About this place

The mission of Union Station, Kansas City, Inc is to be Kansas City?s destination for creative entertainment experiences, contemporary culture, family and civic pride and to convey principles and concepts of science to visitors.USKC stands as the region?s civic landmark. Built for Kansas City Terminal Railway, USKC was completed in 1914, and is noted as the second largest train station in the Untied States, behind New York?s Grand central Station. For over 50 years, the Station served as the area?s transportation hub, with traffic reaching 270 trains daily and processing half of all US military personnel during the height of World War II. Upon the decline of train activity from 1960-1980, the Station closed in 1983. In 1996, four metropolitan counties on both side of the Missouri/Kansas state line approved a Bi-state sales tax to help restore USKC and create Science City.Science City at USKC opened in November 1999 as a newly created science center that employs the metaphor of a city to convey principles and concepts of science for visitors. Each aspect of the City is an immersion experience that places the visitor in a special time and place. More than 465,000 visitors participate in Science City annually.