The Keokuk Union Depot preservation project has won a $10,000 award from Dwell.com, as the result of an entry submitted by Christen Sundquist, the intern from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The Depot placed highest among 118 architectural landmarks in contest voting. Public school students in Keokuk were among those who swelled the totals for the Depot.

Christen said, "When I saw that Dwell and Sub-Zero were hosting a competition aimed toward preservation, it really got my heart racing. It was a chance to let people learn that there is a Burnham and Root Depot where they would least expect it. As a preservationist, I am torn that there was only one winner. There were a lot of great buildings that I hope get more recognition now."

For more details, read the announcement from Dwell.com here:
http://www.dwell.com/articles/and-the-winner-of-rethinking-preservation-is.html

Congratulations to the Keokuck Union Depot preservation team for a win!

http://www.keokukuniondepot.org/

Their win demonstrates that, despite lots of other politically correct and competitive alternatives, community support and engaging the professional community are keys to successful fund raising.

And wouldn't the restored Keokuck Union Depot benefit from a restored train composed of a representative locomotive and passenger cars of the railroads that served the depot?

Craig Brinkman
www.arpcp.org

Yes, we would love to have that "restored train!" Currently, the track in front of the depot platform is filled with stored tank cars used for corn products from Roquette. There are several tracks there, the transfer tracks between Pioneer Railcorp's Keokuk Junction, which switches Roquette, and BNSF. We understand it would cost Pioneer a million or so to build a new transfer yard. Additionally, the stub track at the depot's downriver side would be a good place to station a piece of equipment, but it still belongs to Pioneer although it is holding nothing at the moment. Finally, there is land on the rear of the depot, between the street and the bluff, where something could be displayed (such as a caboose). We are still at the "dreaming" stage regarding these things.