RE: (rshsdepot) Burlington, IA

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_comcast.net>]

Ann,

I'm not aware of any and wasn't able to find photos of the interior of the
station but I would have to think they exist.  Have you checked the
Phillipsburg Historical Society?  
http://www.pburglib.org/phs/index2.htm 

Perhaps they or the Phillipsburg Public Library can point you in the right
direction.

Bernie



- -----Original Message-----
From: ANN MILLER [mailto:amiller156_@_verizon.net] 
Sent: Monday, July 23, 2007 10:44 AM
To: rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net
Subject: Re: (rshsdepot) Burlington, IA

Bernie:
Are there any interior pictures of the Phillipsburg Union Station in 
Phillipsburg, NJ. We are about to begin a roof replacement (reslate) so that

we can eventually restore the building to its former glory. However, none of

us knows what the interior looked like.
Ann Miller
- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com>
To: <rshsdepot_@_lists.railfan.net>
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 6:34 PM
Subject: (rshsdepot) Burlington, IA


> From The Hawk Eye.
> Photos and article available at:
> _http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Depot_072207_B_town_ 
> (http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Depot_072207_B_town)
>
> Bernie Wagenblast
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>
> Burlington depot gleamed at grand opening
> By MIKE AUGSPURGER
> _maugspurger_@_thehawkeye.com_ (mailto:augspurger@thehawkeye.com)
> Train tickets can't be purchased in the depot heralded 63 years ago as the
> one of the country's best passenger rail stations.
> The handsome structure in downtown Burlington was built for $300,000 after

> a
> fire destroyed the previous Victorian-style depot. Constructed in 1944 
> while
> most building supplies were being rationed during World War II, it 
> reflected
> the  faith the railroad had in its permanency to the area.
> "We hope that now that we have built the station you will use it," CB&Q
> president Ralph Budd said during a grand-opening ceremony in Burlington. 
> "We
> aimed to build a station in keeping with the modern ideas of 
> utilitarianism. It
> is harmonious with our streamlined trains."
> The 22,000-square-foot, two-story station equipped with modern facilities 
> and
> displaying a Wisconsin fieldstone exterior made a big impression along 
> Main
> Street.
> Visitors were struck by the yellow-and-green color scheme in the waiting
> room. Butter-color window drapes hung from the top of the Great Hall's 
> 24-foot
> ceiling.
> Walnut furniture upholstered in gray and green also caught their eyes.
> "They saw a club-like arrangement of furnishings, tables with built-in ash
> trays, walnut boxes for tropical plants," the newspaper reported.
> Burlington Mayor Max A. Conrad received keys to the depot as a ceremonial
> gesture from the railroad. No one knew then that five decades later the 
> city
> actually would own the building, but only after it had deteriorated under 
> the
> railroad's watch.
> What was once the pride of the railroad had become a sore spot in the
> downtown district. Some renovation has been done, but much more work needs

> to be
> scheduled, officials say.
> Except for times when volunteers help Amtrak passengers twice a day, the
> depot is all but empty and lifeless, much like the nearby steam locomotive

> that
> used to be a viable part of the rails.
> City takes over
> Decades ago, the Burlington Northern, now BNSF Railway, decided to dispose

> of
> some its depots. In many cases, railroad officials had spent little money
> maintaining the buildings they once boasted as industry prizes.
> Burlington's depot represents the first stop west of the Mississippi River
> for Amtrak's California Zephyr on its route from Chicago to the West 
> Coast.
> The building had been in steady deterioration since the 1960s and flood
> damage only aggravated conditions. Citizens complained to city officials 
> about
> the depot's dilapidated appearance and negotiations were started with the
> railroad.
> In 1992, Burlington Northern considered donating the building to the city,
> but company officials scrapped the idea. They decided to have the building
> appraised and negotiate with the city or other interested parties.
> Eight years earlier, Trailways bus line owner Ron Moore tried to rent 
> space
> at the depot, but BN refused. Trailways then bought a building on Broadway
> Street in West Burlington.
> The city was in its second year of negotiations when Amtrak's ticket 
> office
> closed in August 1993 due to flood concerns from the rising Mississippi 
> River.
> Ticket sales moved to the previously unstaffed depot in Mount Pleasant and
> have  not returned.
> Burlington then received a $175,000 grant from the Intermodel Surface
> Transportation Act through the Iowa Department of Transportation to buy 
> the  depot
> and make immediate, but costly, renovations.
> The railroad and Burlington officials reached an agreement for $52,000, 
> but
> the BN relented, said Doug Worden, Burlington's deputy city manager. In 
> early
> 1994, the DOT cleared the way for the city to use eminent domain since it 
> and
> BN  couldn't come to an agreement after three years of talks.
> After going through condemnation hearings, a district court judge ruled 
> the
> railroad should be paid $92,077. A $52,000 check was written in December 
> 1994,
> with the remainder paid in1996.
> By then, everything seemed busted. Windows needed replacing, as did the 
> roof.
> The whole thing needed painted and spruced up. The heating system had to 
> be
> repaired before winter arrived.
> At the time, officials also hoped a restaurant would once again locate in 
> the
> building. City and economic development officials also urged -- and still 
> do
> --  that Amtrak return its ticket station to Burlington.
> In 1997, the city sold $200,000 in general obligation bonds for the 
> depot's
> renovation and combined the money leftover from the state grant. From then

