Keokuk Union Depot Foundation Receives $50,000 Historic Preservation Grant

Keokuk Union Depot Foundation Receives $50,000 Historic Preservation Grant

Keokuk, Iowa, August 11, 2022—The Keokuk Union Depot Foundation has received a $50,000 grant
toward restoration of the exterior masonry of the Depot’s waiting room section. The Iowa Department of
Cultural Affairs announced this award as one of 10 historic preservation grants awarded for fiscal year
2023 through the State Historical Society of Iowa’s Historical Resource Development Program
(“HRDP”).
The estimated $258,000 project addresses structural issues and will return the exterior masonry to the
original color scheme of the 1891 Keokuk Union Depot designed by the renowned Chicago architectural
firm Burnham & Root. All sandstone windowsills and water table capstones will be restored or replaced.
The deteriorated below-grade sandstone mudsill will be replaced with more durable and less porous
reddish-brown granite and damp proof flashing to stop rising damp and preserve the brick water table
walls. The brick walls will be repointed or reconstructed where necessary and cleaned. The decorative
terra cotta floral lintels surrounding several doors and windows will be restored and cleaned.
The HRDP waiting room exterior masonry project is a component of the 2020 Jeffris Family Foundation
Challenge Grant Capital Campaign which will also restore the trackside canopy, reconstruct the original
marble and tile waiting room floor, restore deteriorated interior waiting room masonry, install period
lighting, and improve restroom facilities. Donations through June 30, 2023 to KUDF, P.O. Box 463,
Keokuk, IA 52632 qualify to earn the $275,000 Jeffris match toward the $825,000 capital campaign.
Through July 2022, approximately 200 donors have contributed a total of $310,178 toward the $550,000
matching funds required to earn the Jeffris grant.
The waiting room exterior masonry project will be carried out in parallel with the similar exterior
masonry restoration project on the Depot’s central tower section that is the subject of a 2021 Rural
Heritage Revitalization grant awarded to the City of Keokuk through the National Park Service and
administered by the State Historical Society of Iowa. Once both projects are completed, two-thirds of the
Depot’s exterior masonry will have been restored.