Kansas City terminal to become a science center and museum. (Kansas City Union Station, Kansas)

A number of terminal conversions have been successful, but others have struggled

After sitting vacant for 14 years, a new use has been found for the Kansas City (Mo.) Union Station. Construction will begin this fall on its conversion to a science museum, Science City at Union Station.

The project became feasible when voters in the metropolitan Kansas City area approved a cultural tax last year. The station was once the world's third-largest rail terminal, exceeded in size only by Grand Central Station and Pennsylvania Station (demolished in 1963), both in Ne