Cedar Rapids Country Club still working with Save CR Heritage to save historic homes from demolition

CEDAR RAPIDS — A nonprofit continues to work with the Cedar Rapids Country Club in an effort to save several historic homes from demolition to make way for the club’s expansion project.

Save CR Heritage, which works to preserve historic buildings in Cedar Rapids, advocated for the Country Club to save four homes on Fairway Terrace SE that were slated to be demolished.

The Cedar Rapids City Council in June, with four of nine council members recusing themselves from the vote, approved the Country Club’s plans to expand over seven residential lots. The council vacated the right of way to develop a tennis complex and courts, expand the parking lot and modify the driving range to boost amenities for members.

Plans called for a 35-foot-tall indoor tennis facility to be built at the north of the expanded site along 27th Street Drive SE.

Three existing tennis courts along Fairway Terrace SE will be removed and the current golf driving range will be extended, with hitting bays located closer to the vacated street.

To advance the expansion plans, the council had to approve vacating public right of way on Fairway Terrace SE and rezoning land from Suburban Residential Large Lot and Suburban Residential Low Single Unit districts to Public-Institutional. The rezoning brought the club’s entire campus into a single zoning district.

Landis Wiley, the Country Club’s board treasurer, previously said the homes were mainly rentals that were already vacated in part because of 2020 derecho damage.

The council and City Planning Commission backed the expansion plans despite opposition from some Country Club Heights residents who feared the expansion wouldn’t pair with the neighborhood’s historic character and would generate noise and light pollution and increased traffic in the area, among other concerns.

What’s happened since?

The privately owned Country Club and Save CR Heritage have worked to find parties willing to help move the homes at 418, 424, 430 and 444 Fairway Terrace SE. The homes were built around 1940.

A fifth house, at 359 27th St. Drive SE, was recently demolished. Save CR Heritage was not advocating to save that house.

“We're hopeful,” said Cindy Hadish, who’s on the board of Save CR Heritage. “These are perfectly good homes in great shape.”

Hadish said there’s a huge amount of waste that goes into the landfill when a home is demolished, but people could use materials that are worth more today than they were when the homes were built, such as hardwood floors and stone.

The process of moving homes is complex, she said, so the sooner people step forward, the better. It involves working with utility companies and often with a police escort while the house is moved.

Save CR Heritage board members, including a retired house mover, are able to offer advice on moving a house, Hadish said. The homes themselves are free, but the cost to move a home can include the move itself, building a new foundation, moving utility wires and trimming trees.

The biggest obstacle, Hadish said, is finding a vacant lot that's appropriate, as many empty lots in the city’s core can't be built on because of flood risk. Plus, houses can’t be moved across the Cedar River, so these houses would have to stay on the east side.

Tom Feller, the club’s general manager, said in an email the club would like to have the houses moved by May 1, 2023. A couple of individuals have expressed interest in moving them, but as of Wednesday, Feller said he had not received confirmation from anyone.

The Country Club and Save CR Heritage hope to move the houses or at least save valuable elements from inside the homes, Feller said.

“Cindy and Save CR Heritage have been great to work with, and we hope someone comes forward that would like to relocate the houses,” Feller said.

Those interested in moving a house may contact Feller at the Country Club, (319) 363-9673.

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