Fort Madison, Iowa, railroad depot renovations to begin in spring
Written by jrood
Work to raise the historic Santa Fe Depot -- the first step in its renovation for use as an Amtrak Depot -- should begin this spring n Ft. Madison, Iowa, the Hawkeye reports. Mayor Steve Ireland has worked four years to make the project a reality, and hopes renovations will be complete by next spring.
The Amtrak depot will
share the building with the North Lee County Historical Society, which has
leased the depot from the city for more than 40 years.
The Amtrak depot now is
housed in a utilitarian building in an industrial area near the city wastewater
treatment plant. BNSF, which owns that building, would like to see Amtrak move
so it can use the space for offices.
Moving Amtrak would bring
the more than 8,000 travelers a year to the scenic Riverview Park and city
officials hope it will help increase traffic in the nearby downtown area.
The city still must work
out a new contract with Amtrak. Ireland said he does not see any issues with
getting that done.
Officials plan to elevate
the depot and adjacent freight office at a cost of $972,000; perform interior
renovations of the depot for $488,000; and construction of a passenger rail
platform for $1.84 million.
The buildings will be
raised more than four feet by constructing platforms. Doing so will protect the
city’s investment by raising the buildings a foot above the
500-year-floodplain. During record flooding last summer, 39 inches of
Mississippi River flowed through the Santa Fe depot.
The city has $3.2 million
lined up for the project, including a $1.38-million Transportation Enhancement
Grant from Iowa Department of Transportation; $173,395 from the city; $50,000
from BNSF; $100,000 from the Fort Madison Southeast Iowa Regional Riverboat
Commission; and a $1.13 million I-Jobs grant.
Also, Amtrak has
indicated it could contribute up to $150,000 to the project, Mayor Steve
Ireland said.
The Fort Madison City Council
approved two contracts and a contract amendment related to raising the depot. The
contract amendment adds the I-Jobs grant to the list of existing project grants
already being administered by Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission. The
original contract cost the city $12,500 to be paid in three installments. The
amendment adds an additional $10,000 to the cost.
The two contracts were
signed with Klingner & Associates for engineering and architectural
services. While engineering is mostly complete, the contracts are part of
paperwork required by the I-Jobs grant.
