LIUNA Station

{{Short description|Convention center in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada}}

{{Infobox station

| name = LIUNA Station

| type =

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| image = LIUNAStationHamilton.JPG

| image_caption = Former CNR station building

| address = 360 James Street North
Hamilton, Ontario

| country = Canada

| coordinates = {{coord|43.2658|-79.8646|type:railwaystation_region:CA-ON|display=inline,title}}

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| opened = 1931

| closed = 1993

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| owned = LIUNA

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| other_services_header = Former services

| other_services_collapsible = no

| other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system1=Via Rail

|line1=Toronto-New York|left1=Burlington|right1=Grimsby|note-left1=1989–1993

|line2=Toronto-New York|left2=Burlington West|right2=Grimsby|note-left2=1981–1989

|system3=Canadian National Railway

|line3=Grand Trunk Main|left3=Dundas|right3=Oakville

|line4=Niagara Falls-Toronto|left4=Stoney Creek|right4=Aldershot

|line5=Hamilton-Allandale|left5=|right5=Aldershot

|line6=Owen Sound-Hamilton|left6=Dundas

|line7=St. Thomas-Hamilton|left7=Rymal

|system8=GO Transit

|line8=Lakeshore West|left8=Aldershot|to-left8=Toronto|note-mid8=1967–1996}}

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LIUNA Station is a banquet and convention centre in central Hamilton, Ontario.[http://www.liunastation.com/about.html (untitled)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418054958/http://www.liunastation.com/about.html |date=April 18, 2014 }} The building opened in 1931 as Hamilton C.N.R. Station and served as a passenger and freight railway station.

History

LIUNA Station, former CN Railway James Street Station, on the east side of James Street North at Murray Street, was built between 1929 and 1931 by the Canadian National Railway to a design by architect John Schofield.{{cite web|url=http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8341|title=Hamilton CNR Station|last=|first=|date=|publisher=Parks Canada|author=|work=Canada's Historic Places|accessdate=August 5, 2016}}

The property is one of the National Historic Sites of Canada and was designated under the federal Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act and under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act by City of Hamilton By-law 95-115.{{cite web |url=http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/3478439E-5256-4466-9B1E-34335ABAA5F0/0/Volume12ndEdition_March2007.pdf |title=List of Designated Properties and Heritage Conservation Easements under the Ontario Heritage Act |author= |date=August 2002 |work=Hamilton's Heritage |volume=1 |publisher=City of Hamilton |accessdate=6 November 2012 |archive-date=17 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120247/http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/3478439E-5256-4466-9B1E-34335ABAA5F0/0/Volume12ndEdition_March2007.pdf |url-status=dead }} (revised March 2007) Portions of the building were protected by the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1999.

In 1967, GO Transit took over CN's commuter service between Toronto and Hamilton, and in 1978 all other CN passenger service was transferred to Via Rail.{{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/hamtransithist/LIUNA.html |title=CNR James Street Station/LIUNA Station |author= |date= |publisher=Hamilton Transit History |accessdate=25 January 2016}}

In 1992, Via Rail closed their Burlington, Hamilton and Dundas stations and consolidated service at the new Aldershot GO Station.

GO Transit closed the James Street station in 1993 and moved any remaining service to the Hamilton GO Centre, only one and a half kilometres directly south on James Street.

The Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) bought and renovated the station, and in 2000, station was reopened as LIUNA Station, an events centre with catering facilities for weddings, dances, and other special events. It is no longer federally protected.