Preservation at its Best 2017, Commercial Small: Green & Main (Des Moines) The Northwest corner of 19th and Center Streets in the Sherman Hill Historic District has a history of mixed residential and commercial usage. Formerly known as the H&H Grocery Store, the two-story brick building contributed to the neighborhood’s designation as a National Historic… Read more »
2017 Preservation at its Best, Adaptive Reuse: Roosevelt School (Clinton) Constructed in 1888, the Clinton High School and Public Library (“Roosevelt School”) represented a landmark early investment in the burgeoning lumber center’s prosperity and commitment to education. It served the community for over a century as high school until 1922, an elementary school until 1974,… Read more »
Preservation at its Best 2017, Sustainability: Wonderbread Building / Single Speed Brewing (Waterloo) For those interested in the intersection of preservation and sustainability, it’s understood that Historic buildings contain a tremendous amount of embodied energy. For that reason, all historic preservation projects are sustainable. The Waterloo Wonder Bread building was built in 1928 and was… Read more »
Preservation at its Best 2017, Residential (Single Family): Kauffmann House (Iowa City) The Historic Levi Kauffman House at 304 South Summit in Iowa City was built in 1868 as an Anglo‐ Italianate Victorian house. Sitting on the prominent corner of Historic Summit Street and main thoroughfare Burlington Street, it is part of the Summit Street… Read more »
Preservation at its Best 2017, Rural Preservation: Reverend John Todd House (Tabor) While many other entities did important work on this preservation project, it was the Tabor Historical Society leadership team that solicited local funds, answered community members’ daily questions about the schedule, and continued to operate the museum through the years-long process of fundraising, planning, and implementing the project. They exemplify what… Read more »
Preservation at its Best 2017, Multi-Family Residential: Franklin Apartments (Des Moines) For many years, the property at 1811 6th Avenue seemed to be a forgotten set from a Hollywood horror movie. The hulking, vacant, deteriorating 6,000+ square foot converted mansion evoked a sense of unease and disregard. Cloaked by wildly growing bushes and trees, the… Read more »
Preservation at its Best 2017, Community Effort: Frankie House (Cedar Rapids) A Bohemian immigrant home destined for the landfill became a labor of love for Save Cedar Rapids Heritage, a young non-profit organization that works to preserve historic buildings through awareness and action. Built in 1894 by John Kuba, a Bohemian immigrant and railroad employee,… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2017 Most Endangered Buildings: Iowa State Penitentiary (Fort Madison, Lee County) The earliest portion of the Iowa State Penitentiary was constructed in ca. 1839 when Iowa was only a territory, with the Iowa State Penitentiary acting as a territorial prison most of a decade prior to Iowa’s statehood. The institution was potentially the… Read more »
The Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs announced that more than $32 million in historic preservation tax credits have been registered for 14 different projects in eight communities across the state for fiscal years 2016 and 2017. The State Historic Preservation and Cultural & Entertainment District Tax Credit program provides an income tax credit of up… Read more »
2016 Preservation at its Best, Public Building: Polk County Courthouse Designed by the Des Moines-based architectural firm of Proudfoot & Bird, the current Polk County courthouse was built in 1906. Constructed for $750,000 on the site of its 1858 predecessor, the Beaux-Arts style courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979…. Read more »
