[CBQ] Keokuk Depot Receives Grant

["Dave Lotz" <Dave_Lotz@bellsouth.net>]

CONTRIBUTIONS TO KEOKUK UNION DEPOT FOUNDATION EARN $275,000 GRANT FROM JEFFRIS FAMILY FOUNDATION

KEOKUK, IA JULY 10, 2023—Thanks to its many contributors who gave the final $103,000 needed between March 7, 2023 and June 30, 2023, the Keokuk Union Depot Foundation (“KUDF”) will receive a $275,000 matching grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation.  The total contributions to the current capital campaign satisfied the $550,000 required match toward the estimated $825,000 restoration of the Depot’s waiting room.  Every contribution that was made since June 19, 2020 was needed!

The Jeffris Family Foundation, based in Janesville, Wisconsin, focuses on the preservation and restoration of structures of significant historic and architectural value in small towns in the Midwest.  This is the second challenge grant made by the foundation to KUDF for restoration of the Keokuk Union Depot, the first having been toward restoration of the Depot’s roof, completed in 2018.  Tom Jeffris, President of the foundation, praised the second successful fundraising effort.  “For a city of its size, this is remarkable – about the best in the history of our foundation.”

The current waiting room project consists of restoration of the interior and exterior of the waiting room area, including 1) shoring up the building’s foundation to prevent deterioration of the structure, 2) repointing and cleaning the brick walls to restore the original color that was dramatically brighter before 132 years of accumulated grime, 3) improving the restroom facilities to better accommodate guests and provide wheelchair access, 4) reproducing the original marble and tile waiting room floor now covered up by terrazzo, 5) installing period lighting to highlight the cathedral ceiling and provide better visibility, and 6) restoring the trackside train canopy.

Restoration of the Depot’s unique turtleback trackside canopy was completed in 2022.  Restoration of the exterior masonry is in progress, with completion anticipated in the Fall of 2023.  Restoration of the interior masonry, floors and lighting, and improvements to the restrooms are scheduled for the Winter of 2024.

The waiting room restoration is also supported in part by a $50,000 grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa, Historical Resource Development Program, as well as grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Grace Bott Millar Charitable Foundation, Howard Jackson Family TrustFoundation, Lee County Charitable Fund and Keokuk Area Community Foundation.

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