Iowa Ideas conference 2024

 

 

A vigorous exchange of ideas about public issues characterized the panels I virtually attended at this year's Iowa Ideas conference organized by the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It's the ninth edition of the conference, but my first. Previously classes or professional travel kept me away; our obscenely summer-like weather almost kept me away this year, but after a day trip to Backbone State Park I eventually showed up to three panels. All were in the Economic and Community Development track.

Backbone Lake during the Iowa Ideas conference

1. The Future of Public Transit

Participants:

Nate Asplund, Railroad Development Corporation

Mike Barnhart, Horizons Family Services

Darian Nagle Grimm AICP, Iowa City Transit

Cindy Gerlach and David Lee for the Gazette

Iowa City is trying a more ridership-oriented approach to their bus service. Nagle Grimm said they have tried to make service faster, more frequent, and more reliable; coordinated operations with the neighboring city of Coralville; begun a two-year fare-free experiment; and improved comfort and lighting at bus stops. She said ridership has increased 43 percent, or about 500,000 rides, since August 2023. which has required more buses as well as making up the (only) ten percent of system revenue that came from fares.

Iowa City's Court Street Transportation Center connects
several bus lines (Google Earth screenshot)

Asked "what you want Iowans to know" about transit, Nagle Grimm said we can no longer depend entirely on personal vehicles due to "unintended consequences" (readers of this blog will not require elaboration), so we need to "invest in a true multimodal system." Barnhart noted ongoing unmet needs of rural residents and suburban seniors. Asplund, hoping for a return to commuter train service, said bicycles and trains go together "like Reese's Peanut Butter Cup," which I think means that trains can extend the reach of cycle commuting while bicycles solve the last mile problem.

2. New Life in Old Buildings

Participants:

Pete Franks, The Franks Design, Glenwood IA

Jordan Sellergren, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission

Heather Wagner, Eastern Iowa Arts Academy

Megan Woolard and Brian Shewry for the Gazette

This panel was made up of an architect, a preservation advocate, and someone planning a move into a century-old school, so nice things were said about historic preservation. Wagner cited the benefits of allowing compact development, less consumption of new materials, and lower upfront costs. Franks added that maintaining familiar buildings increases people's connection to and pride in their communities, helping to counteract the widely-touted epidemic of loneliness. Of course, as Franks pointed out, buildings can be degraded to the point that it not economically feasible to salvage them, and not all building uses can be quickly exchanged. (He notes firehouses make great restaurants, though.)

Arthur School (1914), seen from the parking lot of
Trailside School (2024)

The panelists discussed the public in largely supportive contexts. They understand the value of older buildings, and sometimes have a personal association. Wagner mentioned one man who wanted to be reassured that the cafeteria mural he'd helped paint would still be there. (Yes.) On the other hand, public support for Wagner's Eastern Iowa Arts Academy to renovate and move into the former Arthur Elementary School was predicated on it not being housing or retail. Good luck solving the housing crisis, or reintroducing walkability, with those attitudes.

3. Collaborative Economic Development

Participants: 

Nancy Bird, Greater Iowa City Inc

Stephen J. Van Steenhuyse AICP, City of Mason City

Jill WIlkins, NewBoCo

Megan Woolard and Eric Caldwell for the Gazette

The three panelists from different worlds had remarkably similar views on the subject of collaboration in economic development. Van Steenhuyse from city government said government couldn't "do it all," so relied on partnership with business and other organizations; Wilkins from the nonprofit world said their operation relied on partnerships with city governments, chambers of commerce, businesses, and school districts; and Bird from a business group said "economic development is naturally collaborative." The unstated assumptions were that there is some activity called economic development which is separate from the growth of specific businesses, and that this activity was done collectively and cooperatively.

Mason City's Historic Park Inn dates from 1910,
and was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
(from their website)

Moderator Woolard asked in several ways about what made collaboration successful, which brought out another characteristic, which is that the activity is done intentionally. Bird started by stressing clear goals and identification of stakeholders. Wilkins talked about inclusiveness and openness in defining the set of stakeholders. Van Steenhuyse talked about commitment to the action or goal, while regretting that Mason City lacks a clearly-defined coordinating leader like Greater Iowa City.

