Will Pueblo's Union Depot be a passenger train station again? Here's where things stand

Gloria Burch grew up in Pueblo and remembers when the Union Depot was the terminal for journeys across the country for herself and her relatives. She took a few trips out to New York and California and fondly remembered how her in-laws regularly came in from Ohio.

Burch was one of a few dozen Puebloans who came to a public meeting March 21 at Union Depot to share their thoughts about converting the building into a functional train station.

A train station in Pueblo could potentially serve a re-routing of the Amtrak Southwest Chief line between Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as passenger rail spanning the Front Range corridor.

Here’s what we know about the project.

What is going on with the train station design?

County funding from the 2016 voter-approved 1A ballot measure is paying for designs to be drafted for the station.

County commissioners reviewed renderings last year for a new building located north of the historical Union Depot building. Crafting a plan to bring passenger train service back to Pueblo has been in the works for years, but bringing back Union Depot as a functional building for train service has only recently been a major part of the planning.

Jim and Joe Koncilja own the historic Union Depot and the land where the potential new building could be built. They contacted another architectural firm to make a new proposal for the building, which commissioners considered in July 2023.

The new firm joining the project is Denver-based Tryba Architects, which specializes in adapting historical buildings and worked on revitalizing Union Station in downtown Denver.

Kathleen Fogler, an assistant principal with Tryba, told the Chieftain that the purpose of the March 21 open house was to get feedback from people about what the building could do and how it could connect with the rest of downtown Pueblo.

What’s next for the project?

Not much space would be needed inside the building to support passenger rail service in context of the building’s size, Fogler said. Architects will need to figure out potential spots within the building as well as how passengers will move from the train platform into downtown.

Fogler said that some potential designs will be worked up over the next few months and that another public meeting could take place in May.

County Manager Sabina Genesio said commissioners will make a final decision about the train station design, likely by June or July.

Retrofitting Union Depot could be less expensive than building a new station from scratch, but how it will be funded is still up in the air. The federal government has recently been investing billions of dollars into passenger rail and the county could potentially apply for grants for Pueblo’s train station.

Burch, 90, said that she would be “the first in line” if passenger train service resumes in Pueblo during her lifetime.

“It takes so much time to do these things," Burch said. "In my dreams, I’ll ride it."

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo residents share thoughts on Union Depot passenger rail proposal