The restoration of Tampa Union Station is quite literally bringing back a long-gone piece of the downtown landmark’s history.
Thanks to community contributions, the nonprofit Friends of Tampa Union Station bought the historic train station’s original door handles and knobs from a collector in Miami. These collector’s items from a bygone era when rail ruled transportation are adorned with the same “TUS” etched in stone at the top of Tampa Union Station.
After the renovation project finishes, Friends of Tampa Union Station, a group committed to the preservation and restoration of the historic train station, plans to showcase the antique door hardware and other station artifacts in a museum-style display area inside the station. The nonprofit has a $7,500 grant from the Duckwall Foundation to purchase a new and improved display case for historic items from the station’s past.
The door handles and fixtures are not the only historic additions.
“Someone on Facebook last year made us aware of some old train benches that were just sitting in a warehouse,” Friends of Union Station President Brandie Miklus says. The $4 million historic renovation of the station, which is funded primarily by the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency with help from a $408,000 state historic preservation grant, got underway in May and is expected to finish in December. Friends of Tampa Union Station and the City of Tampa’s shared vision for the project is to preserve the station’s historic character, support the current-day Amtrak passenger rail service, and reimagine the station as a vibrant civic hub that connects the city’s past with its future.