116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Rails of cooperation: Preservation marks first collaboration between history groups
The first collaboration between two Eastern Iowa historic preservation groups helped find a new home for a more than 100-year-old banister.
On Tuesday, officials with Iowa City's Friends of Historic Preservation removed the staircase railing from the former University of Iowa Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St.
The railing - a signature feature in the 1800s house - will be donated to Cedar Rapids group Save CR Heritage, which will relocate the banister into a historic late 1800s Bohemian house, known as Frankie House.
'It's a beautiful staircase, we're happy it's going to Save CR Heritage,” said Alicia Trimble, executive director with Friends of Historic Preservation. 'We're happy to help them any way we can.”
Beth DeBoom, president of Save CR Heritage, said in a Monday news release that the Frankie House's original railing was removed before the organization had a chance to move the home last fall.
'We are grateful for the generous donation from Friends of Historic Preservation and glad that a piece of Iowa City's history will find a home in Cedar Rapids,” DeBoom said.
The Frankie House, which will be sold to a new owner, was moved last September from 1257 Third Ave. SE to 1425 Fifth Ave. SE in Wellington Heights to save it from demolition.
Other items salvaged from the WRAC building will be sold at Iowa City's Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Blvd. SE.
Save Cedar Rapids Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pries loose the upper banister as he removes it from a house that was the Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St., in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends for Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the former Women's Resource and Action Center before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the banister from the 1890's house to be used in the 'Frankie House' in Cedar Rapids. Other items salvaged from the Iowa City house will be for sale at the Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Boulevard SE, that is operated by Friends of Historic Preservation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Spindles from a banister are illuminated by parking structure lights as Save Cedar Rapids Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, secures the banister from a house that was the Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St., in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends for Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the former Women's Resource and Action Center before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the banister from the 1890's house to be used in the 'Frankie House' in Cedar Rapids. Other items salvaged from the Iowa City house will be for sale at the Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Boulevard SE, that is operated by Friends of Historic Preservation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
University of Iowa sophomore business major Jobe Ashby (left) of Burlington, Iowa, and Save Cedar Rapids Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, carry a banister from a house that was the Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St., in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends for Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the former Women's Resource and Action Center before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the banister from the 1890's house to be used in the 'Frankie House' in Cedar Rapids. Other items salvaged from the Iowa City house will be for sale at the Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Boulevard SE, that is operated by Friends of Historic Preservation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Save Cedar Rapids Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier (right) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, pries the banister loose as he and University of Iowa sophomore business major Jobe Ashby of Burlington, Iowa, remove it from a house that was the Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St., in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends for Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the former Women's Resource and Action Center before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the banister from the 1890's house to be used in the 'Frankie House' in Cedar Rapids. Other items salvaged from the Iowa City house will be for sale at the Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Boulevard SE, that is operated by Friends of Historic Preservation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Save Cedar Rapids Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, world to remove the banister from a house that was the Women's Resource and Action Center, 130 N. Madison St., in Iowa City, Iowa, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends for Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the former Women's Resource and Action Center before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the banister from the 1890's house to be used in the 'Frankie House' in Cedar Rapids. Other items salvaged from the Iowa City house will be for sale at the Salvage Barn, 2401 Scott Boulevard SE, that is operated by Friends of Historic Preservation. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette Save CR Heritage board member and volunteer Lance LeTellier (left) of Cedar Rapids and University of Iowa sophomore Jobe Ashby of Burlington remove the banister Tuesday from the former UI Women's Resource and Action Center at 130 N. Madison St. in Iowa City. Volunteers with Iowa City's Friends of Historic Preservation are salvaging as much as they can from the house before it is razed. The Iowa City preservation group is donating the more than 100-year-old banister to be used in the historic Frankie House in Cedar Rapids.
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