Work has begun on a project to deconstruct and restore the eaves, soffit and decorative brackets all around the Depot waiting room. This is the initial phase of the total roof restoration project, undertaken (by agreement with the Jeffris Family Foundation) while the $1 million matching capital campaign for the roof is still in progress. This project [the eaves phase] is supported in part by the State Historical Society of Iowa, Historical Resource Development Program. The contractor is Restoric LLC of Chicago.

Richard -

Thanks for the photo update. Keep us posted.


Les

Will do, Les. Maybe some day we will have as interesting an operation as HVRM!

The Keokuk "Daily Gate City" ran an article today (August 7, 2015) describing the project to restore the eaves and gutter and, later, the Depot chimney. Here's the link to the article: http://www.dailygate.com/article_3f7ca3ce-3d21-11e5-87ca-33e36e4f040b.html

Hi Richard -

Operation? There aren't plans to start a museum type train operation out of the Keokuk Union Depot are there? Thought I would ask in a PM, rather than put it out in the thread but I screwed it up!


Les

No such plans -- we're nowhere near that point. But in 2013, when Keokuk celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Mississippi River dam (not far from the Depot), there was an attempt to line up a coach or two for an excursion from the Depot over the city-owned bridge, and Pioneer Railcorp even offered to provide the locomotive. Unfortunately no passenger cars were available for a rental we could afford. Also recall that in the 1980s-90s the original Keokuk Junction Railway ran trolley excursions from the Depot over the river into Illinois, using a generator unit for power (photo on this page: http://www.keokukuniondepot.org/history.html). The old KJ also owned the ex-Wabash parlor car renamed "Chief Keokuck," which is now owned by the New Orleans Public Belt under a new name. So there is a history of "operations" in connection with the Keokuk Union Depot. Currently our "operations" are limited to serving as a venue for local activities such as weddings, bridal showers, class reunions, anniversaries, concerts and the like. The restoration of the 1891 Depot is, unfortunately perhaps, not much of a railfan-oriented project; it is much more an architectural preservation project due to its association with the well-known firm of Burnham & Root.