10th anniversary post: Preservation or demolition?

protest at the Hach Building, May 2014

On May 12, 2014, the Hach Building at 1326 2nd St SE was demolished. The local preservationist group, Save CR Heritage, had spared no effort in trying to save the 1901 building, without success; they spent its last weekend protesting to no avail.

The Hach Building had last been used as a tavern, but had been badly damaged in the 2008 flood and neglected since. It was owned by the Melsha family, which also owns the delightful and historic Little Bo's a block away on 16th Avenue.

Rear view of the damaged Hach Building, May 2014

Ten years later, the property remains empty, though eventual development is part of the long-term New Bo Action Plan. Kickstand, a bar with a prodigious bike rack that is often full in the summer, has gone in across the street, so the New Bohemia neighborhood's lively bar scene continues to grow.

The former Ambroz Recreation Center, fall 2023

Ten years later, the expected demolition of another Cedar Rapids historic landmark has aroused opposition. Ambroz Recreation Center, 2000 Mt Vernon Rd SE, was built as Buchanan School in 1920 (Hadish 2024). From 1975-2016, it was used by the City of Cedar Rapids for community events like summer arts programs. (My sons as children took classes here like Art from the Junk Drawer.) It has been vacant since (Tabick 2024). 

parking lot entrance

view across 21st Street

On April 23, 2024, the Cedar Rapids City Council approved Steve Emerson of Aspect Architecture Design as site developer. It was the City's fourth effort to find a buyer/developer for the building. Emerson envisioned a four-story, 52-unit apartment complex that got neighbors' backs up big time. Emerson has said his firm's plan is subject to change. 

Rendering of Aspect Inc proposal (from Hadish 2024)

The existing Ambroz building was lovely and homey when my boys were taking classes here 15-20 years ago; while it has apparently deteriorated beyond repair, the City has not considered another proposal, by Jim Hobart of Hobart Historic Restoration, that would have rehabilitated the current building and added townhomes nearby. "It's well worth saving," said Hobart (Hadish 2024). [It's not clear to me that Hobart formally submitted this proposal to the city, based on conversations I've had.]

I am not, strictly speaking, a preservationist. Development of a place should never be frozen, because sometimes the highest, best, most publicly valuable use of land is new construction. We would take places out of a process of evolution by trying to hold them forever at a particular stage that may no longer be adaptive (see Del Maestro 2024). But I do value historic preservation, because where appropriate it provides people with orientation, interest, and a sense of place; too much demolition leaves you with architectural and spiritual emptiness. As one writer characterized a grand scheme of Le Corbusier, the rigorously superimposed plan cleared the land of all signs of humanity and centuries of urban culture (Woudstra 2014).

The Ambroz building was built as a neighborhood school on a two-lane street that became a four-lane street and is in the process of being widened still further.

under construction, spring 2024

Nearby resident Jennifer Trembath justifiably questioned the context of the new building proposed by Aspect Inc. in her statement to the City Council, but I think she's going to be unhappy whatever happens, because of the widening of Mt. Vernon Road with the increased traffic speed, and noise that will bring.

The Hobart proposal appears to me to develop the property at neighborhood scale, with as much transition between the neighborhood and the new road as can be imagined. So does something like this Atlanta project, but Hobart offers the additional perk of retaining the existing building. 

Hobart's rendering (in Hadish 2024) continues the current two-story brick construction, with parking facing Mt. Vernon Road and buildings built to both 20th and 21st Streets. It would actually soften the large parking lot behind the current building, which stretches from 20th to 21st Streets.

parking lot facing 20th Street

Aspect Inc. (pictured above) shows a four-story building with that weird exterior that's going to scream "2020s" in a few years. What if Aspect built a three-story brick building? Two such buildings exist at the intersection of 16th Street and 3rd and Grande Avenues, and work well in the context of Wellington Heights. How would a somewhat friendlier approach to construction affect people's feelings?

1601 Grande Ave SE

1600 3rd Avenue SE

Another strong argument for preservation is that rents in older buildings are often more affordable than in new construction, providing a broader set of opportunities for residents and entrepreneurs (see Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities [Random House, 1961], ch. 10). In the present case, though, it might well be that the building is too far gone to be renovated cheaply, and new construction might be more economical?

