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(rshsdepot) Storm Lake, IA
Link:
http://www.old-postcards.com/806.jpg (historic postcard photo)
Storm Lake leaders seek to save railroad depot
By: Dana Larsen, Pilot-Tribune Editor April 08, 2002
A small group gathered this week to take the first step toward preserving
the historic Illinois Central Railroad Depot in Storm Lake.
Like the proverbial "little engine that could," it's going to take an
attitude of "perpetual optimism" to reach the top of that mountain, predicts
local rail enthusiast Burt Bonebrake. Also involved were chamber of commerce
leaders Chris Nolte and Marilyn Monson, and local rail historian Charles
Slagle.
After brainstorming on how to approach the Canadian National Railroad, which
now owns the site, the chamber plans to compose a letter to the company with
suggestions on how to save the depot.
"We would like to work with them in such a way that the railroad could get
some benefit and we could obtain the depot and possibly some land for
parking," Bonebrake said.
The Illinois Central had planned to tear the depot down this year and
replace it with a small modern building, despite it being one of the
county's few listings on the National Register of Historic Places. They
would have considered selling it very inexpensively, but wanted the building
moved.
"If you take a depot away from the railroad tracks, it loses about 95
percent of its nostalgia value. We would like to be able to leave it right
there, maybe with some safety fencing to prevent visitors form getting too
close to the tracks and being a liability problem," Bonebrake said.
Local enthusiasts will be looking deeper into the railroad history of the
area, and hope to visit the restored Cherokee depot museum next week to
review how such a project can be done.
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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