Editor's Note: Diane's Kitchen is not a cooking show but a chat in our kitchen with people of interest hosted by Diane Dryden. We’ll drink coffee and discuss what's going on in the neighborhood.
SPOONER, WI -- This week on Diane’s Kitchen, Diane chats with Terri Reiter from the Spooner Railroad Park on the exciting revamping plans for the railroad roundhouse and how it soon to be famous.
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Railroad Park Press Release
(Press Release) -- The Railroad Park Board (RPB) and the Friends of the Railroad Park (FORRP) wish to thank our community for our many blessings. Through many helping hands, a tremendous amount of work has been accomplished. This past Spring, students and the instructor from the Architectural Commercial Design program from WITC saved us a lot of money by providing roundhouse measurements and a Revit online file to the DBS Group architect firm we hired. DBS Group delivered a roundhouse site plan, floor plan, exterior 3-D Fly-Around and Interior 3-D Fly-Through, cost estimates, and 4 large-scale color presentation boards. The beautiful presentation boards are on display at City Hall, so please stop and view them!
The YouTube movie sites are as follows:
Exterior: https://youtu.be/CPL3Nhbn_Xw
Interior: https://youtu.be/lhBfgpbrEbE
The process of developing the plan was completed with the help of community members: Blain Churchill, Jerry Thompson, and Vic Sacco.
During the summer, Jacene and Curt Silvis, Jim Halverson, and youth groups and their leaders from St. Francis De Sales and Spooner Wesleyan Church provided their time and efforts landscaping. They thinned out trees and brush, and cleared the grove from debris. The City crew bulldozed the remaining stumps and provided a picnic table. The historic weigh station became visible, and Board members Brad Patchin and Del Salquist cleaned, installed a new roof, and stabilized it for the winter. Mary Kasten developed a landscaping plan for the entire park, which the RPB’s Beautification Subcommittee adopted and refined. The committee is excited to implement the plans in Spring 2020.
The first of 5 signs describing the historic sites crucial to train operation has been placed to the southwest of the roundhouse. It is an amazing feature! Mike Macone, Pete Hedlund of Potters Shed created the sign, and Fred Kosmach, Del Salquist, and Brad Patchin installed it. The rest will be installed after checking out the effect the winter weather has on the sign. A large donation from an anonymous donor as well as $5,000 coming from the Spooner/Trego Lions has made it possible to build a new railroad-themed picnic pavilion. Construction of the pavilion is slated for next March 2020 with the concrete slab shortly after. The anonymous donor also provided the gravel base parking lot.
The progress we have already made would not have been possible without the many helping hands. We are making headway, but we need your help for 2020. Some of our upcoming projects include: planting trees, bushes, flowers, plants, seeding, fill and top soil for berm and grass; trim work, painting, and plexiglass windows for public viewing of the scale inside the weigh station; installing four more signs; moving the volleyball courts, and possibly starting a playground.
FORRP is humbly asking for donations of both time and money. We are striving to make this a beautiful, welcoming site for all to enjoy. Thank you.
Spooner Railroad Park Donation Levels:
- Gandy Dancer-<$250: Recognition on website
- Engineer-$250-$999: Recognition on website and 4x8 recognition brick
- Conductor-$1,000-$4,999: Logo & recognition on website and 8x8 recognition brick
- Yard Master-$5,000+: Logo & recognition on website, 8x8 recognition brick, a tree or bench
- Donations can be mailed to: Friends of the Railroad Park (FORRP), PO Box 548, Spooner, WI 54801.
Please call if you ever have any questions reach out to Terri Reiter, Chair of at 715-416-2995. Blessings to you and I thank you again for your incredible generosity.
Last Update: Dec 19, 2019 9:02 am CST