That brings me to a more general concern about preservation in Cedar Rapids (and probably your town as well). The Ambroz Building, the Hach Building, and People's Church, to name three local cases, were historically valuable structures that had arguably deteriorated to the point that their continued existence was no longer economical. While it's tempting to hate on the private owners of the Hach Building, it's worth pointing out that People's Church was a nonprofit and the Ambroz Building (along with any number of gorgeous century-old Cedar Rapids schools that are probably doomed) are owned by local government. Is there a way to prioritize the maintenance dimension of historic preservation such that significant structures aren't continually being demolished?

Immaculate Conception takes down convent

That was then, looking north (Google Earth screen capture)

This week's demolition of the mid-century convent building at the corner of 4th Avenue and 10th Street SE is a seminal example of the tension between individual rationality and collective irrationality. Save CR Heritage, our local historical preservation warriors, documented the demolition on their Facebook page. Cindy Hadish, Save CR Heritage secretary--and author of the Homegrown Iowan blog--said the organization had sought a 60-day hold on demolition through the city's Historic Preservation Commission, but the commission had not acted on the request before the building was demolished.

This is now, looking east

There is no mention of the demolition on the Immaculate Conception Church website. According to Save CR Heritage, the church had deemed the building a "liability" because it had been unoccupied for some time, and that plans are to use the space for additional parking. The convent was added to the church campus in the 1950s; the present building and adjoining Scotus Hall were built in the early 20th century ("The First 100 Years--1858 to 1958").

It may be that the church can use the parking. Their current parking lot is small; when I've attended Sunday events at the church, people park across 3rd Avenue in the Physicians Clinic of Iowa lot, but that may not be practicable during the week. Others among Cedar Rapids' historic 3rd Avenue churches, including my own, have over time taken down buildings to expand parking. Most of these churches draw members from all over the metropolitan area, and most of those members need somewhere to put their cars while they worship. The city has a stake in the success of all its institutions, and the churches, medical facilities, and businesses along 3rd all need parking for their driving visitors.

On the other hand, Cedar Rapids' core, and in particular the area designated as the MedQuarter in which many historic churches reside, is awash in surface parking. It is particularly noticeable along 4th Avenue:

4th Avenue, looking downtown from 10th Street
(Google Earth screen capture)

And this is not a case where 4th Avenue is "taking one for the team," handling the parking so other streets can be great, like Heivly Street in Decorah or 2nd Street SE here (Kaplan 2016a); the parallel streets through the MedQuarter are also laden with parking lots and unfriendly buildings.

The city has a stake in the vibrancy of its core, too. And the way parking competes with all other uses makes it the enemy of good development. (See Shoup 2005, Kaplan 2016b, or really any published urbanist.) Save CR Heritage argues the convent building could have been used for housing. Surface parking puts destinations farther apart, making walking less desirable, the neighborhood less interesting, and adding to the city's infrastructure maintenance load (paid for by you, whether you're driving or not). The more driving is accommodated, the more cars are brought into the area, the less safe it is for everyone else, and the more the planet suffers. 

The conflict between parking and other community interests is not symmetric. If all the churches, medical facilities, and so forth want more parking, we have seen they will get it, even demolishing buildings or buying adjoining properties to obtain it. But who speaks for the countervailing interests? Organizations like Save CR Heritage (and Corridor Urbanism) can advocate, but have no power to back it up. Only the city government can act for collective interests with long-term, widely diffused benefits. Can they limit, through zoning, the amount of land devoted to parking lots? Block sales of homes to institutions without a plan for using or replacing those structures? Broker parking lot-sharing agreements?

Governments, of course, are far from perfect. They are far from perfect advocates for collective goods. They have their own incentives. Often they respond to the loudest, most powerful voices in the room, which is the main reason Adam Smith didn't like public spending. Governments like flashy things, like a new casino, or a spiffed-up Field of Dreams, which is getting showered with public money in spite of accumulated evidence the return on investment is likely to be disappointing (Ionescu 2022, Welch 2022). They would rather build new roads than fix the ones we've got (Marohn 2022). Meanwhile, Iowa is ending a program of rental and utility assistance; outsiders like the poor don't have the political heft of insiders.

And yet, without someone to balance the scales by standing up for public interests, the community is merely the pursuit of private interests. Private interests are not all bad--Smith also points out that the brewer's and the baker's private interest in living well gets me beer and bread--but if that's all we have to go on, we get short-term thinking and long-term desolation.

