(The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil posted the following story by Tim Rohwer on its website on February 11.)
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Diane Herzog worked for 24 years in the former Carnegie Library at Pearl Street and Willow Avenue and knew the building “intimately,” she said.
Recently, she toured the building, which has been renovated for the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, and couldn’t believe how it looks now.
“I walked into the main area in the rotunda and my jaw dropped and I said, ‘Oh, wow,'” she said. “It’s incredibly beautiful.”
On Friday, some U.P. officials toured the building, and one was also heard saying, “It’s beautiful.”
This Thursday, the public will be able to view just how much this Council Bluffs landmark has been transformed as later this year it becomes the permanent home for a world-famous museum.
“People will be bowled over when they see it,” Herzog said. “It’s stunning.”
The public viewing will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Cost is $25 per person and includes a cocktail reception, hors d’oeuvres and remarks by Mayor Tom Hanafan, officials from the railroad and the architectural firm of Alley Poyner, plus Mildred Smock, the longtime head librarian at the Carnegie. Joe Kenefick, retired chairman of the railroad, may also attend.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate the end of renovation,” said Brenda Mainwaring, director of corporate relations for U.P.
Thursday’s event will allow the public to see everything that’s been done before the displays are set up, she said.
Mainwaring is also a member of the group that oversaw the fund raising to turn the library into a museum. When it began, the group was known as the Friends of the Carnegie Cultural Museum. Now, it’s known as the Friends of the Union Pacific Museum, which is helping to host the event with Harrah’s Casino, which is providing the food and drink, she said.
Mainwaring has followed the renovation efforts from the beginning, and her reaction to the finished design sounds rather familiar.
“It’s beautiful,” she said.
She praised the renovation work of Alley Poyner, the construction firm of Lund-Ross and Dennis Kuhlmann, the city’s building maintenance superintendent.
“What they created is far beyond my imagination,” she said.
The proceeds from this event will go toward the hiring of a coordinator who will oversee the hundreds of volunteers needed to staff the museum, Mainwaring said.
The grand opening for the museum is set for May 10, she said.