Restoration, renovation project on historic Tampa Union Station begins this summer

Reviving Tampa Union Station

Greeting train passengers on and off since 1912, Tampa Union Station will receive some interior and exterior care over the next year as part of a multi-million-dollar renovation and restoration project. Briona Arradondo reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - Greeting train passengers on and off since 1912, Tampa Union Station will receive some interior and exterior care over the next year as part of a multi-million-dollar renovation and restoration project.

What we know:

Tampa architect Jerel McCants is in charge of the renovation and restoration project for Tampa Union Station. He is very familiar with where the 113-year-old building is showing its age.

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"You’ll see the original plaster still there with several coats, kind of that band-aid approach where it’s starting to delaminate and peel away," said McCants, the owner of McCants Architecture.

Not enough maintenance led to cracks, water leaks, a damaged canopy and rotted wood from termites, making the second floor unusable, McCants said.

"Now that’s going to be one of the main things, doing a termite remediation, tenting the whole building, going in and fixing some of the deteriorated, rotted wood," he said.

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McCants said they have a $6 million construction budget, with $4 million coming from the Downtown Community Redevelopment Agency funds.

"The way that the architecture was built back then, everything was custom. And now, everything we do now is pre-fabricated, so you have to bring in skilled technicians and skilled tradesmen," said McCants.

The backstory:

Originally designed by J. F. Leitner, Tampa Union Station was built in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, with separate waiting rooms and areas for whites and minorities during segregation.

"This was built in the same time Ybor was built," said McCants. "So, when you look at those buildings, the cigar buildings and the social halls and all that is part of that aesthetic."

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Tampa Union Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. By the 1980s, the building was in bad shape from neglect and closed to the public in 1984. Fundraising efforts led by volunteers in the 1990s led to renovations and repairs that allowed the station to reopen with Amtrak serving the public.

What's next:

Refreshing the building could also advance Tampa’s future as talks of Brightline expansion resurface.

"People are now relying on mass transit to move short distances throughout the state," said McCants of the Amtrak routes. "I’ve taken it short distances, but I haven’t taken it say from here to Miami yet. And that’s something that I want to do in the distant future."

As work begins this summer, passengers can expect to see light fixtures, paint and more period-accurate features down the line.

"It’s valuable for us to extend the legacy for future generations to see those styles that are still around today," said McCants.

Grant funding is also helping with the project. McCants said the work is running a little behind, so they expect it to be finished by fall 2026.