(rshsdepot) Fort Madison, IA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From The Hawk Eye.
 
Historical society sees a new future 
By NICHOLAS BERGIN 
 
_nbergin_@_thehawkeye.com_ (mailto:nbergin@thehawkeye.com) 
 
FORT MADISON -- The North Lee County Historical Society Museum will never  
again be the same.
 
During the June flooding, the historic Santa Fe Depot, which housed the  
museum, had more than three-feet of water in it.
 
Now city and historical society officials are beginning to plan for a  
conversion of the historic Santa Fe Railway Depot to a combination Amtrak  station 
and museum.
 
Knowing floods will threaten the building again, city officials are looking  
into raising the building several feet out of the 500-year floodplain. 
 
"I don't want to spend a bunch of money on a building and have it flooded  
every 15 years," Mayor Steve Ireland said. "If we can change the design with a  
little extra money, have an Amtrak station there, have a renovated building 
and  have flood control ... then why not do it? These floods are not going to go 
 away."
 
City officials have been working to bring the Amtrak Station to the Santa  Fe 
Depot for three years and have about $1.5 million in funds to get the $3  
million project started, including two DOT grants to build a platform and depot  
restorations, as well as a federal Scenic Byways grant for planning and  
design.
 
However, the project has seen many delays. Officials have no clear timeline  
for finishing the project, but Ireland said he hopes to have Amtrak in place 
by  late next year.
 
City and Amtrak officials recently met with representatives of Klingner and  
Associates Inc., which is heading up engineering and architectural work, to  
discuss raising the building. More specifics, costs and the viability of the  
proposal should be known within a couple months, Ireland said.
 
If necessary, Ireland said he plans to apply for more federal grant dollars  
to help pay for the project.
 
Meanwhile, the historical society continues to empty, clean and gut the  
building.
 
Insurance officials estimated about $85,000 in flood damage was done to the  
three city train buildings in the care of the historical society, society  
president Michele Young said.
 
However, as a nonprofit organization with limited funding, the historical  
society had only minimal insurance coverage. Officials declined to state how  
much insurance coverage was on the buildings and the contents.
 
"We had flood insurance, but it is not nearly going to cover the building  
damage. We had a minimum amount of coverage for each building, and that was it.  
Flood insurance is expensive. So, we bought what we could afford, but we also 
 had only so much to spend," society vice president Dave Sallen said.
 
Sallen is handling the museum's Federal Emergency Management Agency  
applications for assistance. No estimate for the amount of FEMA reimbursement  was 
available.
 
"We're doing the best we can. The application is in process. Basically,  
we're doing what we need to be doing," Sallen said.
 
Museum officials plan to hold off on beginning restoration on the Santa Fe  
Depot while city officials finalize plans for the building, Young said.
 
"We want to coordinate efforts and make sure dollars are spent wisely in  the 
renovation," Ireland said.
 
In the meantime, the historical society will focus its efforts on restoring  
the Division Freight Office, which will become the museum's new home while  
renovations of the Santa Fe Depot take place, Young said.
 
Young said she hopes the museum will re-open by October. However, cleanup  
and restoration efforts have gone slower than expected due to a low volunteer  
numbers.
 
Several groups, including Boy Scout Troop 39 and the Central Park Youth  
Group, have provided volunteer help. However, the historical society is in  
desperate need of more volunteers to help with tasks such as polishing antiques,  
removing wood panels and doing paperwork, Young said.
 
"This is the time where we're really bare-bonesing it. We're in a position  
where we could really use the public's assistance to come forward and save our  
museum," Sallen said. "We have to look at our priorities and do we want to  
continue with our support for the history we have and pass it on to the  
future."
 
One bright spot in the museum's flood saga is few historical items received  
significant flood damage.
 
Only about 20 items were significantly damaged and will be removed from the  
historical society's catalog of artifacts. The items ranged from a pair of  
children's leather shoes to a circa 1857 baby grand piano, said site manager and 
 historical society member Andy Andrews. However, someone is considering  
restoring the piano.
 
By contrast, in 1993 about 190 items were lost to flooding.
 
Almost all the larger items that were unable to be moved out of the path of  
floodwater can be restored, Andrews said.
 
Historical society members are working hard to preserve its historical  items 
and planning means of protecting artifacts from future flooding, Young  said.



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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1761
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org