Endangered Buildings

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:23:10 -0700

I was not able to get the form to load, but do have buildings to nominate as Endangered.

1. The cute old 'dutch' styled depot from 1900 on the west side of E. 1st street just south of Court Avenue (part of Boyer Petroleum). It had been fairly well kept until recently and now the weeds are as tall as it is. It would be a great 'Donut Depot' if moved closer to the East Village or a welcome center on the Riverwalk.

2. Ferrington Place on Keo Way across from the Greyhound Bus Station. It has an angular corner on the SE - a rare feature in DsM buildings. It also has an interesting story of the former Carpet Co. and owner.

3. The 1903 Odd Fellows Hall at E. 30th & Locust, which is used as Fairgrounds Hardware. I wonder what would happen if the store would close. Fortunately, the VFW saved the old fire station a few blocks to the west.

4. A small 1953 building at about 1800 Euclid, on the south side of the street. Until recently it had been better maintained, but now the windows have been broken. It was from the day when Highway 6 was the major route through town. It would be great if it could be moved closer to the 6th & Euclid area - or near one of the very old gas stations along 6th Avenue, or even if it could be moved across the street nearer the cute 'One of a Find Creations' building at 1529 Euclid. The two old gas stations on 6th Avenue may also be considered endangered, especially the one at Madison which appears to be vacant. The other 'stone' one is quite cute and well kept.

There are about 12-15 of the Lustron homes in the DsM area. Two are along 63rd street in Windsor Heights, two are on Chamberlain across from Roosevelt High and there are two in the Merle Hay neighborhood. The city has a separate designation for them on the housing plan and they could give you a list of all of them in DsM. Also, in addition to the round houses at 50th & Urbandale, there are a couple of round houses near Polk Boulevard and Kingman Ave. and one in the Fairgrounds neighborhood (around E. 25th Street just south of E. University).

There was a note in the newspaper that the log cabin is endangered - probably not. It was moved to the spot by Sec Taylor Field, Principal Park from Washington, Iowa in 1964 as a memorial to Fort Des Moines II, established in 1843, closing in 1846. The city has promised it will not even have to move due to the new bridge. It was restored again and rededicated three years ago. Michael Gartner has said he will landscape around it, and there will probably be some information about DsM history and the DsM history of baseball (the first lighted game & involvement in the Negro leagues) on a wall of the new bridge.

For more info about the cabin and some DsM history, go to the website for Polk County Historical Studies at www.neighborhoodlink.com/org/pchs. Even though the Polk County Historical Society is no longer active, I wanted to keep the website going and revised the name. Hopefully, someday there will be a Des Moines Historical Society and the DsM buildings and historical stories and items will be much better preserved and appreciated. Many people don't even know there was the 'old brick' capitol building here for 30 years before the current capitol was opened. It was neglected and became a dirty, smelly mess before it was torn down; it should have been an endangered building. DsM has quite a history of ignoring history.

If you have any questions please contact me at a1hawkeye@juno.com or my home phone is 278-1234. Thanks. Pat Meiners

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Endangered Buildings