South Bend buys Union Station in hopes of attracting Amtrak
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It’s been a long time since South Bend had trains running through downtown.
It was 1971 to be exact, when Amtrak picked up and left Union Station and moved to the west side of the city.
Now over 50 years later, there is new possibility for rail service to downtown as the South Bend Redevelopment Commission purchased Union Station last week from developer Kevin Smith for $2.4 million.
The purchase signals a significant change in philosophy from the 1970s as city leaders—like Director of Community Investment Caleb Bauer—see the benefits of bringing passenger rail back into urban areas.
“We’ve seen passenger rail and transit-oriented develop proliferate throughout the United States and be very successful,” Bauer said. “We think that having passenger rail connectivity to the downtown area makes it a more attractive place to live and work. And it reconnects our downtown to the other downtowns typically served by rail.”
The old station is right next to Four Winds Field—where the South Bend Cubs play—and features a 20,000-square-foot atrium. Bauer said the building’s proximity to downtown attractions as well as its unique design put Union Station on the city’s radar regardless of the potential interest from Amtrak.
“There is interest from Amtrak. But I would say regardless of whether or not that materializes, we think this is a building that makes sense to be publicly owned and returned to the public domain,” Bauer said.
Now the city’s attention turns to whether it can turn Union Station back into a working train station.
Conveniently, there are existing tracks in and around the station—meaning there would only need to be minimal rail improvements. A platform would need to be constructed and upgrades and new equipment would need to be installed around the station.
That cost isn’t yet known. Bauer said the the bill of getting Union Station train-worthy would likely be shared between Amtrak, the city and potentially other levels of government.
“I think if there was a station there today ready to plug in, I think Amtrak would happily move from where they’re at on the west side to downtown,” Bauer said.
Union Station opened in 1929 and was in danger of being demolished in the late 1970s when train routes went elsewhere. But in 1979, Smith bought the building, along with some surrounding properties form the former Studebaker campus, saving the building.
The station currently houses Smith’s private offices and his data center. As part of the purchase deal, South Bend sold Smith the former Claeys Candy building for just $1,000 so he can move his data center there.
Amtrak stations in Michiana include locations on the west side of South Bend, Elkhart, Michigan City and Niles, Michigan.