(rshsdepot) Carlisle, Iowa

["Jim Dent" <james.dent_@_itochu.com>]

-From the Des Moines Register...

Put depot at head of trail, group urges
The structure would be a replica of a depot built in 1887 that sat between
railroad tracks on School Street in Carlisle.
By AMANDA PIERRE
Register Staff Writer
08/09/2001

Carlisle, Ia. - A group of residents wants to place a replica of the defunct
Carlisle train depot at the head of the Summerset recreational trail.

The Summerset trail between Carlisle and Indianola is scheduled to open in
September. Plans for the depot are in the early stages. More immediately,
the committee planning the trailhead suggests installing a temporary parking
lot at the trail terminus and a trail extension into downtown Carlisle.

Committee members hope to include a replica of Carlisle's train depot at the
trailhead. The Rock Island depot once sat between the railroad tracks on
School Street, said local historian Bob Betzer, a trail committee member.

The depot was built in 1887 and lasted about 100 years. The train carried
passengers to and from Carlisle, delivered mail and brought the bodies of
Carlisle soldiers home from World War I. By the 1950s, the depot was seldom
used, and railroad officials later had it torn down, Betzer said.

"The people of Carlisle remember the depot. Everyone says, "We should have
saved it," " Betzer said. "Maybe in a small town like Carlisle, if there's
one thing the people will rally around, it will be a replica of the depot."

The depot would be the same size as the original building - about 1,000
square feet. Committee members do not have a cost estimate for the project.

Trail committee members continue to meet with landscape architect Doug
Adamson of the Dunbar/Jones Partnership to choose a site for the trailhead
and draw up plans.

"In the long term, we'd like to help introduce more people to the downtown
businesses," said Les Lane of the city's Downtown/Trail Head Development
Committee. "We're hoping someday the trail will go north out of Carlisle and
connect with some trails in Des Moines. We don't want to create any dead
ends."

A temporary trailhead with a parking area is planned just south of Iowa
Highway 5. Users could reach the trail from 165th Place. Carlisle City
Administrator Neil Ruddy said the temporary trailhead eventually would lead
to an extension of the trail along Iowa 5 and to downtown Carlisle.

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #131
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