2016 Preservation at its Best, Large Commercial: American Enterprise Group The American Republic Insurance Company building is an 8-story building located on the northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and Watson Powell Jr. Way in Des Moines. Designed in 1965 by one of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP’s legendary principal architects, Gordon Bunshaft. The American Republic… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: #6 Beyer Building on 4th Avenue (Grinnell, Poweshiek County) The Beyer building which resides along 4th Avenue and Broad Street carries a long history of banking and commercial draw. In 1881 Charles Beyer began banking in Grinnell. By 1883-1884 when the Beyer building was built, Beyer had created C.W.H. Beyer & Co…. Read more »
2015 Preservation at its Best, Sustainability in Preservation: Samuel Green Rowhouse–Norden Hall The Samuel Green Rowhouse–Norden Hall was located at 709 E. Locust Street, Des Moines, and occupied what was once a mid-block lot on the edge of the State of Iowa Capitol Grounds. This area was historically known as East Fort Des Moines. The… Read more »
2015 Preservation at its Best, Rural Preservation: Priester Building and Opera House Bloomfield has about 2600 residents and is the county seat of Davis County. A key defining characteristic of many rural communities is the courthouse square surrounded on all sides by small storefronts. Unfortunately, many communities have several missing buildings—even entire missing blocks–surrounding their… Read more »
2015 Preservation at its Best, Community Effort: Manning Downtown Revitalization Manning has an exceptional story because of the speed that they worked, the number of storefronts they were able to improve AND their ability to effectively navigate multiple preservation programs. The city established a Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) in 2008 and became a Main Street… Read more »
