Preservation Iowa’s 2019 Most Endangered List: C. C. Wolf Mansion, Parkersburg (Butler County) The C.C. Wolf Mansion at 401 5th Street was built in 1895 for local banker and land speculator Charles C. Wolf and his wife Mary. Designed by architect Harry E. Netcott of Independence, this grand Richardsonian Romanesque style home sported copper gutters,… Read more »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: Gasser Block 918 Court Ave, Chariton (Lucas County) The Gasser Block constructed in 1875 is the oldest building on the south side of Chariton’s square and one of the largest. It also has the distinction of being one of only two 19th century structures on that part of the square… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: Beach Building, Ackley (Hardin County) Charles Beach, a local entrepreneur and Civil War veteran, constructed this property in 1892 to house a music store downstairs and his residence in the second-story. In 1902, the Beach Building was one of the few surviving structures of a downtown fire that devastated the… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: St. Mary’s School, Waterloo (Black Hawk County) In 1922 St. Mary Catholic Church and School opened on the east side of Waterloo where many immigrants had settled. Many children of immigrant families would be educated at St. Mary’s including the five Sullivan brothers who attended the school before losing their… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: Star Theater, Sioux Rapids (Buena Vista County) John A. Meadows and Sons built the Star Theater in 1913. The brick building, designed by Nichols & Brown, was meant to house both a moving picture theater and a new home for the Republican Press newspaper. The theater closed in 1946 when… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: Wilson High School, Cherokee (Cherokee County) This two-story former high School building at 100 E. Willow Street was constructed between 1915 and 1917. Built of brick and Bedford limestone in the Simplified Classical Revival Style, the structure was designed by Proudfoot, Bird, and Rawson of Des Moines who were well… Read more »
Preservation Iowa’s Most Endangered 2018: Carnegie Library, Rockwell City (Calhoun County) Completed in 1909 with city support and a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, this brick building served for 90 years as both the city library and community center. The structure hosted not only library patrons but also 4-H meetings, civic club meetings, fundraising luncheons,… Read more »
