Pagliai’s Pizza building on its way to becoming historic landmark

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Council this week unanimously approved a proposal to make the Pagliai’s Pizza building a historic landmark.

The council must vote twice more on the designation for the building at 302-316 E. Bloomington St. before it’s official.

Besides Pagliai’s, the property also contains apartments and a laundromat.

Though the building’s owner is opposed to the designation, council members spoke favorably about being able to preserve a property important to the community.

Council member Andrew Dunn said at the Tuesday council meeting that he considered the “cultural, historic and architectural beauty” of the building, along with the recommendation of city staff and support from the community for the designation.

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“Ultimately, we're in a rare situation where we have all of these community stakeholders that are on the same side that are asking us to act in the public good,” he said.

Council member Josh Moe also voiced his support, saying the process of making something a historic landmark is a slow, deliberate process that happens for “rare and only for truly exceptional buildings.”

Several council members were concerned that the designation would infringe on the rights of the property owner Gary Skarda.

Skarda, who last year put the building up for sale, said at the April 2 council meeting he believes a historic landmark designation will make the building more difficult to sell

Council member Megan Alter said while she was largely in favor of property owner rights, the building still will be sellable and should bring a good price.

More than 10 residents spoke in favor of the landmark designation, noting the building’s historic and cultural significance. The council also received more than 100 letters of support for the proposal.

Some residents spoke against the proposal, saying they felt it was wrong for the city to go against the wishes of Skarda, and that it would be better for the property to instead be used for the development of new housing.

This was the second time the designation has come before the council. At the April 2 meeting, the proposal required unanimous approval but was deferred by Mayor Bruce Teague, who said he was he was “having issues with this one.”

Jordan Sellergren, chair of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission, said this is the fourth time the city has considered landmark status for the building. Previous attempts were made in the 1980s, 1990s, and in 2015, she said.

She said the first two attempts reached the council before failing to proceed, while the 2015 attempt stopped after “a letter was drafted to the owner, and it did not leave the mailbox.”

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