1992 Restoration

Morrison Knudsen Company acted as general contractor for the restoration of the Depot in 1992, 99% of which was subcontracted to Ada County suppliers and subcontractors, all of them small businesses.  Twenty prime subcontractors were used, which in turn used 27 sub-subcontractors and 55 suppliers.  As many as 120 workers were on-site at any one time.

Restoration work was based upon the original plans that came with the building, plus study of old records at the Union Pacific headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska.

Tower

Prior to the restoration, the tower had never been accessible to visitors.  A nine-person elevator and supplementary stairway were installed, which permits access to one of the best views in the Treasure Valley.

The work required 22 cubic yards of concrete, much of it for the mat for the tower stairway and elevator, and for pads in the (new) basement for heating and air conditioning units.  The former waiting room now called the Great Hall - had never before been air conditioned, but a new system of museum quality was installed so that the building could be used for art displays, which must be protected from climatic changes.

Tower Clock

The chime mechanism for the tower clock was no longer operable.  The original clock was rebuilt and the chime was restored.

Exterior

All of the buildings 16,000 exterior roofing tiles were removed so they could be stripped, cleaned and reinstalled (12,000 to 13,000 of them) or replaced as needed.  What was once the baggage and traffic offices was last roofed in 1950 with an inferior tile that had to be replaced with a reproduction of the original.

The original paving bricks were 4x 8, a size not now commercially available.  Damaged bricks near the building were replaced by others of the original ones, that were located and removed from further away.  All 45,000 of the original bricks were pulled up, cleaned and, if not broken, reinstalled.

The exterior doors of the building had to be replaced.  Because doors today are much thinner than the three-inch-thick originals, custom-built new three-inch doors to match the originals were made.  That meant that the hardware for the doors had to be custom-built, as well, because those commercially available now would not fit doors that thick.

All of the buildings exterior wood windows were removed and restored, and many pieces had to be milled here in Boise, to match the original ones.  Some old and worn but serviceable wood was left in place, to minimize the removal of historic fabric.

The original copper gutters, down spouts and roofing had been damaged, destroyed or removed.  The copper work was replicated in its entirety.

Amtrak Entrance

The restoration required 140,000 pounds of sandstone, called Boise sandstone, mostly for the new entrance for the Amtrak part of the building.  Boise sandstone, which is not available anywhere else, comes from the area of the original quarry, near the Old Penitentiary, and is the same as that originally used in the building.

Most likely in the 1950s, the doors on what was once the baggage room were removed.  Old photos disclosed that the doors had corner guards made of cast iron, to protect the doors from baggage and baggage carts.  For the new baggage doors 40,000 pounds of cast iron replicas of the corner guards was forged to match the originals.

Great Hall

Spanish trusses and rafters in the Great Hall have been carefully restored.  On each truss is a design with special meaning; at each end is a primitive locomotive, in the center, a double-end car, and between the two ends are two old-time coaches.

The original colorful trim high on the walls of the Great Hall was replicated in the original colors of blue, vermilion, and yellow.  For many years, the beautiful Spanish colors of the trim and walls had been covered by what many would call hospital green paint.

An extraordinary feature of the Great Hall is the Barkalow Brothers newsstand, which was present when the depot opened in 1925.   After the newsstand closed in 1962 because of the declining number of rail passengers, it was covered by a false wall, and remained concealed until the restoration began.   Because of its having been protected by that false wall, it survived the years in unexpectedly good condition.  The newsstand is a rare, irreplaceable treasure.

The buildings total square footage is about 15,500 of which 6,500 is in the Great Hall.  The Great Hall is available to rent for receptions, dinners and meetings.  Amtrak used approximately 2,200 square feet and commercial offices occupy about 5,500 square feet.

New Lighting

The original lights in the former waiting room could not be dimmed to save energy so 250 Beacon Light Bulb Boss dimmers, made by a local company, were installed.

At some time in the past, apparently about 1940, the exterior lights had been removed from the alcoves by the former waiting room, although old photos showed that such lights had been there originally.  The original lights, as closely as possible, were based on those old photos.

Water Supply

The water supply for the property did not meet todays requirements for fire protection and for the city-owned park in front of the building.  A 150-foot well was installed which will serve both purposes.