William Lightner, master builder

Curiosity led me to William H. Lightner.

Along E Avenue NW, in the 1700 block, are two stone pillars mounted on concrete bases, alike, but on separate properties.

Strangely, on C Avenue NW, there are two more, once again in the 1700 block, again on separate properties.

What were they for, I wondered?

My daughter-in-law, Christina Thomas-Langton, even more curious than I am, stopped by one on C Avenue and looked at it up close to see if there were any identifying characteristics. As she was exploring, the homeowner arrived and told her that the obelisks marked what was once the property of William H. Lightner, a master builder who lived at 1700 C Ave. NW in the 1900s.

Lightner belonged to a family of builders. His father, Joseph, was a carpenter and contractor with 'extensive and social acquaintance in the city,” according to his obituary in The Gazette's 1904 Christmas Eve edition.

After their father's death, William and J.W. 'Wesley” continued his business as the Lightner Brothers, while brother George was business agent for the area's carpenters before he took a route into public service, serving the city as an alderman, mayor and justice of the peace.

William 'Bill” Lightner, more than 6 feet tall and weighing 215 pounds, was well known in the early 1900s as a talented wrestler.

'He has wrestled in almost every city of any importance in Iowa and has thrown some of the best men in the business,” said a 1914 Gazette story. 'He bears the reputation of being the cleanest wrestler who ever stepped into the padded ring,” said another story.

He retired from the mat in 1915 to concentrate on his business.

When wage disagreements in 1921 forced the Lightner Brothers' work on the three-story Hutchinson Ice Cream Co. building at 200 Fifth Avenue to come to a near halt, Wesley Lightner headed a small group of men who continued with concrete and detail work until brick work could be resumed. Hutchinson became a division of Borden Co. in 1951. The building housed Killian's warehouse space, Century Engineering, Network Data Processing and Fiserv NDP. Renovated in 2005, it is the home of OPN Architects. 'Hutchinson” is clearly visible in raised letters at the top.

William Lightner was president of the local Master Builders Association and vice president of the state association in 1921 when a committee of architects and builders met at the Hotel Montrose to discuss standardization of plans, specifications and workmanship for the state of Iowa. Lightner was chosen by the state association to serve on a committee to work with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover on a committee to standardize the stagnant building industry nationally.

Although he was retired in 1949, Lightner spearheaded the reconstruction of St. Patrick's Catholic Church on First Avenue West. After more than two years of construction, the side and front walls were all that remained of the original building when the work was completed in November 1951. St. Patrick's had a new roof, interior and a back wall that extended 17 feet beyond the old wall line.

Despite all his accomplishments in the building industry, Lightner is probably most often remembered locally for the detailed grotto he constructed over a period of 12 years on the campus of Mount Mercy.

In 1929, when Lightner began the work, the school was Mount Mercy Academy and consisted of one building, which later became Warde Hall. Lightner Bros. had constructed that building. In conversations with several nuns at the school, the idea was born for a religious display on the campus.

A lagoon was completed among the grand old oaks in August 1926, 'another step in the landscaping plans for Mount Mercy Academy,” according to a newspaper article. The bed of the lagoon was made of reinforced concrete and had a complete drainage system. It had a gradual slope from a few inches at the water's edge to about five feet in the middle.

The grotto was erected around the lagoon. Lightner prepared the grounds, designed and constructed the grotto out of more than 2.5 million pounds of rocks and several hundred types of semiprecious stones, coral and petrified wood that he collected throughout the world.

The focal point of the grotto was a white marble statue of Mary the Mother of Sorrows by Italian sculptor Marcello Rebechini, housed in a shrine. Other features were a pillared structure representing the Ten Commandments, arches and a bridge over a lagoon.

The grotto, completed in 1941 at a personal cost to Lightner of $42,000, was near the entrance to the college on Elmhurst Drive NE and always was open to visitors. It was dedicated on Aug. 15, 1941, by Archbishop Francis J.L. Beckman.

The grotto became a place for celebrations, devotional gatherings and pageants.

The cost of maintaining such an elaborate structure was prohibitive for the school and the grotto fell into disrepair. In 1970, the lagoon was drained, and in 1976, the main shrine was torn down to make way for student apartments, leaving the arches, bridge and Ten Commandments structures.

Eventually preservationists took notice of the grotto. Dr. Anton Rajer, art conservator and folk art specialist for the Smithsonian Institution, proposed conserving the grotto and adding it to inventories at the Smithsonian and the National Register of Historic Sites. In 2002, Jane Gilmor, Mount Mercy art professor, headed up a $30,000 restoration project that involved Rajer and a group of volunteers.

William Lightner died in 1968 and his wife, Catherine, followed in 1971.

The Lightner property was sold within three months, but the pillars still remain.

l Comments: (319) 398-8338; diane.langton@sourcemedia.net