"The station is an icon of Kirkwood, a symbol of the economic vitality of Kirkwood and its citizens," former mayor Art McDonnell told the crowd on Sept. 15, according to the Webster-Kirkwood Times. McDonnell now leads the Historic Kirkwood Train Station Foundation. In the same article, he said the foundation's goal goes beyond a modernized train stop. Once the work is done, the station is meant to serve as a community hub for private and civic events.

The 1893 depot at Kirkwood Road and Argonne is being rebuilt as downtown's gathering room as much as a place to catch a train. Downtown Kirkwood's fall and holiday calendar already treats it that way, even though Amtrak passengers still board in a temporary building across the street.

What the Sept. 15 Ribbon Covered

The City of Kirkwood held a public ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15. It invited the mayor, the City Council, the Historic Kirkwood Train Station Foundation and community partners. Mayor Liz Gibbons cut the ribbon on the station's newly finished outdoor patio, and the Times described the event as a rededication of a building the city has owned since 2003.

Most of the work on the outside is done. The Times lists:

• A new slate roof with copper flashing
• A new storage building
• Larger, accessible bathrooms
• A geothermal heating and cooling system
• A platform roof extended east from the main building, which restores the station's 1941 appearance

The building went up in 1893. It was renovated in 1941 and again in 1985, the same year it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. According to the Times, the city received more than $4.2 million in grants, and local donations added another $1 million, so grants and donations alone paid for the project. On its project page, the city estimated construction at $4,699,000.

The Inside Still Has a Punch List

The ribbon marked a building that is nearly finished. It did not open the waiting room. At the ceremony, officials told the Times that at least another month of work remained before the inside could serve passengers. Until the city announces the move, Missouri River Runner passengers keep using the temporary station at 110 E. Argonne Ave., on the east side of Kirkwood Road. That building opened to passengers on June 10, 2025.

The remaining work is mostly what visitors will see inside. Murals by Kirkwood native Bryan Haynes are among the last pieces planned for the interior. According to a report republished by Mass Transit, the station will also hold display cases of artifacts from its past, making it a micro-museum of Kirkwood's rail history. Zoe Perkins, who chairs Kirkwood's arts commission, explained the idea to the City Council: "With this project, we want to emphasize the history. It's an opportunity for us to tell more of the history of Kirkwood."

The city's project page is the place to watch for a reopening date. The construction status there is labeled "last updated June 26," so a newer announcement could land somewhere else first.

A Station Designed to Host

The city's project goals show how much of this building is meant for people who aren't catching a train. The plan calls for the depot to:

1. Keep operating as a train station and transportation hub for Amtrak train and bus passengers
2. Stay an intermodal trailhead for cyclists heading to the Katy Trail and the future Rock Island Trail
3. Serve as a local and visitor information center, and a spot for train enthusiasts to watch daily freight and passenger traffic
4. Work as event space for annual events, civic meetings and ceremonies
5. Host the monthly "Art at the Station" exhibits, which the Kirkwood Arts Commission has sponsored since 2015

Only the first item depends on trains. The rest describe a public room in the middle of downtown, with a patio, an extended canopy and a plaza around it.

The station's staffing works on the same civic footing. The Kirkwood stop runs entirely on volunteers, the Times reported. Amtrak pays for staffing at only about a third of its stations nationwide, and some 46 volunteers keep Kirkwood's stop staffed whenever a passenger train pulls in.

The Calendar Already Runs Through the Depot

Downtown Kirkwood's fall and holiday events don't wait for the waiting room. Several of them are organized around the station, Station Plaza or the blocks that lead to it.

The Halloween Walk on Thursday, Oct. 29. Kirkwood City Hall at 139 S. Kirkwood Road hands out candy from 4 to 5 p.m. Trick-or-treating at participating businesses runs from 5 to 7 p.m., with free candy for children while supplies last. Nearby downtown streets close from about 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., per the Downtown Kirkwood event page.

The Wine Walk on Nov. 7. Tickets cost $25 in advance or $30 at the door. They include a souvenir glass, tastings at more than 20 downtown businesses and a chance to win one of two grand-prize gift baskets. Second Wind plays Ken Connor Park from 3 to 5 p.m. Proceeds help fund the St. Louis Area Foodbank, and attendees must be 21 or older with a valid ID, according to the Wine Walk page.

The Holiday Walk on Nov. 21. This is the event built most directly around the depot. Santa and Mrs. Claus arrive by train at 8:40 a.m., and Santa poses for photos "inside the train station" from 9 a.m. to noon. Mrs. Claus offers stories and songs in Ken Connor Park, and the Lucille Rapp Tumblers and Dancers perform at Station Plaza at noon, according to the Holiday Walk page. The listing doesn't say which station building hosts the photos. That depends on whether the restored waiting room is open by then.

The first Kirkwood Festival of Trees opens the same day in the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center lobby and runs through Dec. 4, with the raffle drawing at 2 p.m. on Dec. 4. Proceeds benefit the Kirkwood Arts Foundation and KirkCare, according to the Festival of Trees page.

More Work on the Tracks Is Coming

Finishing the waiting room won't end construction at the depot. The Times reported that Amtrak plans a multimillion-dollar upgrade to the station's rail platforms and crossings, scheduled to begin in spring 2027. Kirkwood officials said the station itself could reopen before that work is done.

The service using those platforms has been rebuilt as well. Mayor Gibbons spent two years pressing state lawmakers in Jefferson City to fund the Missouri River Runner after Missouri cut its funding in 2020. She said ridership fell by more than half in a single year after that cut. With two daily round trips between St. Louis and Kansas City restored, the Times reported, Kirkwood has become the second-busiest stop on the line, even while trains were served from a temporary building. The River Runner is also the first Amtrak line with its own mascot, Ollie the Otter, who appeared at the Sept. 15 ceremony.

The schedule ahead looks like this. The interior finish and the murals come first, then the move back from 110 E. Argonne. Holiday events use the plaza and depot in the meantime, and Amtrak's platform work follows in spring 2027.

If you own an older home near downtown Kirkwood and want to talk through slate, copper, mechanical upgrades or any of the other choices this depot just went through, the team at Palermo & Co. Real Estate is happy to walk your house with you and give you a straight read on what it needs.