The Iowa Preservationist Summer 2008 Volume 18 Issue 3 2008’s Storms Wreak Havoc on Historic Properties Inside this Issue IHPA on the Ground Assisting Property Owners 2008’s Storms Wreak The storms and floods of 2008 are cemetery preservation consultant, who Havoc on Historic by any measure the worst in Iowa’s his- also worked on the cemetery. And, in July Properties.................................. 1tory. Over 80 of Iowa’s 99 counties were the IHPA participated in a workshop on given a Presidential disaster declaration. how to how to save and re-build your News from the Co-Chairs... 2 We survived tornadoes, strong winds, and historic building. The workshop was pre- Spot on SHPO........................... 3floods—and we are still here. We are liv- sented twice in one day in Cedar Rapids ing in a historic moment that none of us and was organized by the Cedar Rapids IHPA Meets with FEMA’s would desire, but we all have to live Historic Preservation Commission, the Cultural Resource Team...... 4 through and recover from together. His- National Trust for Historic Preservation, Flooding Doesn’t Spare toric preservation will be a valuable part the DCA’s State Historic Preservation Main Street Iowa of our state recovery, because it involves Office, and the Trust’s only Iowa historic Communities............................ 5 workforce employment and saving the site, Brucemore. Preservation at Its Best .......6 architectural fabric that is so inter- twined with who we are as a state. 2008 Most Endangered Also, we must remind everyone Call for Nominations............ 7 that rebuilding and rehabilitation is IHPA Honors One-Room the most sustainable solution be- School Exhibits at State cause the greenest building is the History Day Competition.... 8 one already there. The Iowa Historic Preserva- Annual Country School tion Alliance and its state partners, Conference................................ 8 the Iowa Department of Cultural One-Room School ABC Affairs (DCA) and the Iowa De- Booklet Available................... 8 partment of Economic Develop- Barn and Agricultural ment (IDED) have been burning Preservation............................. 9 the candle at both ends for over two months now since the disas- Calendar.................................. 10 ters started. IHPA assisted IDED IHPA Board member Rod Scott with Czech Village Notice of Annual Meeting and DCA with city and site dam- business and building owners. Photo courtesy for IHPA Membership........ 11 age assessments in order to try to Rod Scott. get a handle on the breadth and Iowa Statewide depth of damage to historic properties The IHPA needed a presence in our Preservation Conference.. 11 and communities statewide. most damaged and second largest city. Membership Form............... 11 IHPA also partnered with Silos and The Board of Directors authorized mile- Smokestacks National Heritage Area to age and a food allowance per trip for fel- Take Action! Update........... 12 fund a timber frame structural assessment low board member and flood repair con- of three enormous mill structures that tractor, Rod Scott, to work directly with were affected by flooding. In New Hart- the citizens and City of Cedar Rapids to ford, where a historic cemetery was dev- organize historic neighborhood associa- astated by a gigantic F5 tornado in May, tions and the historic commercial centers we assisted by facilitating free consulting of New Bohemia and the Czech Village. services from ISU Professor and ceme- The results of this five-week effort of tery expert Heidi Hohmann. We also hosted David Via, a nationally renowned Continued on page 4 A Publication of the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance ©2008 Building Partnerships for Historic Preservation The Iowa Preservationist News from the Co-Chairs Board of Directors What a summer it was!! If we didn’t get blown away, we were washed away, and a few communities were dealt with both forces of nature. Rose Rohr, Co-Chair Several members of the IHPA have been very busy working with the disaster relief Anamosa teams in the state. We have been very fortunate to partner with several other historic George Wakeman, Co-Chair preservation organizations, cultural organizations, and even some corporations to make Sioux City the best of a horrible situation. We are finding the IHPA and other organizations are much stronger and have a Sheriffa Jones, Secretary clearer voice when we collaborate. We are having success working and teaming with Spencer agencies that may not have historic preservation as their primary charter. When groups Martha Hayes, Treasurer of individuals with differing agendas all look at the same issue from different perspec- Mt. Pleasant tives, it is amazing how we can affect change in much grander ways than we all could independently. One last note: please plan on attending the Iowa Statewide Preservation Conference Jim Boyt in Sioux City the 19th and 20th of September. There are great speakers scheduled and Des Moines