Contact: Jeff Morgan, Jeff.Morgan@iowa.gov, (515) 281-3858

(DES MOINES) – The State Historical Society of Iowa announced today it has awarded $394,597 in REAP/HRDP grants to 32 organizations across the state for historic preservation, museum and documentary collections projects.

The Resource Enhancement and Protection/Historical Resource Development Program is funded by the Resource Enhancement and Protection Act (REAP), passed by the Iowa General Assembly in 1989. Through REAP, local government units, various organizations and private individuals can receive funding for eligible projects. REAP/HRDP provides reimbursable grants to preserve, conserve, interpret and educate the public about resources. The grant awards announced today require organizations to supply matching funds.

The list of grant awards follows:

Historic Preservation Category

(Applicant)
(Address)
(City, State, Zip)
(Project)
(Amount Funded)
(Project Description)

Marie L. Stumpff
613 45th Avenue
Amana, Iowa 52203-0145
Presetele House Siding Project
$10,000
The purpose of this project is to remove the asphalt shingle siding, and to re-side the building with 4 1/2 inch cedar siding to replicate the original clapboard of the 1860s in Amana.

City of Grinnell and Grinnell Historic Neighborhood
1333 Broad Street
Grinnell, Iowa 50112
Intensive Architectural and Historical Survey and Evaluation
$10,080
The Grinnell Historic Preservation Commission and Neighborhood Association wishes to conduct an intensive architectural and historical survey and evaluation project of Merrill Park and the Main and Broad Street residential district. A qualified architectural historian will be hired to evaluate whether the area qualifies as a National Register and/or local historic district. The ultimate goal is local designation, possibly resulting in eventual National Register designation if the area is deemed qualified.

First Presbyterian Church of Davenport
1702 Iowa Street
Davenport, Iowa 52803
Rehabilitation of Kirkwood Street Landing
$26,000
First Presbyterian Church of Davenport was built in 1898-99, designed by the prominent Davenport architect, Frederick Clausen. This landmark Richardson Romanesque building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the congregation maintains the interior and exterior as part of an ongoing plan of maintenance. The current project will rehabilitate the original front entrance/landing which has deteriorated significantly and is unsafe for regular use.

Judith Belfer
One Prospect Drive
Davenport, Iowa 52803
Foundation Restoration for Hillside
$25,000
This project will include selective re-pointing and resetting of the porches’ stone foundations, and selective re-pointing of the exterior stone foundation. This work will ensure the historic and structural integrity of the significant porches as well as restore the house’s foundation.

First United Methodist Church
1001 Pleasant
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Sanctuary Restoration Phase 2
$20,000
This project is Phase 2 of the restoration of the church’s sanctuary. Phase 1 will replace the leaky copper dome, concentric base and antiquated skylight. Phase 2 will repair the blistering and peeling paint and disintegrating plaster caused by the leaky dome, and restore the sanctuary’s historic colors.

Des Moines County Historical Society
521Columbia Street
Burlington, Iowa 52601
Phelps House East Façade Exterior Rehabilitation
$8,022
The Des Moines County Historical Society, practicing responsible stewardship, continues restoration and maintenance of Phelps House, a circa 1851 Second Empire mansion with a commanding view of Snake Alley and the downtown valley of Burlington, Iowa.

Mark Maiers
5259 South Mound Road
Sherrill, Iowa 52073
Sherrill Mount House Rehabilitation
$31,000
The intent of the project is to continue the effort to return the external and internal appearance of the building to reflect its use as a working inn. The work includes repairing rafters in the various rooflines, replacing rotted roofing materials and completing window rehabilitation.

Daniel F. Weisskopf
1003 25th Avenue
Middle Amana, Iowa 52307
Weisskopf-Trumpold-Reihman Communal Residence (Wohnhaus)
$20,747
This Middle Amana home is being restored to its original appearance of a communal residence (Wohnhaus). The white aluminum siding and black shutters added in the 1960s are being removed and replaced with natural cedar siding to restore the unpainted look of the pre-1932 clapboard house. Situated at the end of “Shop Street” (now known as K Street), the newly restored home will reflect its 1865 origins.

