With a spiral staircase, mezzanine bar and new shops and restaurants, New Haven's Union Station could soon look more like its big brother Grand Central thanks to $15.7 million in new improvements announced on Monday.

"We are modernizing this historic station to create a more welcoming and comfortable experience for riders and encourage more people to choose rail." Governor Ned Lamont said in a statement. The upgrades were announced at a news conference at the station, which first opened to train passengers in 1920.

Fully funded by the state, the first phase of the interior improvements and another $9.1 million in renovations to the station's exterior are expected to be finished by the end of next year.

Most striking about the new plan were renderings of the new mezzanine, reached by the spiral staircase and to be home to a bar area along with expanding seating. The station will also get a new "wellness room."

The station will also get revamped restrooms and hallways, new flooring and ceiling tiles, LED lighting, upgraded utility connections, and improvements to the main passenger areas, offices and ticketing booths. The station's atrium and the area at the bottom of the escalators leading to the pedestrian tunnel will also get a new look.

Vital to the upgrades are new shops and restaurants, with state officials calling on New Haven businesses to open outlets inside the renovated station.

"These improvements will create a more vibrant station for passengers while opening the door to new businesses that can make the experience even better." Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said in a statement announcing the project. Vendors and tenants can design and build out their own spaces under the plan.

"Great cities should have great public transit facilities, and we are about to deliver for New Haveners," New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said.

The revamp of Union Station's interior comes on top of $402 million in upgrades to the train infrastructure announced earlier this year, to include lengthened platforms covered by a soaring canopy in the style of the Central Station in Vienna, Austria.

Work on Union Station's platforms is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2029.

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