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Between 1931 and 1933, art deco artist Winold Reiss created 23 mosaic tile murals for the opening of Cincinnati’s Union Terminal railroad station.

Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal with a clock on the front

The murals depicted the industry of the 1930s in Cincinnati, such as butchers, steel workers, manufacturers, or soap-makers at the Procter & Gamble factor.  Cincinnati was the 17th largest city in the US in 1930, larger than Seattle, Houston, Atlanta or Dallas.

cvg-airport-murals

When the train station’s main concourse was slated to be destroyed in 1972, 14 of the historical murals were moved across the river to the Cincinnati / Northern Kentucky Airport.  8 of the mosaic murals remained in the building, which now houses the Cincinnati Museum Center, and one mural, a 20 foot by 80 foot map of the United States was (tragically!) destroyed.

Murals seeking a new home (again!)

As part of the reduction in flights from CVG, several no longer used airport terminals are slated to be demolished in the near future.  While there are 5 murals in the main terminal, there are 9 murals that are in the terminals that are about to be demolished

(SEE ALSO: The Curious Case of Delta and CVG)

(SEE ALSO: CVG plans put historic murals in peril again)

There’s been a large outpouring of support from the city and the civic community, and now, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, it looks like a deal has been struck to move those 9 mosaic murals back to Cincinnati, to the Duke Energy Convention Center.

The Kenton County Airport board has agreed to pay nearly 10 million dollars to pack up and move the murals. The murals measure 20 feet by 20 feet by 8 inches thick, and EACH ONE weighs around 8 tons!  The City of Cincinnati will be responsible for unpacking them and installing them at the Convention Center.

I, for one, am glad that these murals have been saved and found a new home!


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