Save CR Heritage reaches $175,000 goal, purchases historic Time Check property

CEDAR RAPIDS — The summer has flown by, especially for Save CR Heritage, the nonprofit organization whose members have dedicated themselves to preserving Cedar Rapids’ history.

This summer, the organization had just three months to fundraising toward the purchase of a $175,000 property that will provide expanded space for future growth.

Background

The Cedar Rapids historic preservation nonprofit set a mission at the beginning of the summer to purchase the Zastera Pharmacy building at 1135-1137 Ellis Blvd. in the historic Time Check neighborhood.

The nonprofit’s current storefront is the J.E. Halvorson house near Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids. It was another building the organization purchased to stave off demolition. But its limited size and multistory layout has created space and use limits for the organization, which saw the pharmacy as an opportunity for expansion.

Save CR Heritage is looking for more space to hold meetings, which is difficult in the J.E. Halvorson House, which stores a large quantity of salvaged items.

The salvage items are bits and pieces of old, demolished properties, like doors and window frames. The nonprofit sells the items to people who need them to repair their homes or create art.

The Time Check property went by many names over the last 100 years, though it originally was a pharmacy, operated by Charles Zastera. Zastera was one of three brothers in a Czech-heritage family that owned small businesses in Cedar Rapids.

The building has been dormant since the 2008 flood, which devastated the northwest neighborhood.

With a need for a storefront and real space to work, Save CR Heritage’s board decided an investment to preserve both Cedar Rapids history and their organization would be in their best interest.

The major development that gave the idea footing was a challenge grant from the Hall-Perrine Foundation: $100,000 granted to Save CR Heritage on the condition it could raise the remaining $75,000 by an Aug. 1 deadline.

Additionally, New Leaf Redevelopment President Emily Meyer promised a matching contribution for the first $25,000 raised, meaning Save CR Heritage only needed to raise $50,000 to meet the foundation’s grant requirements.

Save CR Heritage held a series of fundraising and tabling events throughout the summer as part of a “Brick-by-Brick” campaign. Donors who gave $100 or more received salvaged bricks as gifts.

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What’s happened since

In late July, the Zastera Pharmacy was named a historic landmark by the City of Cedar Rapids. This effectively cemented Save CR Heritage’s vision of using the property to honor Cedar Rapids history and to further its personal mission.

Aug. 1 marked the end of Save CR Heritage’s capital campaign, and the nonprofit closed on its purchase of the building Friday, Aug. 8.

In total, Cindy Hadish, Save CR Heritage’s secretary, said more than 100 donors contributed to make the campaign a success, including generous donations from board members themselves.

Hadish said the process to tabulate donation totals lasted well after the deadline, but as of the weekend of Aug. 2, the organization was $2,000 short of meeting its goal. Just a few days later, after the initial capital campaign concluded, she said last minute online donations put them squarely over their goal.

The nonprofit’s board voted unanimously to cover any remaining amount if those last minute donations had not been made.

“Considering the initial $175,000 purchase price, it's been an amazing outpouring by the public and we are truly grateful to everyone who helped in this whirlwind capital campaign,” she said.

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The next steps, Hadish said, will take time. The cost to replace or upgrade the building’s HVAC, plumbing and electrical, and make structural repairs, will amount to approximately $200,000. They’ll raise that money through continued donations, as well as grants and contributions from board members.

Hadish said a realistic timeline for parts of the building to be open and operational is sometime in 2026, though depending on available resources and labor, there could be major progress completed by the end of this year.

“The timeline will be determined by the availability of the skilled labor we need to hire for those various tasks,” she said. “While we would love to have at least one side of the building ready by the end of this year, it will likely be sometime in 2026.”

Community support is vital in these capital campaigns, and Hadish said Save CR Heritage’s goal is to reflect that support in their use of the newly purchased property.

“In addition to offering an appropriate storefront to sell our vintage doors, windows, flooring and other architectural salvage,” she said, “our goal is to provide a community space for small meetings, art displays, pop-up shops and more to uplift the neighborhood.”