> to
> 2003, the city spent nearly $453,000 for renovation work.
> The money has been used for exterior work, major roof repairs, new 
> awnings,
> replacing windows, installing decorative fencing, replacing doors, 
> decorative
> lighting and installing a new heating system for the Great Hall, Amtrak's
> still-vacant offices and restrooms.
> Most of the city's funding toward the depot in recent years has paid for
> minor maintenance and utility bills -- ranging from $13,000 to $20,000 
> annually.
>
> Pondering options
> Inquiries from prospective users for the depot have ranged from a taxi cab
> service and Trailways bus line to people who wanted to hold weddings, 
> parties
> or  reunions inside the historic structure.
> The city in 1996 moved the Burlington Urban System's hub to the depot, 
> using
> the same waiting room created for Amtrak customers.
> A few years ago, some talk of a restaurant, offices or a sandwich shop in 
> the
> depot's north end filtered through the city but results never 
> materialized.
> Renewed interest in the restaurant idea also was sparked in 1999 by
> discussions to build a replica of Iowa's first territorial capitol across 
> the  street,
> where the Union Hotel once stood. The city demolished the hotel in 1998 
> and
> planted grass.
> The capitol replica was estimated to cost $575,000 under a plan suggested 
> by
> the Burlington/West Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce and others wishing

> to
> see improvements in the downtown district.
> City development officials then had visions that included opening up the
> depot's large waiting room -- with its tall windows and tiled floors --  
> all the
> way back to the old ticket booth to make it visually appealing to suitors.
> Maintaining significance
> A memo in 1996 by then-city development director Mark Brockway said the
> "overall objective or goal of this project is to renovate the depot and 
> grounds
> and establish a viable use reflective of the prominence and vitality once
> exhibited by this historic and significant transportation facility."
> Besides local, state and other resources, many volunteers have helped the
> city with operating, maintaining or promoting the depot's use.
> Members of Friends of the Depot have spent countless hours and donated
> dollars to keep the area maintained, as well as decorating it for the 
> holidays,
> repairing the women's bathroom and reupholstering waiting room benches.
> Another local group cares for the steam engine in the side yard.
> Officials agree, however, that large sums of money are needed to properly
> refurbish the structure inside and out.
> Besides becoming an important center for various forms of transportation, 
> the
> building would give the area another place for historical displays of the
> railroad, riverboat and other modes of transportation in Burlington, 
> Brockway's
> report said.
> One historical fact, the report noted, is that Burlington native Arthur
> Hartman was a boilermaker for the Burlington Railroad in 1910. In his 
> spare  time,
> Hartman constructed a monoplane and the Wright Brothers advised him of the
> proper wing changer design.
> On May 10, 1910, Hartman left the ground at the Burlington Golf Course and

> is
> credited as being the first Iowan to fly an airplane.
> "This and other such historical events and facts associated with the
> Burlington depot cannot, and should not, be discounted," Brockway said.
> Conditions fading
> The Great Hall in the Burlington Depot isn't so grandiose anymore and the
> public can't enter it. The locked double doors also have wooden 2-by-4s 
> and iron
> brackets beefing up security.
> Butter-color drapes no longer hang in the room. Although some debris is
> scattered, the room is fairly clean -- as are others.
> Sheets of insulation board or folded-over black plastic serve as blinds in
> several office windows. From what one can tell by peering through the 
> dirty
> windows, varmints have not yet taken up residence inside.
> Railroad memorabilia is displayed behind a small glassed room in the 
> lobby. A
> nearby, half-full snack machine sometimes doesn't work, depot patrons 
> said.
> A  pop machine, which sounds like it's polishing rocks rather than cooling
> beverages, also is known to keep customers' coins.
> Tattered telephone books show they've been well-used. Few brochures for
> visitors are available in the display case. Message boards haven't changed

> much
> since the Amtrak ticket station left in 1993.
> Two signs erected in 1995 touting restoration efforts by Friends of the 
> Depot
> and city have faded, especially the one facing the setting sun along Main
> Street.
> Surprisingly, little vandalism is evident even though the building is
> unattended for hours at a time. Video security cameras, however, keep the 
> depot
> under constant watch.
> Depot patrons may use the small lobby that has restrooms, or wait outside 
> for
> trains or buses. Some of the benches or picnic tables in the open air have
> cracked, peeled paint.
> Richard McColloch of Fort Madison recently waited for his wife, Sarah, to
> arrive on an eastbound train.
> He recalled his Burlington childhood days when the depot was busy, "just 
> like
> downtown that used to be shoulder-to-shoulder people. And going to the 
> depot
> restaurant was a treat. It had a reputation -- a darn good one."
> A believer in public transportation, McColloch said the depot is 
> convenient
> and more national emphasis should be placed on passenger-rail systems. Gas

> and
> air service have become expensive, he said.
> But McColloch was saddened by the condition of the depot, and believes 
> local
> officials could do better.
> "No one has bothered cutting down weeds. Look at them growing in the
> sidewalks," he said. "It doesn't take much to keep that  up."
>
>
>
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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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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
To Unsubscribe: http://lists.railfan.net/rshsdepot-photo/unsub.html

=================================
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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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