'Most endangered' buildings list set to go to City Council

A bank, two fire stations and two churches are among 11 sites designated as the city's most endangered properties.

The Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission approved the list Thursday night during a meeting that drew some heated discussion.

"You people have to get tough,"  Hal Sondrol of Cedar Rapids said, placing responsibility for the city's lost historical buildings on the commission.

Sondrol pointed to the closure of part of Second Avenue SE to build a medical complex and other instances in which such buildings were demolished.

"Who is running this city?" he asked.

Many of the two dozen people in attendance spoke out in hopes of saving some of the properties being considered for the list.

Liz Motsinger of Marion, a volunteer with Mission of Hope in Cedar Rapids, lobbied to reuse First Christian Church, 840 Third Ave. SE, as a shelter to feed and house the homeless.

"It's a shame to tear down these marvelous, beautiful buildings when they could serve the community," she said.

St. Luke's Hospital took out a permit to have the century-old church demolished to make way for a parking lot for the forthcoming Physicians' Clinic of Iowa medical pavilion.

Besides placing the church on the “most endangered” list, the commission also placed a 60-day hold on the building's demolition.

Other than that, the commission has no power to save the church, or any other building on the list, from demolition.

Commission chairwoman Maura Pilcher called the most endangered list a tool to raise awareness about the sites and to encourage investment to save them.

Pilcher said some of the buildings were in a flood construction zone, in the city's new medical district or faces other risks. Five structures have been demolished since the commission began discussing compiling a list.

“We value these properties and we don't want to see them lost," she said.

Commission members will present the list to the City Council's  development committee Jan. 23, before it goes to the full City Council for approval.

Buildings on the list, in no particular order, are:

• Louis Sullivan Bank, 101 Third Ave. SW, on the National Register of Historic Places
• Cedar Rapids Public Works Building (former Link-Belt Speeder) 1201 Sixth St. SW
• Gatto Building, Esquire Building and Acme Graphics and others in the 100 and 200 block of Third Avenue SW
• Knutson Building, 525 H St. SW
• Fire Station #2, Fifth Street and E Avenue NW
• Old First Baptist Church, 1200 Second Ave. SE
• First Christian Church, 840 Third Ave. SE
• Fire Station #3, 1424 B Ave. NE
• Furniture Mart Building, 600 First St. SE
• 1400 block between A and C avenues NE, including childhood home of artist Grant Wood, 318 14

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• Luther Brewer House, 847 Fourth Ave. SE, on the National Register of Historic Places

View a replay of the live chat from Thursday night's Historic Preservation Commission meeting: