Daniel Burnham designed the 35 ft (11 m) Beaux-Arts Union Station arch in front of you, the lone survivor of the old station's grand entranceway, now rising in McFerson Commons. Look up at the Corinthian columns, the multiple cornices and friezes, and the statuary groups—some of which are currently in storage—evidence of its role as part of a grand entranceway to the city’s Union Station. The arcade and arch were designed in 1812 and completed by 1899, and the structure later became listed on the National Register of Historic Places from 1974 to 1999.
Nearly all of the arcade was demolished in 1976, but preservationists managed to save this single tall arch. It was moved to storage in 1977, then placed in a new park, Arch Park, when that park opened in 1980. A parking garage later required the arch to move again, and it was placed in McFerson Commons in 1999.
The site itself was once the eastern edge of the Ohio Penitentiary, which stood here from 1834 to 1997. Notice the Corinthian columns, cornices, and friezes overhead—the last surviving piece of the old Union Station arcade.