SEE ALSO: 

"Filling in an Empty Quarter (III)," 25 July 2014

"Indulging in Urban Fantasy," 6 September 2014

"Why Historic Preservation," 22 July 2013

"The Future of Downtown Cedar Rapids," 24 June 2022

A win for today; a strategy for the future?

The way we lay out our communities can really be evaluated in terms of how well do they do moving us on that continuum from strangers towards friends--REV ERIC O JACOBSEN

The Methodist preacher will offend you not/He's raising money for a parking lot--GARRISON KEILLOR

Save CR Heritage, our local historic preservation organization, held a press conference yesterday morning at Westminster Presbyterian Church to announce the results of complicated negotiations to save a historic house.

The "Frankie House," built in 1896, sits agedly in the way of Westminster's parking lot expansion.

Westminster Church itself was built in 1904, with several additions since.

The deal, which my sources credit to persistent shuttle diplomacy by Beth De Boom and Emily Meyer of Save CR Heritage, starts with Save CR Heritage moving the house--with labor donated by D.W. Zinser Co.--to a lot on 5th Ave SE currently used as a community garden by the Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association. The garden will move to nearby property currently owned by Affordable Housing Network, Inc. Save CR Heritage will renovate and sell the house, and Wellington Heights will have some new neighbors. Pastor Emory Gillespie of Westminster, Wellington Heights Neighborhood Association president Justin Wasson, AHNI executive director Renie Neuberger and Cedar Rapids historian Mark Stoffer-Hunter also described how the arrangement furthered their goals.

My friend John Shaw, who's on the Historic Preservation Commission in Iowa City, describes preservation efforts as one win for every twenty you lose. By that standard, saving the Frankie House is not only a win but well worth celebrating. On top of that, it raises hopes that a similar deal can be worked out to save a nearby neighborhood landmark that reportedly stands in the way of another church's parking expansion.

Habitat for Humanity volunteers work on historic Wellington Heights home (from SaveCRHeritage Facebook page)

 

So let's pop a cork and drink to saving CR's heritage!

This happy outcome should buy some time for neighborhood residents, institutions and preservationists to think about a long-term strategy for urban neighborhoods. The one sour note yesterday was sounded by Stoffer-Hunter, a brilliant and assiduous historian. He didn't dwell on it, and I don't know if he even intended to be sour, but while discussing the story of the Frankie house's construction (for a local physician whose family included a 4-year-old boy named Frankie) and the original details that survived...

...Stoffer-Hunter noted there is "a lot of great history on this block," including the childhood home of Mamie Doud Eisenhower. Moving the Frankie House preserves this historic home but leaves another "tooth" missing on this historic block.

The mania for flattening neighborhoods into parking lots arises when institutional needs for expansion push into the neighborhoods where they settled years ago. In recent years, Coe College, Mercy Hospital, Physicians Clinic of Iowa, St. Luke's Hospital and St. Paul's United Methodist Church have also expanded their footprint. Now, St. Paul's and Westminster churches are at one end of a two-mile-long parking crater that stretches from Coe to the edge of the New Bohemia district. All this surface parking leaves neighborhoods with missing teeth, struggling neighbors with less connection to economic opportunity, and an overall loss of walkability and vibrancy in the area.

Rev. Eric O. Jacobsen, senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington, notes that Christians tend not to think about physical environment, thinking that access to cars, high-tech communications, and social groups make location irrelevant. His recent book, The Space Between (cited below), is both an introduction to urbanism aimed at Christians, and a call for Christians to become active in improving the "space between" where they live and where they attend church. When the built environment treats humans with dignity, it improves their lives, their relationships, and their opportunities. Individual civic virtue, and social capital, are framed by Jacobsen as examples of "common grace," blessings from God that may be bestowed upon both Christians and non-Christians.

Faith communities (churches, in the Christian vernacular) have a stake in whether or not the neighborhoods in which they are located are built on a human-scale or for automobiles. Human-scale neighborhoods treat people with dignity and encourage participation in common life. Jacobsen classifies churches as embedded (built in ways that facilitate direct connections with the community that surrounds them) or insular (oriented toward people driving cars). It's not strictly time-based, but embedded churches are typical of traditional neighborhood development, while insular churches reflect the auto-driven development common in America since World War II. Note, particularly if you're not religious and are losing interest, that while Jacobsen focuses on Christian churches, a similar logic could apply to colleges and universities, hospitals, grocery stores, coffeehouses, bars, and even office buildings.

