The latest phase of the ongoing restoration of Keokuk’s former train station is underway.
Hickey Contracting Co. in Keokuk has cleared the flooring inside and is preparing to install new floors.
Janet Smith, President of the Keokuk Union Depot Foundation, said the new floors will be a reproduction of the marble and tile flooring that once graced the 19th century building.
“The flooring is a reproduction of what was there originally and was covered up by terrazzo in about 1950. We couldn't salvage the original,” Smith said.
“We have a few pieces that led us to find marble and tile that almost exactly matches the original.”
Smith said the contractor is currently laying radiant heat pipes that will go beneath the new floors. The cement will need four to six weeks to cure once it’s poured, and then the marble and tile flooring will be put down.
The Keokuk Union Depot Foundation is the organization that has worked to fundraise and promote the former train station’s restoration.
It has raised $550,000 for the floor work, and the Jeffris Family Foundation contributed a $275,000 grant.
This funding has also helped renovate the masonry at the depot’s waiting room and upgrade the restrooms and will also go toward installing new chandeliers.
“I think everybody who uses the depot will be grateful for that and we're also upgrading the heating and AC systems as well,” Smith said.
Reconstruction of the depot’s roof was completed in 2018, and the turtleback-style trackside canopy was renovated in 2022.
The Jeffris Family Foundation, which is dedicated to restoration projects in the Midwest, has been donating money toward the Keokuk project since the work began a decade ago.
Smith said the Keokuk Union Depot Foundation anticipates completing the project within the next five years.
“We're almost two-thirds completed,” she said. “We started this restoration in 2014, and it was originally scheduled to be a 15-plus year plan. So, I would say we're basically on track.”
The train station was built in 1890 and 1891 and opened in 1891.
Passenger service ended in 1967.
The city of Keokuk has owned the building since 2011.
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