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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa City residents rally for rec center recognition
Group nominating Robert A. Lee center to National Register of Historic Places
IOWA CITY — Mary Bennett spent around two decades of her life teaching aerobic classes at the Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center in Iowa City, where she’d walk to after her workday at the nearby State Historical Society.
She said she grew to appreciate the space not only for its indoor amenities, such as its pool and community gathering spaces, but also for its architectural design.
To honor the building, at 220 S. Gilbert St., Bennett began to pursue placing it on the U.S. National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places.
Bennett said she, Jan Olive Full and Jill Fishbaugh ― all Iowa City residents with a love of the building ― began putting together the application in 2022.
The recreation center is significant not only because of its architectural elements but also because of its importance and use in the community, Bennett said.
“I just love the building, ” Bennett said. “That’s my thing.”
National register process
The National Register of Historic Places lists historic places in the United States “worthy of preservation,” according to the National Park Service website.
Placement on the register is largely honorific, meaning it does not restrict alterations or even demolition of historic buildings like a local historic designation would.
In order to be placed on the register, an applicant must first receive approval from the State Historic Preservation Office. That office helps applicants improve their nomination before it goes before the State Nomination Review Committee.
That committee reviews the application, and if it meets the appropriate criteria to be placed on the register, the committee sends it to the National Park Service. Finally, the National Park Service does its own review. If approved, the building is placed on the National Register.
The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center’s application was unanimously approved by the State Nomination Review Committee on June 14 and will be reviewed by the National Park Service in the coming months, Bennett said.
One benefit of being on the National Register is eligibility for state and federal tax credits to rehabilitate the building, according to Jessica Bristow, Iowa City’s historic preservation planner.
Iowa City has 61 buildings listed on the National Register, Bristow said.
All eight of the city’s locally designated historic districts are listed on the National Register, but individual buildings in a listed district may or may not contribute to its history, she said.
The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center building is not located within a locally designated historic district, Bristow said.
Center’s history
The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center was built in 1963 and 1964.
The building is named after longtime Iowa City Recreation Superintendent Robert A. Lee, who was instrumental getting the center built. After his retirement in 1983, the Iowa City Council named the building in his honor; Lee died in 2013.
The building was designed in 1962 by architect Roland Wehner, who used “innovative” materials and construction techniques, according to the National Register application.
The building’s architectural style follows the Modern Movement that was popular in the early 20th century. This style focuses on functionality and simplicity and primarily uses glass, steel and concrete materials.
When the recreation center was being constructed, Iowa City residents could see large beams of precast concrete being transported to the construction site.
The building is also emblematic of the changing attitudes toward recreation in the U.S. in the 1960s, the National Register application states. As free time became more prevalent and the economy recovered after World War II, many American cities, including Iowa City, were looking to create more recreation opportunities.
The recreation center also was the final step in a three-pronged plan to improve municipal structures in the city, the application document states.
In 1961, Iowa City built a new fire and police station downtown to replace the former one built in the 1880s. A year later, the city built a new City Hall and administration building.
Finally, the city agreed to build a recreation center, a proposal backed by community members after the previous community building burned down in 1955.
The new center featured a pool, game room, social hall and community gathering spaces.
The building has basically remained unchanged, though the overhang facing Gilbert Street has been flattened.
Bennett said she is confident the recreation center will end up being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“The building is in great shape, structurally sound ― it doesn’t need to end up in the landfill,” Bennett said, “It’s been very versatile and enduring over these last 60 years because it’s easily adaptable to change.”
Future of the pool
In 2022, Iowa City was in the process of creating a master plan for parks and recreation in the city, which included the possibility of closing the Robert A. Lee pool.
The plan also recommended adding a warm water pool next to the Mercer Aquatic Center pool, 1317 Dover St., since that pool was in better condition and was used more frequently than the Lee pool.
Dozens of residents pushed back against that proposal, citing their love for the Lee pool because of its central location and lap lanes.
The Iowa City Council adopted the master plan in October 2022. One long-term possibility in the plan is repurposing the Robert A. Lee pool if “data and community sentiment supports such change, provided a new warm water pool is added to Mercer.”
Comments: (319)-265-6849; isabelle.foland@thegazette.com
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