Depot seeks new volunteers to help restore state’s third-largest depot

Stephanie Knoppe’s goals as president of the Poplar Bluff Historic Depot Restoration Corporation are more volunteers, increased fundraising and the return of a Train Days event.

Knoppe envisions the depot “completely done from north to south and upstairs,” and returning to its historical past with original fixtures like the slat walls dividing the toilets, original tile on the floors and glass in the doors.

Knoppe plans to work with outgoing president Jim Chrisman, who led the group for 11 years after the corporation was formed and received ownership of the depot from Union Pacific Railroad.

Other officers are Sharon Fraser, secretary and treasurer, and David Johnson, vice president. Board members include Don Epps, Butch Anderson, Adam Sobas, Marge Van Praag, Nila Keller, Chrisman, Kenny Clanahan and Dr. Subhash Gujarati. There are about 10 general members.

The local station is the third largest depot in the state. The larger ones are in St. Louis and Kansas City, said Chrisman.

Knoppe is a member of the Downtown Poplar Bluff board. A real estate agent, she is an active member of the Twin Rivers High School booster club and middle school booster club.

Directing the all-volunteer organization, Knoppe realizes, “there are lots of things we can do. Everyone has to work together.”

While the board and volunteers are not afraid of work, one of the original group stressed, “our main problem is all of our volunteers are getting old and worn out. We need some young, fresh blood.”

Johnson said, “there’s been a lot of people to help work on this. Our main problem, I get so upset with, is vandalism.”

Johnson installed heat and air conditioning in the waiting room and “vandals cut the cord off the air conditioner and stole the copper,” he said.

The group’s wish list includes a better security system, but since Amtrak no longer uses the waiting room, Chrisman said, “We’ve not had as many problems.”

The waiting room used to be open all night, and it invited people that had no business being here, Chrisman said.

Knoppe is looking for volunteers with ties to the railroad or someone who loves history and wants to donate time.

“Whenever I say donate time, I’m not talking about coming for meetings,” she explained. “I’m talking about actual physical labor. We’ll take any volunteer who wants to help, but we’d like to get someone who’s got experience.”

Another person said, “nobody is a paid employee. I’m really proud all of our work has been volunteer, other than hiring a plumber or some specialized service.”

Knoppe explained they are in the process of writing a grant targeted at paying for new floor joists and work to the internal historic staircase in the north end.

“Hopefully, we’ll know soon about the grant,” Knoppe said. “That will definitely give us a major jump-start on the work.”

Everyone chimed in agreement when Knoppe said, “We need money.”

All the work, according to Chrisman “takes time and money.”

Insurance and parking lot rent, which is paid to Union Pacific, are two major expenses.

The money raised comes in handy when the insurance needs to be paid.

Chrisman recalled, “we had to pass the hat last fall to pay the insurance on the building. We’re a little better off today. We’re trying to keep it that way.”

The most noticeable depot projects are the new roof and the stairway, said Chrisman, who pointed out, “there has been a lot of other work done, but it’s not as noticeable.”

The roof and the steps were accomplished with grant funds.

Work also is being done on the platform that goes to the basement, so the volunteers will not have to go up and down a ladder.

Efforts to keep funds available include various projects.

Knoppe said, “Jim is running rummage sales every Friday and Saturday that will go until May. In May, we’re calling it done.”

Knoppe said, the group’s dinner auction last year “went over extremely well, even in the middle of COVID.”

“We had a pretty good turnout with 60-something people,” she said. “It was one of our biggest projects.”

While the Cajun crawfish meal was successful, this year’s menu will be an Italian spread.

Knoppe has spoken “with other non profits and we’re trying to come up with events where we can team up. A lot of nonprofits are smaller numbers as well. If we can all work together for one big event and split the profits, we’re much further ahead than trying to do something on our own. We have some interest to team up.”

The organization is having a website designed and linked to its Facebook page. There will be a place to make either a one-time or monthly donations.

Knoppe said, future plans include internet, Google Workspace and small offices to be rented in the building.

The 501(c)(3) organization is changing its meeting time to 1 p.m. the third Wednesday of the month at the depot to try to make it a little bit more convenient, Knoppe said.