It served as an office and shelter for Volunteers of America from 1931 to 2003, and has been the headquarters of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67, a firefighters' union, since 2007.

[3] The two-story structure was designed by prolific Columbus firm Yost & Packard in an eclectic style, with elements of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture and Japanese influences.

The interior has seen modifications, though its main hall (the former passenger waiting room) still retains most of its original features.

[2] The tower tapers vertically up, decorated with brick and sandstone "grillwork", to its pagoda-style roof with broad flared eaves.

[10][2] The tower originally featured three black iron clock dials, which were placed out from the wall and illuminated by incandescent bulbs.

[11] The clocktower structure is flanked by two shorter octagonal corner towers with arched windows at their second stories.

[10] The building's entranceway has large front doors below a one-story columned, hipped-roof entrance porch.

[2] The building's east side originally had a porte-cochère, removed to make way for a thrift store and restored in 2007.

[12] The building's west side originally had a small flight of stairs to its ground-level train shed and canopied platform.

Passengers would enter through the front of the building, purchase tickets, and use a stairway to ascend to the second-floor platform to board trains.

[4] The building's porch leads into a vestibule, and from there into the former passenger waiting room, which resembles Union Station in St. Louis, Missouri, built in 1894.

[11] Yost & Packard, a Columbus-based firm, created much of the architectural character of the city, and the station was seen as one of their most creative designs.

[13] The relatively new station was proposed to be demolished around this time, to create a more modern structure that would be level with the new elevated tracks.

[22] The fire was believed to have started from defective wiring in a cupola above the engineer's room, and to have smoldered for about an hour before it was first spotted.

A freight train had derailed around this time, blocking Broad Street for about 20 minutes, forcing west side companies to detour.

[16][5] Ohio Central division trains began operating out of Union Station on January 26, 1930.

Beginning on July 6, 1931,[24] the organization began using it as office space and shelter, and used the waiting room as a banquet hall for holiday dinners, including on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

[10] In 1995, the VOA celebrated the building's centennial with a free public event including tours, a program, and discussions.

[16] One condition the union had for purchasing was the demolition of the thrift store building, which Columbus approved plans to demolish.

The union planned for up to $2.5 million to renovate and expand the building, including an addition to take up a third of the lot occupied by the store.