Historic Tax Credit bill passes House [Updated: 4/22/2016] Info below from the Iowa Bankers Association, weekly update: Historic tax credit bill passes Iowa Senate committee HF 2443 passed the Iowa Senate week with an unfavorable amendment. The bill helps deal with several Department of Economic Development programs including important changes to the Historic Tax Credit program…. Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: Troy Academy (Troy, Davis County) Troy Academy was one of the first academies in Iowa when it was constructed in 1850. Clarence Ray Aurner, who published “History in Education in Iowa in 1915” indicates that Troy was probably the first private school to assume the name “Normal”. This perhaps reflected an effort by… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: Herring Hotel (Belle Plaine, Benton Co.) The Herring Hotel was built in 1900 and expanded to 3 stories in 1912. An addition was added in 1922. It was listed on the National Register in 2008. Dubbed as “The Swellest Little Hotel in Iowa” it was popular for both prominent and common guests…. 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 »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: First Baptist Church (Grundy Center, Grundy County) The First Baptist Church was built in 1918. The building was a grand statement to the First Baptist Church community, which had lost its previous church building to a fire on December 20, 1917. Within 13 months this structure was built and in use without… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: Iowa State Penitentiary (Fort Madison, Lee County) More information at the Department of Cultural Resources website. The earliest portion of the Iowa State Penitentiary was constructed in c. 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… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: St. Patrick Church (Fairfax, Linn County) The history of St. Patrick parish in Fairfax begins in the late 1850’s. As the first Catholic families settled in the Fairfax community, they traveled to the nearest church which was in Iowa City. Later Mass was celebrated in Fairfax homes by the priest… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s 2016 Most Endangered Buildings: Reimann-Schoeneman House (Hull, Sioux County) The Reimann-Schoeneman House is locally historically significant due to its association with Edward Herman Reimann and his wife, Nannie Schoeneman and their philanthropic and commercial development with Iowa State Bank and Schoeneman Lumber Company in Iowa and the Midwest. The property is also significant… 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, Residential: Plymouth Place When it was built, the 1968 building design was unlike anything Des Moines had ever seen. The tall, concrete cylinder was inspired by the progressive philosophy of Le Corbusier and by the forms of Bertrand Goldberg’s Marina City. The Des Moines housing tower was also a function… Read more »
