In 1904, Union Station was the bustling epicenter for thousands of travellers eager to move West. Starting spring of 2018, Union Station will be the gateway for a new kind of visitor.

Fish.

Specifically, hundreds of species of aquatic life found in a 70,000 sq ft aquarium holding 1 million gallons of water. A fire and light show lake area, and a 200 ft ferris wheel will also be added to the grounds as well.

Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM), who owns Union Station, began the idea for the renovations four years ago and has invested $130 million into the new project. The construction is expected to begin spring of 2017 and finish after a year.

“It seemed like the right time to do it with everything that’s going on in St Louis with the Arch grounds being renovated, Ballpark Village being established, the success of the Cardinals, and the potential soccer stadium,” Bob O’Loughlin, Chairman and CEO of LHM, said.

The construction will include environmentally friendly materials with solar panels on the roof and greenery surrounding the lake. Currently there is no construction company contracted to do the renovations.

Although most of Union Station will be changed, the history of the train station will stay intact.

“We expect to have 6 train cars outside and train themes throughout,” O’Loughlin said. “It was the largest train station in the United States and has an extremely rich history.”

The target audience are families from STL who are looking for attractions to participate in and people from all around the Midwest that want to experience the history of Union Station, O’Loughlin said. Anybody of any age is welcome to enjoy the attractions, though.

“It will once again become a real destination location for visitors and even city residents alike to go back and take another look inside there if they haven’t for awhile,” Maggie Crane, Deputy Director of Operations for St Louis.

Crane also expects Union Station to become a hub for the convention-goers coming to St Louis in the future.

“It’ll give them another place to go, another place to visit and, frankly, another place to spend their money in the city,” Crane said.

While Union Station is already a big contributor the annual revenue St Louis wants to bring in, the new attractions are expected to bring in about $50 million more per year in the entertainment section.

Irene Gao, senior, is excited to see the construction play out and how it will re-invent Union Station while keeping its authenticity.

“Union Station is really old and extremely interesting because it’s a landmark of St Louis,” Gao said. “The new construction will be a good way to accentuate the history of Union Station.”

The renovations will be interesting for high schoolers because of the attractions’ close proximity to home, Gao said.

Whether or not the renovations will be as successful as predicted, Union Station will continue to flourish as it had before.

“If it weren’t for Union Station, we probably wouldn’t have gotten the World’s Fair, the 1904 Olympics, or the Democratic Convention and that’s a big reason why St Louis will always benefit from the Union Station,” O’Loughlin said.