Rev. Gillespie noted yesterday that Westminster made a specific commitment 15 years ago to remain in Wellington Heights. Their outreach includes a Kids Closet and the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry, both of which surely provide lifelines to individuals on the edge, as well as participation in the Family Promise homeless ministry. But Jacobsen's work suggests institutions can go beyond seeing their neighborhoods only as opportunities for charitable work, but as parishes--places in which they live and which they can help build.

How can institutions engage with each other, and with city government, to make their neighborhoods better places? Jacobsen and the urbanists argue for greater attention to the built environment, particularly the oft-underrated contribution it makes to individual and social life. For a long time, Wellington Heights has been treated as a neighborhood to drive through, rather than as a place where people live--witness the speedways that 2nd and particularly 3rd Avenues have become--though the 2013 passage of a neighborhood plan indicates the city is taking a more positive approach. Can institutions lend their weight to returning Wellington Heights to its historic status as a walkable neighborhood connected to economic opportunity?

The first thing anyone will notice with a parish approach is that expanding surface parking areas doesn't help places. As institutions try to grow, are there alternative approaches to parking issues that are compatible with successful places (particularly for churches who are near their parking capacity about one hour a week at most)? What about encouraging members to park in unused commercial lots or on the street? What about working with the city to institute public transit service on Sundays?

READ MORE AT:

Cindy Hadish, "Save CR Heritage Announces Collaborative Effort to Save Historic Home," Save CR Heritage, 13 May 2015, http://savecrheritage.org/save-cr-heritage-announces-collaborative-effort-to-save-historic-home/

Eric O. Jacobsen, The Space Between: A Christian Engagement with the Built Environment (Baker Academic, 2012)

Rick Smith, "Save CR Heritage Will Save One Itself," Cedar Rapids Gazette, 14 May 2015, 8A

Garfield School celebrates 100 years

Garfield School

Two Cedar Rapids schools celebrated 100 years of existence today. Arthur School, 2630 B Av NE, and Garfield School, 1201 Maplewood Dr NE, both were built in 1914 and began classes in the 1915-16 school year. I celebrated with Garfield, where my boys went to school, and where I've been able to continue my relationship as a classroom volunteer. Both schools continue to anchor residential neighborhoods, although their attendance areas--particularly Arthur's--are quite large.

Principal Joy Long did the morning announcements outside,
as the entire student body assembled

Flag raising by the 5th grade Girl Scout troop,
followed by the Pledge of Allegiance

Nancy Raue (left) attended Garfield and has taught there since 1989.
That's her VW. Based on the sign, she must have been Honorary Principal for the day.

Even President Garfield was celebrating!

Main festivities were scheduled after school

...including a hot dog supper...

...and a brief, well-attended program in the gym.

Principal Joy Long kicks off the program

A number of students present and past returned for the event, including one fellow who'd attended Garfield in 1936. At the evening program, former principal Rick Netolicky [right in picture above] emceed, paying tribute to his valuable secretary Chris Gochenour, as well as inviting past and present teachers and staff to stand and be recognized. Mayor Ron Corbett [center left] proclaimed today to be Garfield School Day in Cedar Rapids; of course, he also proclaimed it to be 2017, so take that how you will. Historian Mark Stoffer-Hunter [far left] recalled the origins of the school, pointing out the unique Egyptian columns at the main entryway. Current principal Joy Long dedicated a reading cart in memory of former secretary Kris Cessna, who died in 2013.

Hardwood features of the classrooms (here, room 106) give them an old-fashioned vibe

Buildings like Garfield, the stories they have to tell, and the good service they still do, are testimony to worthiness of historic structures in cities like Cedar Rapids.

SEE ALSO:
Cedar Rapids Community School District, "Arthur and Garfield Celebrate Centennial Birthdays," http://www.cr.k12.ia.us/arthur-and-garfield-celebrate-centennial-birthdays/
Cindy Hadish, "Garfield and Arthur Schools to Celebrate 100th Anniversaries," Save CR Heritage, http://savecrheritage.org/garfield-and-arthur-schools-to-celebrate-100th-anniversaries/

Garfield's playground was re-constructed in, I think, 2003

A preservation protest

The Hach Building, built in 1901 for a beer bottling operation, is almost certain to come down Monday, a sad event for the local historic preservation group, Save CR Heritage, which had fought to save it. Members of the group gathered in front of the building late this afternoon to protest (and will be back tomorrow afternoon at 5).

