Phase two of Osceola Depot restoration underway

Phase two of the Osceola Depot restoration including a historic brick sidewalk, granite stand and plaque, along with the large Osceola letters being redone, is underway.

Ann Diehl is Chairwoman of the Historic Preservation Commission and wrote a grant proposal for establishing the Friends of the Osceola Depot.

The Friends of the Osceola Depot is a not-for-profit organization formed to raise funds to assist the City of Osceola and it’s Historic Preservation Commission, in the planning, and implementation of projects consistent with historic preservation and restoration of the CB&Q Depot building and grounds, and any future operations including the historic preservation of the property. The park itself dates back to 1899.

In order for the Friends of the Osceola Depot to raise some of the money to work on the Depot, they used a piece of art the Clarke Area Arts Council had received from an artist years ago. Wendell Mohr is an Iowa artist who loved trains. After he gave a class in Osceola one year, he painted the Depot in watercolor as a thank you to the arts council for having him come to town.

Mohr has since passed so Diehl contacted his daughter for permission to make copies of the painting and sell them in a raffle. Once permission was obtained and copies were made, the sale helped the Depot and park restorations cause.

As the inside of the Depot was being finished, the park to the north, named The Fred and Ann Diehl Depot Plaza, was started on. Rick Eddy drew up plans for the park which are set in three phases. Phase two was originally scheduled to be done in March of 2017 but many complications, such as weather and lack of an extra worker, slowed progress back to March of 2018.

Phase two started with Eddy doing landscape work around the park. There were drainage issues so he had to do dirt work to put drainage tiles down. As he was moving dirt he came across a stretch of old brick buried 6 inches below the ground.

The brick pavers were old, from the early 1900s. The more dirt that was removed, the more of the sidewalk they found. The name on the bricks was Purington, from The Purington Brickyards, established in 1890.

The Friends of the Osceola Depot were granted a Pillar’s Grant through Chamber Main Street. The sidewalk restoration took $10,000.

“The Friends of the Osceola Depot want to thank CCDC for their generous contribution to this project,” said Diehl.

The two-year phase two project resulted in a redone historic sidewalk. The sidewalk has many layers to it. At the bottom, there is a fabric under layer, then crushed rock was added. Sand was poured over the top of the rock and then the bricks were laid. Between each brick are tiny beads holding them together. The beads, as well as all the layers beneath the brick, allow for movement of the ground so the sidewalk will be more sustainable.

“It was a very labor intensive, very long deal,” said Diehl.

The park also boasts a granite stand with the Fed and Ann Diehl Depot Plaza plaque on it in honor of all the work the couple put into the Depot and the park. The plaque was a gift to the Diehls from the City of Osceola.

“When I was a little girl, this place was all empty with a couple big trees, but they had some picnic tables over there. I remember on the Fourth of July we’d come down for the downtown festivities and then we would eat a sack lunch with our folks over in that park somewhere. So I kind of have a soft spot in my heart for the park,” said Diehl.

Other work in phase two was the big Osceola letters on the east end of the park. Best viewed from a train, there are large concrete letters that spell out Osceola on the ground in the park. The letter area was originally filled with gravel. During phase two, Eddy removed the gravel, cleaned up the letters and used the same tiny beads from the sidewalk to fill in the letters. That is the first thing the 12,000 annual Amtrak riders see as they come into town.

“This whole park got started by a bunch of women. They thought their husbands weren’t doing enough to beautify the town. They were told that if they wanted it beautified to go and do it themselves, so they did,” said Diehl.

The work of those women from 1899 is not finished today. The Friends of the Osceola Depot work with other community organizations to preserve its history and beautify the space for the town and all the visitors who travel by rail.