The History Center receives $400,000 challenge grant for Douglas Mansion renovation

CEDAR RAPIDS - A recent challenge grant from a Midwest historic preservation group has put The History Center over the halfway point toward its Douglas Mansion restoration fundraising goal.

The Wisconsin-based Jeffris Family Foundation this week announced a $400,000 challenge grant to The History Center. As a two-for-one matching grant, the Cedar Rapids center must raise an additional $800,000 to receive the pledged funds.

Jason Wright, the center's executive director, on Friday said the grant not only provides a big boost to the organization's goals of raising $3.9 million to restore the mansion, but also creates momentum for future donations.

'Talk about a significant challenge and kind of an endorsement. That says a lot and that got quite a few of our prospective donors to perk up their ears and really start to listen,” Wright said. 'This is when the real exciting time comes.”

Already this week, following the Jeffris Family Foundation's challenge grant, The History Center received a separate $200,000 donation, Wright said.

All told, the center has raised more than $2 million, he said.

Of that $3.9 million Landmark & Legacy campaign goal, which will be used to restore the 1897-constructed Douglas Mansion, $1 million is planned for an endowment to maintain the building after renovations. Another $500,000 will help build exhibits, Wright said.

The History Center plans to move its headquarters to the mansion, located at 800 Second Ave. SE, when renovations are completed.

Tom Jeffris, president of the Jeffris Family Foundation, said the center's dedication to the historic mansion played a big part in the foundation's decision to offer the challenge grant.

The more than 120-year-old building is adorned in Grant Wood's artwork and was at one time home to some of the city's most influential families including the Douglases, Sinclairs and Turners.

'The Douglas house is very historically significant, in addition to the significance of the family,” Jeffris said. 'It's a project we were very excited about and we hope they meet their challenge grant.”

Thanks to a comprehensive historic preservation plan, which The History Center created as a requirement to apply for the foundation's grant, Wright said the center has a detailed action plan to restore the building. The report, which Wright said is more than two inches thick, also helps draw in prospective donors.

'This historic structure report has become our bible,” he said.

History Center officials hope to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the renovated building next year.

They plan to reach the entire $3.9 million goal - largely from local corporate donations, state historic preservation grants and community fundraising - before renovations begin.

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