Maura wields signs while Beth and Chris manage the Save CR Heritage heart

The guy on the door is paper but has withstood the elements

Janet managed three signs in high winds, an athletic feat

Beth becomes a caped crusader for preservation

The Hach Building is located, for the moment anyway, at 1326 2nd St SE, in Cedar Rapids's New Bohemia neighborhood. It has been a number of things in its 100-year history, and is currently a vacant eyesore. This area got about 11 feet of water in the June 2008 flood, and has never been repaired. With each year of weather and no maintenance, the building has become more and more of a mess. The owner has resisted pleas to restore it, and according to group members turned down an above-market price offer to buy it. Speculation as to his motives ranged from vindictiveness to fear that a new owner would open a bar to compete with Little Bo's down the street, which rents a building he also owns. (Side note: Little Bo's was referenced in an earlier post, "Third Places in the City of Five Seasons," posted July 14.)

The building from the rear

Steps lead down to the basement

Preservation is valuable in and of itself (see my post "Why Historic Preservation," posted July 22). But sometimes it doesn't happen, often because people see old buildings as standing in the way of economic progress. (Examples in Cedar Rapids range from the Union Station in the 1960s to First Christian Church a couple years ago.) Sometimes buildings get to the point where restoration is prohibitive, such as the old People's Church.

In this case the only argument against preservation is that the owner doesn't want to preserve it, and it's his damn building. We talk about rights a lot these days, often as a means of shutting off further discussion. If we're going to live together, we need to get out of our rights bubbles and find some ways to discuss how to balance individual autonomy with participation in the community.

Sidewalk commemoration of the brewery on 3rd St SE

The buildings across 2nd Street from the Hach Building were all cleared after the flood. You can pretty well see the river, next to which is a small memorial to the founder of Czechoslovakia. Damn it, Tomas Masaryk would have wanted this building saved.

Save CR Heritage's May 5 post on attempts to save the building at http://savecrheritage.org/razing-of-new-bohemia-building-to-leave-hole-in-historic-district-demolition-comes-as-developer-interest-increases/

P.S.--The Hach Building came down early, early Monday morning, May 12. This photo is from the SaveCRHeritage Facebook page:

Photo by Beth DeBoom for Save CR Heritage

 
 

Auto-Row Historic District update

The mission-style Firestone building is not going to be part of

an Auto-Row Historic District...

...but there's still a possibility for this former Pontiac dealership.

The proposed Auto-Row Historic District received the final nail in its coffin at tonight's meeting of the Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission, at least in its current form. Several speakers raised the possibility of creating a smaller version of the district some time in the future.

Terry Toye of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) told the commission that FEMA supported the current proposal of the City of Cedar Rapids and other stakeholders to use the money that had been intended to support the Auto-Row designation for seeding a new program in historic preservation at Kirkwood Community College. The proposal to use FEMA money for this program is now up for 30-day review, Toye said. She added that FEMA is anxious to get the original grant application, which dates from 2008, closed out.

The money under discussion has an odd history. After the 2008 flood, FEMA awarded the city a flood mitigation grant to repair the heavily-damaged 1st Street Parkade. When the city decided instead to demolish the parkade, it proposed an alterate project, that being the creation of the Auto-Row Historic District. It would have commemorated the building of numerous auto-related businesses along 2nd and 3rd Avenues SE beginning in the 1910s, and helped to preserve those structures still standing. The proposed district would have included 2nd Avenue on both sides from 6th to 7th Streets, and on the south side from 7th to 10th Streets; and 3rd Avenue on both sides from 7th to above 8th Street, except for a parking lot on the southwest corner of 3rd and 8th. The proposal was vigorously opposed by St. Luke's Hospital, but supported by many smaller property owners. A further twist in the drama occurred when several supporters were not notified of a meeting of stakeholders last winter. Faced with apparent majority opposition, including the powerful medical interests, the city withdrew its earlier support for the project and switched to the Kirkwood proposal. (No supporting businesses were present at this meeting.)