there will be great sessions on historic preservation. Abigail Gaffey Thank you again for being a member of the IHPA! Sioux City Contributed by George Wakeman Michael Kramme Washington Rod Scott Iowa Falls Bill Sherman Des Moines Michael Wagler Ankeny Barbara Mitchell, Ex Officio State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines Jennifer Sandy, Ex Officio National Trust for Historic Preservation, Chicago Flood recovery at the JG Cherry Building in the New Bohemia Commercial Historic District, Cedar Rapids (Photo courtesy Rod Scott) A Note from the Communications Committee “The Iowa Preservationist” Disaster Recovery Issue of The Iowa Preservationist is published quarterly as a This issue of The Iowa Preservationist is full of information on IHPA’s efforts to assist benefit to members of in disaster recovery throughout the state. Additional information can also be found on- IHPA, a 501(c)(3) line at the IHPA website: www.iowapreservation.org. If you have 2008 disaster recovery organization. information to share, please submit it to [email protected]. IHPA Due to delays in getting this issue out to you, our next issue will be right on its heels. 17718 120th Street In the coming months, be sure to watch your mailbox for a recap of our annual meeting, Anamosa, Iowa 52205 the statewide historic preservation conference, and the country schools conference! 319.462.3806 Page 2 Volume 18, Issue 3—Summer 2008 Spot on SHPO News from the State Historic Preservation Office Recent Actions on the For the last 15 years, every drop of rain that has fallen in Iowa has been compared National Register of to the Floods of ‘93. My memory of that disaster is limited to a single day: I was a stu- Historic Places dent at Iowa State and I remember studying for a test, only to have it cancelled when the campus was closed. People around me with family in Iowa were affected; my friends Foster Park Historic working in Des Moines were affected; I now know historic buildings were affected, too. District, Le Mars, Plymouth But I was an architecture student with no other connection to Iowa, and my preserva- County. Listed 04/25/2008. tion ethic was not yet well-defined, so none of it really meant much to me. Little did the Grocers Wholesale naïve student know what such a disaster could do to lives, property, and community. Company Building, Des We’re all still struggling to comprehend the “Floods of 2008.” First, the “Floods of Moines, Polk County. Listed 2008” weren’t just floods. The relentless rain from April through June and into July, the 04/25/2008. tornadoes, straight-line winds, storm sewer backups, and the river flooding are all dis- Community Building, cussed collectively as the “Floods of 2008” in the mainstream media. Historic properties Princeton, Scott County. across the state have been damaged by all of these things, not just flooding. Second, Listed 04/25/2008. beginning with the first reports of damage to historic properties in April, the extent of damage continues to astound me today as we try to pull actual facts and figures together. Simmons Hardware While the damage to individual historic properties is extremely disheartening, damage to Company Warehouse, Sioux entire communities that revolve around the businesses and residences within historic City, Woodbury County. properties seems to magnify that impact. Lastly, there are many historic properties—e- Listed 04/25/2008. specially properties in rural areas and archaeological sites—about which we still have no West Hill Historic District, information. How can we comprehend something that still has so many unknowns as- Muscatine, Muscatine sociated with it? County. Listed 04/30/2008. We’ve been told it will take Iowa ten years to recover from this disaster. Already, as we do each time a disaster of any magnitude occurs, we are picking each other up and Pioneer Implement beginning to rebuild. It is my sincere hope that “rebuilding” will include rehabilitation of Company, Council Bluffs, historic properties rather than demolition. We’ve lost some historic properties already, Pottawattamie County. but there are many more that can be saved if we are able to give them the technical and Listed 04/30/2008. financial assistance they need. Our office is working closely with federal agencies to en- The Elgin Block, Elgin, sure the historic properties they are providing assistance to will be treated appropriately. Fayette County. Listed And, in cases where demolition may be inevitable, hopefully we can capture the historic 05/08/2008. spirit of the property before it disappears. One thing we should not lose sight of as Iowa recovers is how to better prepare for Thos. D. Murphy Co. the next disaster. As our department responds to this disaster, we continually return to Factory and Power Plant, discussing ways to improve disaster preparedness and response for the future. If we are Red Oak, Montgomery better prepared at all levels—from house museum to historic preservation commission County.