passenger rail traffic collapsed. During its heyday, over 200 trains passed through the station daily. The station served as the heart of Kansas City's booming transportation industry in the early twentieth century, when the city was at the intersection of multiple railroads. The Beaux-Arts style building, noted for its colossal size and fine ornamentation, was part of the "City Beautiful Movement" to develop more green space and aesthetically pleasing public facilities in Kansas City. The third-largest railroad station in the nation when it was completed in 1914, Kansas City's Union Station has been restored to its former grandeur and offers a variety of educational and cultural offerings, including Science City, several theaters, restaurants, office and retail space, and museum exhibits.
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