Amana Colonies Historical Sites Foundation
P.O. Box 28
Amana, Iowa 52203
High Amana Shop Restoration
$12,500
The High Shop Restoration project focuses on the restoration of a 19th century carpenter shop within the village of High Amana. The project will include roofing, window repair and restoration of clapboard siding.

City of La Porte City
202 Main Street
LaPorte City, Iowa 50651
Fire Station and Jail Rehabilitation
$17,449
This project proposes replacing a leaking roof and faulty wiring within the former fire station and jail house, a property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Completing this work will allow the city to preserve the interior and restore the structure into the community feature it was years ago.

Buchanan County Conservation Board
1883 125th Street
Hazleton, Iowa 50641
Richardson-Jakway Historic Site Archaeology and Mapping
$13,000
Expert archaeological work will examine surface and subsurface features of the 1851 house, farmstead and abandoned town site. These features will be mapped to show elements of the historic site and how features changed over time. Results will be a key resource for developing future displays, maps, brochures and curricula.

The Salisbury House Foundation
4025 Tonawanda Drive
Des Moines, Iowa 53212-2909
Salisbury House Conservation and Testing of Interior Materials
$15,000
To restore Salisbury House, funding will be used to secure stone and interior design restoration specialists and determine interior materials original types. Specialists will assess the mansion’s 42 rooms for preservation issues, establish a budget plan and conduct site testing/restoration of original materials.

Museum Category

Waterloo Center for the Arts
225 Commercial Street
Waterloo, Iowa 50701
Grant’s Farm
$28,500
Waterloo Center for the Arts will develop and produce a permanent 700 square foot hands-on exhibition for children and families that interprets the museum’s collection of works by Grant Wood and other American Regionalist artists; one of nine permanent “discovery zones” planned for a 37,000 square foot youth pavilion expansion.

City of Willey
210 Olympic Avenue
Willey, Iowa 51401
Restoration of 1907 Fire Cart
$1,500
This project entails the restoration of a circa 1907 American LaFrance Fire Cart. The restoration will include the rehabilitation or replacement of a few of the cart’s components.

Historical Society of Marshall County
601 West Main Street
Marshalltown, Iowa 50158
Restoration and Interpretation of Taylor #4
$12,000
The Historical Society of Marshall County will restore the unique Taylor #4 one-room schoolhouse for use in educational and interpretive programs.

City of LaPorte City FFA Historical and Ag Museum
202 Main Street
LaPorte City, Iowa 50651
FFA Historical and Ag Museum Artifact Preservation
$3,732
This project includes purchase and installation of an air conditioner. The air conditioner will allow museum staff to regulate temperature and humidity levels of its storage area.

Clermont Historical Society
P.O. Box 103
Clermont, Iowa 52135
Restoration of the Larrabee Painted Stage Curtain
$21,858
This project will restore and conserve the Larrabee Painted Stage Curtain, which depicts nine grandchildren of the late Governor Larrabee and three caretakers’ children on the lawn of the Montauk Mansion. This historical treasure is housed in the Larrabee School. It was painted by renowned 20th century artist Theodore Behr.

Dubuque County Historical Society
350 East Third
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Frontier Farmer’s Cabin Interpretation and Folkway Exhibits
$5,706
The Frontier Farmer’s Cabin project will develop, implement and evaluate the interpretive program of the farmer’s cabin at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. The project will also provide for interpretation using authentic costumes and equipment.

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
30 16th Avenue SW
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404-5904
Collection Care at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library
$5,564
This project proposes to improve collection care at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library by improving and monitoring collection storage climate, adding UV filters to areas where collections are maintained, and purchase of a low-suction vacuum and archival supplies for proper cleaning and storage of collections.

Octagon Center of the Arts
427 Douglas Avenue
Ames, Iowa 50010
Puppet Preservation Project
$5,000
An irreplaceable collection of 50 hand-crafted puppets, scripts, and photographs are endangered. Some date from 1967 and were used in performances at the Octagon, around Iowa, in Florida and Switzerland. It is critical to catalog and preserve these historical artifacts and make them available for future generations.

Documentary Collections Category

City of Anthon
210 Elm Street
Correctionville, Iowa 51016-0268
Anthon Herald Microfilm Project
$5,456
The community of Anthon, Iowa will be processing over six decades of newspapers to be put on microfilm within the next few months. The newspapers are dated 1924 through 1990, plus a few issues dating from 1912 to 1914.

