Historic Soo Line depot dismantled in Portage, Wisconsin

By Michael Thompson
Daily Register
Over the past few months, volunteers have pulled out what they thought could be salvaged from the old Soo Line Depot on Superior Street in Portage. In caps and jeans and heavy coats, they wrapped up most of their work Monday afternoon in a final push before even colder weather sets in.
"He's one of our VIPs — volunteers in Portage," said Gil Meisgeier as he introduced Jerry Indermark of Portage.
"I thought I retired," Indermark said, jokingly.
Meisgeier and Indermark worked late Monday morning with Paul Madland, Larry Wilz, Neil Hurd, Ronnie Wendt, Fred Galley and Gary Mercer to take down the last bits of recoverable materials from the 1896 depot. Power tools, crowbars, sawhorses, buckets of nails and stacked boards edged the old depot, which was still standing despite gaping holes in its sides.
The depot sits on property owned by Meigs Paving, Asphalts & Emulsions in Portage. Meigs will tear down what's left of the building and use the space to expand its operations.

Read more about the depot and the fate of its salvagable parts at www.portagedailyregister.com.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• depot
• railroad
• history
• Soo Line
• Portage
• Wisconsin
• trains
• restoration
• dismantling
• demolition
• preservation
• Meigs

[AndrewNeilFalconer]

Can they build another building out of the lumber?

[pdrnews]

@AndrewNeilFalconer

Hi, Andrew. Most of the lumber was too old to be reused, but the group salvaged several parts, including beadboard panels, that might be used in a replica that might be built in Riverside Park in Portage, near the levee. We'll report more on it as news develops. -- Michael Thompson

[1xsooliner]

so why wasnt the entire building saved?