Remnant of disappearing Cedar Rapids neighborhood could live on

CEDAR RAPIDS — Built just before the turn of the 20th century, a small house in southeast Cedar Rapids is the remnant of a disappearing neighborhood emblematic of a population that became a foundation for the city's evolution.

The house at 909 16th Ave. SE is one of the last structures in the Flats, an enclave wedged east of New Bohemia between the Cedar River and 15th Avenue SE.

The roughly 1,000-square-foot clapboard structure was purchased from a private owner by Cargill Corn Milling, the factory down the street, and initially slated for demolition shortly after the flood of 2016 was staved off.

But because of the efforts of several parties, including the Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission, the city and Cargill, historians are hopeful it will be spared.

Mark Stoffer Hunter, a member of the Historic Preservation Commission and historian with The History Center, said a plan is coming together for the house to be moved and restored.

Stoffer Hunter said the commission wanted to save something from the area, known to historians as one of the last 1870s neighborhoods left in the city. The structure is mostly intact, with its original floorboards and clapboard siding.

'This is one of the last working-class neighborhoods from the 19th century left in Cedar Rapids,' he said.

A second property down the block, at 932 16th Ave. SE, also was purchased by Cargill. But due to renovations and additions over the years, the house there didn't offer the same historical significance, Stoffer Hunter said. It will most likely be torn down.

Preserving history

Emily Muhlbach, communications coordinator with the Cedar Rapids city manager's office, said a standard review process by the Historic Preservation Commission is put in place for demolitions of any structure older than 50 years.

'This gives the commission a window of opportunity to review the structure prior to demolition, to see if the structure is historically significant and explore restoration or relocation options with the property owners,' Muhlbach said.

The hold put on the demolition is nearly up, but Cargill has since promised to help preserve the house until a new owner can be found.

Cargill plans to sell the house for $1 to whoever is willing to take it on, said Jon Yungtum, assistant project manager at Weitz Industrial and a liaison between Cargill and the Preservation Commission and those interested in purchasing the house.

Yungtum said the company intends to donate an undisclosed amount toward the cost of lifting the house off its foundation and moving it. The structure initially would be moved a few feet to the back of the lot to make room for Cargill to break up the foundation. It could sit there for months while a new owner scouts for an available site.

Yungtum said they hope to lift the house by the end of May, and move it by June or July.

The total cost has not been tallied, but Yungtum estimates the move itself — without renovations and a new foundation — could be in the ballpark of $18,000.

Stoffer Hunter said they have an interested party from Cedar Rapids who is likely to buy the structure, but the name was not disclosed.

The Flats

The neighborhood, which dates to the Civil War, was once filled with as many as 120 houses where workers of the Sinclair Meatpacking Plant and other nearby industry lived.

"This is one of the last working class neighborhoods from the 19th century left in Cedar Rapids."

- Mark Stoffer Hunter

Linn County Historic Preservation Commission

It began to grow in earnest after the land was incorporated into the city in 1872 and immigrants began migrating to the area — the overwhelming majority from Bohemia, before the region became a part of Czechoslovakia, Stoffer Hunter said.

'To have a house like this was the epitome of the immigrant dream,' Stoffer Hunter said.

By the time the historic flood of 2008 hit, 25 houses in the Flats remained. About a half dozen homeowners rebuilt in the aftermath.

However, when floodwaters threatened the neighborhood again in September 2016, only two houses and their occupants remained in the area. Although the water never reached the homes, neither home's occupants came back.

Cargill has been purchasing property in the Flats for decades, Stoffer Hunter said. Nowadays, the company owns the majority of the land in the neighborhood and has made a deal with the city for a no-cost, 20-year lease with an option to buy most of the rest, The Gazette has reported.

Area Disappears

Though the house hasn't had residents living there for some time, it appears well cared for on the outside; a satellite dish perches on the roof and curtains still hang in the windows.

But the rest of the neighborhood, where taverns, grocery stores and homes were once built, is nearly devoid of signs that people once lived there. To Stoffer Hunter, it's heartbreaking to see it disappear.

'As a historian, it's sad to see a neighborhood go for good,' he said.

However, if the house at 909 16th Ave. SE can successfully be moved and restored, the reminder will remain.

'These little houses are a part of the story,' Stoffer Hunter said.

l Comments: (319) 368-8536; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com