Sioux City - Milwaukee Railroad Historic Shops

Our second stop today brought us to Sioux City to talk about a new project that is happening thanks to I-JOBS.

The success of many Iowa communities 100 years ago depended upon the railroad, and Sioux City is no exception. This web of steel and wood connected towns on the prairie to points all across the country. And given Sioux City's place as an agricultural leader, much of our states cattle, hogs, and commodities that traveled by rail passed through the community.

Railroads built Iowa into what it is today, however, many of those railroads have passed into history, and left in their wake many relics.

In Sioux City, when the Milwaukee Road closed its operations, they left behind rail service shops. And over the years, those shops have fallen into disrepair, becoming a blight on the community.

However, that is all about to change. The City and County are working with the Siouxland Historic Railroad Association to restore the old Milwaukee Shops , and to help shed a little light on this piece of Iowa history.

But what is really unique about this project is that they are working with local schools to help show the importance of engineering to building a railroad. Building railroads was a very scientific process, and the project will become a laboratory where students young and old can learn all it takes to build a railroad.

This project is being made possible thanks to I-JOBS, and a $266,000 grant from the I-JOBS Community Attractions and Tourism Program. These dollars are already being put to good use. Just in the design phase, the jobs of 3 architects were retained thanks to this project, and in the end, they expect more than 30 people to be employed in the construction and restoration.

And they are moving fast. They expect to be cutting the ribbon by the end of the summer, and I hope to be there to celebrate the opening of this new attraction.

Well, we are on our way to the next stop in Onawa.

Until next time,

Patty