Preservation Iowa is pleased to announce the 2018 Preservation at Its Best award winners! A heartfelt thank you goes to each and every person who poured their time, energy, and of course money into bringing a historic Iowa building back from the brink. This year’s projects represent a broad cross section of uses from around the state – from individual homes to large commercial adaptive reuse.
Mack International Motor Corp. Building
Preservation at its Best 2018, Adaptive Reuse: Mack-International Motor Truck Corp. Building (Des Moines) The Mack-International Motor Truck Corp. Building was constructed in 1924 by master builder and general contractor J.E. Lovejoy as a Mack branch sales and service center, with second-floor offices for use by Lovejoy and other tenants. Annexes where built in about 1931 and 1940. The building… Read more »
Kendall Building
Preservation at its Best 2018, Small Commercial: Kendall Building (Jefferson) The Kendall Building at 111 E Lincoln Way was built in 1916 after the preceding framed building burned. The current structure is a two-story Prairie/Craftsman style with 1,122 sq ft. in the original build. Kendall’s Pool Room featured a front smoking room and seven billiard tables which… Read more »
Pitt Carriage Building
Preservation at its Best 2018, Small/Medium Commercial: Pitt Carriage Building (Des Moines) Built in 1909, the Pitt Carriage Co. Building, 212 E. Third Street, Des Moines, is located in the heart of the East Side Industrial, Warehousing, and Railroad Historic District. The Pitt Carriage Co. Building made a locally significant contribution to Des Moines history as a… Read more »
Hotel Grinnell
Preservation at its Best 2018, Large Commercial: Hotel Grinnell (Grinnell) Hotel Grinnell is a 45-room boutique hotel that includes a 300 seat ballroom, a 450 seat auditorium, a lobby bar and outdoor patio. The project is an adaptive reuse of the city’s 1921 Junior High School in the center of downtown Grinnell. The school was abandoned by the school district and gifted to the… Read more »
Bricker-Price Block
Preservation at its Best 2018, Community Effort: Bricker-Price Block (Erlham) Preservation, at its core, is a community-minded endeavor because its purpose is to protect a community’s identity and reinforce its sense of place. Sometimes a preservation project requires an extraordinary community effort. Cephas D. Bricker and Walter J. Price began construction on what would become known as… Read more »
Francis Apartments
Preservation at its Best 2018, Multifamily Residential: Francis Apartments (Dubuque) The Francis Apartments is one of 4 former St. Mary’s parish buildings. These buildings include the church, rectory, convent and the school. The parish closed in May of 2010, leaving 3 of the buildings vacant. The convent, which was acquired in the early 2000s, was a transitional home for… Read more »
Francis G. and Clara L. Moffett Cottage
Preservation at its Best 2018, Single-Family Residential: Moffett Cottage (Des Moines) The Moffett Cottage was built c. 1894 by an un-determined builder or owner, however it is associated with F. G. Moffett. Moffett was a civil war veteran and was appointed Chief Clerk of the U.S. Pension office in 1890 serving until 1894. The cottage is a contributing… Read more »
Walnut Facade Rehabilitation Project
Preservation at its Best 2018, Rural Preservation: Walnut Facade Rehabilitation Project (Walnut) Walnut, Iowa is a town in western Iowa about an hour from Des Moines and about an hour from Omaha. A recent survey identified a potential historic district that may include 44 structures with 30 determined to be contributing—for a town with a population of 785, that’s remarkable. Walnut was awarded CDBG Downtown… Read more »
Catholic Pastoral Center
Preservation at its Best 2018, Sustainability: Catholic Pastoral Center (Des Moines) After a nationwide search, Home Federal Savings & Loan leaders selected the modernist master architect, Mies van der Rohe to design the their bank. Mies’ 1962 design for the Home Federal building sets it back from the busy street corner to create a granite-paved open plaza. The tinted glass curtain wall suspends on black steel columns over a… Read more »
2018 Martha Hayes Award
Preservation at its Best 2018, Martha Hayes Award: Ruth Ann Van Donselar (Individual), Save Cedar Rapids Heritage (Group) This year, judges selected an individual and group for the Martha Hayes Preservationist of the Year award. Both have tenacity and both are deserving, but each earned this award using different methods. Individual – Ruth Ann Van Donselar Ruth Ann attended… Read more »
