New to RenovateDSM?

Become a Registered User at RenovateDSM for free and get access to additional features (and make this message disappear)! Click for More Information, to Login or to Register.

Abandoned 1880s Victorian

1720 7th St
Endangered Building Information
Endangered Building Address: 
1720 7th St
Describe the current condition of the building: 
This house was converted into multiple apartments in the 1970s and was used as an adult group home well into the 2000s. In February of 2008, the house became vacant and was abandoned by the property owners. In July of 2008 the property was up for auction via the IRS, but there were no successful buyers. The Assessor's site lists this property at below normal condition. The house has been boarded up, but there are areas where windows have been broken open and the attic remains exposed to the elements. Without some attention to the natural deterioration by way of nature, this house will quickly become a public nuissance. I have been told that the house was well taken care of until the 1990s, including steel reinforcing beams in the basement to prevent the house from settling, and much of the historic interior had remained intact. It is unknown what remains today.
Why is this building worth saving?: 
This house is a residential property that has the potential to be the gem of the neighborhood. It is eligible for the register of historic places for its architecture. It is obvious to see why, the turret remains in place, but the roof needs to be restored to fully appreciate the detail. It is one of four consecutive houses constructed in the 1880s on this block.

North Des Moines Town Hall

This building is individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it eligible for grants and state and federal tax credits for rehab.

Post new comment

  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

More information about formatting options

Captcha
This question helps prevent automated spam submissions (Note: Each letter has a "shadow" that should be ignored.)
Copy the characters (respecting upper/lower case) from the image.