Toye said that if the signatories switched back to Auto-Row, FEMA would be amenable, but noted that contributing structures between 7th and 10th Streets have been demolished since the original proposal making the overall case weaker, besides which time is running out on the original grant. She noted the peculiarity of the process that led to the Kirkwood proposal, but did not seem fazed by it.

Several members of the commission, while acknowledging the finality of the grant decision, expressed hope that some Auto-Row proposal could go independently forward. Todd McNall admitted "HPC made some decisions without all the property owners having been notified," and so "we should pursue some designation." Tim Oberbroeckling asked "How many [businesses] are going to pull out" of historic structures in the area without the designation and the financial incentives that come with it, and with the possibility of generous purchase offers either from downtown or medical interests. Mark Stoffer Hunter argued there is "plenty of real estate for both [new commercial development and historic preservation] to happen," as has been the case downtown and in New Bohemia.

Most discussion centered on the block of 2nd Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets. There are seven buildings on the block, all businesses or nonprofits, six close enough to their original design to be considered "contributing." Doug Jones of the state historic preservation organization was encouraging, noting that a lot of the research and preliminary comments had already been done relative to the original proposal.

John Albert {?} of the MedQuarter commission said that historic preservation is part of the master development plan they are working on.

Why historic preservation

Historic preservationists, with whom I have spent some quality time, feel like their animating passion is unappreciated by a lot of developers. They quote developers telling them things like, "Sure, people miss such-and-such a building for a while, but eventually they forget."

Did anyone actually say this? If they did, they said something that is accurate, but only at the surface level. I will personally admit to an amazing inability to remember whatever was there before what's there now. [Wasn't that always there? Weren't we always at war with Eurasia?] Today there probably are people who drive down 3rd Avenue and think, "People's Church used to be there. What a cool old building that was. That thing that took its place sure is butt-ugly." But even in such egregious cases, such comments will--as the developers know--diminish with time.

 And soon we'll forget where the A & W was, where they put your tray in your car window well into the 1990s, or Hubbard Ice Company, where they used to erect a huge red-white-and-blue block of ice on Fourth of July. Conscious memories are fleeting things, as are feelings of sadness at the loss of city landmarks.

At the subconscious level, though, it's a different story. It is here that historic preservation matters, for three reasons:

1. Familiar places help to orient you, giving you a sense of where you are, in a place that is comfortable because it is familiar. No, I don't get lost driving down 3rd Avenue because People's Church and the First Christian Church are gone. But it doesn't feel right... feels alien. Take out First Presbyterian and Daniel Arthur's and I might as well be on Mars.
2. To thrive, a downtown--or any part of a city--needs to feel interesting and safe to people. That occurs when there is a mix of old and new buildings. Sure, a new building doesn't have to be ugly. [Do you like the Great America Building? So do I! But a downtown full of such buildings would be ghastly.] Anyhow, character takes time to acquire even in a well-designed building. Would Little Bohemia be what it is in a new structure?
3. Historic buildings connect residents of a place to that place's history. If you're in Boston, or colonial Williamsburg, or Amana, of course you've got tourists who are interested, too. But even towns that aren't famously historic have history. And if you're going to spend time there, your experience deepens if you feel connected to former residents who have long since passed.

For each of these reasons, historic preservation matters to people who may not consciously consider it a priority, and the loss of historic structures has impact long after people realize it.

Besides comfort, appearance, and connection, there are other reasons why I feel historic preservation is a public good. As Jane Jacobs (The Death and Life of Great American Cities [Random House, 1961], ch. 10) argued years ago, older buildings tend to have lower rents. This makes room for a wider set of entrepreneurs. The big boys, like Alliant Energy or Wellmark or Physicians Clinic of Iowa, can afford to occupy offices that are brand spanking new. A start-up store or tavern, not so much. Yet it's these little stores, restaurants and taverns that give life to a neighborhood, especially after business hours. This is where third places are most likely to spring up, not to mention affordable housing.

Union Station was demolished in the early 1960s
(swiped from gazetteonline.com)

And sometimes we find we need buildings we had gotten rid of because we thought they were useless. About 50 years ago Cedar Rapids got rid of its historic downtown train station and replaced it with a parking garage. Who needs an ol' train station when everyone has cars and cheap oil will flow forever? Now that what James Howard Kunstler calls the "era of happy motoring" is endangered, maybe we'd like intercity commuter rail service, in which case we might could use that old train station after all.