Funds Desperately Needed To Repair Rock Island Depot Roof

By Gordon HopkinsAlan Dux and Bill Harris of the Jefferson County Historical Society (JCHS) gave an update to Jefferson County Commissioners at a meeting on Tuesday, November 23, regarding the need for a new roof for the historic Rock Island Railroad Depot Museum. Recent examinations of the roof indicate the Depot roof is leaking and will need to be replaced soon before more serious damage can occur inside the building.A bid for $259,357 (not including tax) came from Precision Construction and Roofing, a company based out California but provides services all across the country.“That bid was completely new material new, everything done,” said Dux. “And she is going to write up a different estimate. If we took the old tile off, put all new underlayment and then just replaced the broken tiles, she’s going to try to come up with a bid on that, which, that’s going to be real hard until you know how many are cracked.”Dux added, “We just spent thousands to have the whole interior repainted.”Commissioners expressed a desire to see bids from local contractors. However, Dux indicated there has been little interest, locally. Dux said he reached out to one local contractor, “When we contacted them about fixing the roof, they had no interest at all.”Dux said he was called by a number of potential contractors, but none ever followed through, “Once the quarter-of-a-million dollar bid hit the paper, everybody wanted a piece of the pie.”Dux said, “The outfit out of California is the only one that’s given us a true bid.”The primary issue now is funding. Dux said, “The latest on the Peter Kiewit grant is, we’re at phase three. We have matching money set aside, it was either $40,000 or $50,000. One lady donated most of that. So we have matching money.”“I don’t know how many phases there are,” said Dux. “We asked for $200,000 from them. But, you know, what you asked for and what you get are two different things.”The Peter Kiewit Foundation has asked what other funding sources JCHS has available. County Commissioner Mark Schoenrock asked, “If we had more money there that we can put for it for a match, would we presumably get more from them to match, or does it not work that way?”Dux said, “I don’t know.”Another building that JCHS takes care of illustrates the dangers of allowing a damaged roof to go unchecked for long. Schoenrock asked about the old Steele City Schoolhouse. Dux said, “That building is beyond saving now, Mark. The Village of Steel City apparently didn’t want it. They never got back to us. So now the roof’s caving in. We’re trying to salvage what we can out of it to help pay for the depot roof now.”Harris added, “It’s really not even safe to be in anymore.”Schoenrock said, “I think we all share this priority about the Depot, because that is a very precious asset. Not to many communities have got something like that.”The Historical Society is now looking into possible fund-raising avenues and is accepting donations from the public.

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