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(rshsdepot) Vienna, Illinois
BACK TO THE DEPOT: PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK TO THIS OLD RAILROAD DEPOT IN
JOHNSON COUNTY
BY CLAIRE O'BRIEN
THE SOUTHERN
[Fri Jan 17 2003]
VIENNA -- Trains don't pull into the Forman Depot in Vienna anymore.
Whistles don't sound, and farmers don't line up wagons piled with corn and
peaches destined for Chicago markets.
But people are once again using the last original railroad depot in Johnson
County -- which was built more than a century ago, served as the county hub
for many decades, then sat on a farm for a long time before finally finding
a new home in the Vienna city park.
Today, the town that loves its depot will sponsor a grand opening, inviting
the public to help celebrate the restoration of Forman to its original
condition.
Vienna has a lot to celebrate.
It wasn't easy for this spunky small town to undertake a major $200,000
historic preservation project -- in fact, the project took more than five
years to complete. But Vienna dug in its heels and stayed the course, and on
Saturday the community will proudly show the world the results of years of
hard work and commitment.
"We succeeded only because we stuck together and wouldn't give up," said
Mayor Chesley Williams. "Quite a few people said it couldn't be done, but we
just kept on going. Some groups that had never worked together before came
together for this project."
Those groups include the city of Vienna, the Johnson County Chamber of
Commerce, the Vienna Civic Club and the Johnson County Genealogical and
Historical Society.
For years, the depot sat on the property of Clarence Allbritten, a farmer
who lives south of Vienna. Five yeas ago, Allbritten contacted Phil Morris,
a local railroad buff, and Gary Hacker, who is the president of the
genealogical and historical society. Allbritten told the two men that he was
willing to donate the depot to Vienna, and hoped that the town would restore
it to its original condition. Morris and Hacker were thrilled to have this
chance to save an old treasure, but it took quite a while before the town
was able to move the depot. In the meantime, the Vienna Civic Club promised
to donate the land designated for the depot, which was adjacent to the city
park.
People got busy trying to raise money for the restoration. The project
eventually received state and federal grants from both the Illinois
Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, among
others. Three years after being moved to the city park, the depot was
finally restored, with the exterior returned to its original colors and the
interior completely renovated.
Best of all, the depot is being used.
It houses a railroad museum, a tourism center, chamber of commerce offices,
and offices for the Southernmost Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone.
Williams said he thinks the depot will remain a source of community pride
forever.
"History matters here. Our traditions are important to us," he said.
"Restoring our depot really brought us together -- and we are still building
on that. Most of the items in our railroad museum came from local families,
because so many of them had a family member who worked for the railroad.
"Another benefit of this project is that now that we have the ball rolling,
we aren't going to stop now," Williams said. "We are planning our next
project, which is to beautify our town square, all around the courthouse. We
have received calls from neighboring communities who are interested in doing
restoration projects too, and we pass on what we learned to them. This will
only help the tourism industry in our region, as well as bring our
communities together."
claire.obrien_@_thesouthern.com 618-529-5454 x15076
=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #572
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=================================
The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org