Polk County Auditor’s Office
111 Court Avenue, Suite 390
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Polk County Land Plat Restoration Project
$2,000
The purpose of the Polk County Land Plat Restoration Project is to preserve the historically significant original land plats dating from the establishment of Polk County in 1848.

University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist
700 Clinton Street Building, U of I
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Enhanced Access to Iowa’s General Land Office Survey Plats
$24,269
The 1832-1859 General Land Office (GLO) surveys are a detailed record of the Iowa landscape in the earliest stages of its transformation by Euro-American settlement. In this project, the 1,640 survey plats will be scanned from microfilm, registered to geographic coordinates, mosaiced into a statewide map of Iowa’s pre-settlement landscape and made available via the Internet. The “GeoGLOs” will enhance the accessibility and usability of this important primary documentary source on Iowa history.

Conservation Districts of Iowa
2550 Stagecoach Road
Webster City, Iowa 50595
The Silent Pillars of Agriculture – Women Farmland Owners
$2,800
Seventy percent of the landowners in Iowa are women and they own half the farmland, yet they receive little recognition as owners of assets used to build this state. These women are nearly invisible in the agriculture story, yet they manage complex relationships to farm their land as they have done for decades. Stories of landlord-tenant relationships will be gathered from older women, including land acquisition, participation in conservation programs and support of beginning farmers.

The Grand View College Danish Immigrant Archives
1351 Grandview Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50316-1599
Preserving and Creating Access to Manuscript Collections
$5,500
This project proposes to organize, describe, preserve and create access to the manuscript collections housed at the Danish Immigrant Archives at Grand View College.

St. Olaf Lutheran Church
239 North 11th Street
Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
Microfilming of Church Records
$1,200
St. Olaf Lutheran Church has begun its project of preserving its church records. These records tell the story of the church and its place in the community. Included in the project are baptismal, marriage and death records which will aid persons researching their family history.

Lake View Historic Preservation Commission
P.O. Box 65
Lake View, Iowa 51450
Lake View Resort Preservation Project
$9,600
The Lake View Historic Preservation Commission, with support from the city council and community, proposes to microfilm more than 80 years’ issues of the Lake View Resort. This will ensure preservation of the weekly newspaper and provide public access to the community’s historical and cultural heritage without physically harming the papers.

Pomeroy Historical Society
P.O. Box 122
Pomeroy, Iowa 50575-0122
Getting past Pomeroy Newspapers on Microfilm
$4,117
The Pomeroy Historical Society will microfilm Pomeroy's newspapers from 1930 to 1970 so the news and history in the town will be preserved for family historians and other researchers.

Jackson County Historical Society
P.O. Box 1245
Maquoketa, Iowa 52060
Sentinel Newspaper Microfilm Project
$6,180
Thirty-nine years of Jackson County history will again spring to life through this project. The Sentinel newspapers from 1854 to 1893 will be microfilmed, preserved and made available to researchers, historical researchers and casual readers.

Northwestern College Records at Northwestern
Ramaker Library, 101 7th Street SW
Orange City, Iowa 51041
Strengthening Access to Historical Records
$12,317
The project aims to increase public access to the college’s earliest records as well as letters, images and other historical documents from individuals who settled northwestern Iowa in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The documents are preserved in the college archives, but knowledge about their contents is limited. Northwestern will promote stronger understanding and access to the historical resources through translation from Dutch, as needed, cataloging and digitization for the web.

Susan Futrell
311 Fairchild Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52245
Atomic Research at Ames Lab, 1940 to 1976: Oral Histories
$15,000
This project will identify and collect oral histories from scientists and former employees of the Ames atomic research program and Manhattan Project at Iowa State, to capture and highlight Iowa’s unsung role in this significant part of our nation’s history.

The State Historical Society of Iowa is a trustee of Iowa’s historical legacy and an advocate for understanding Iowa’s past. It identifies, records, collects, preserves, manages and provides access to Iowa’s historical resources. Its dual mission of preservation and education serves Iowans of all ages, conducts and stimulates research, disseminates information, and encourages and supports historical preservation and education efforts of others throughout the state. Please visit www.iowahistory.org or call 515-281-5111 for more information.

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