One of three historic cottages torn down ‘under cover of darkness’ in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — The southernmost of three mid-19th century cottages on South Dubuque Street has been torn down.

The cottage at 614 S. Dubuque St., formerly home to Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu Academy, was a pile of red bricks and twisted lumber by midmorning Friday.

Will Ingles, the who lives and works at The Book Shop just two doors down at another cottage at 608 S. Dubuque St., said the demo took place 'under the cover of darkness,' at some time before 8 a.m. Friday.

'I looked to the south and saw that 614 had been reduced to a pile,' Ingles said. 'It's just so cowardly to do it in the middle of the night, out of view of anybody who might put up a fight, when two of three government bodies who have any say on preserving historic buildings voted unanimously to preserve them.'

Ted Pacha, who owns the properties where all three cottages are located, did not immediately return calls for comment Friday.

Pacha spoke at a Dec. 18 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting in regard to the cottages, stating that he was frustrated with his lack of property owner's rights and said the demolition permits, which are valid for 180 days, were sought after an engineer's report deemed the structures unsafe.

'The point is they're still standing,' Pacha said at the meeting of the cottages.

Now one week later, only two cottages remain standing.

Alicia Trimble, executive director with the Friends of Historic Preservation, who has been fighting to preserve the three cottages on the 600-block of South Dubuque Street, said she was in Arizona Friday but had caught word of the cottage's demolition.

'It's sad, it's going to be a big loss for the neighborhood,' she said.

Just Wednesday, the cottages were recognized as being historically significant by Iowa's State Historic Preservation Office, Trimble said.

'So this happened a day and a half after the state recognized them as important as well,' she said.

Trimble said as unfortunate as it is that the cottage was torn down, the goal is to preserve the remaining two cottages at 608 and 610 S. Dubuque St.

'We'll still keep concentrating on the last two and hope we can save those,' she said.

Iowa City's Planning and Zoning Commission and Historic Preservation Commission have each voted the three cottages as historic landmarks and the Iowa City Council is slated to set a public hearing on Jan. 6 to discuss the issue at full. At that point a 60-day moratorium would halt demolition of the remaining two cabins — which have demolition permits issued.

Ingles said he was frustrated by the demolition of 614 S. Dubuque St., largely due to the fact that two Iowa City commissions have already declared the structure to be historically significant.

'We certainly expected that the property owner and the developer would honor the previous two commissions that voted unanimously that these should be preserved and they would wait for the city council to weigh in,' Ingles said.

In the mean time, local attorney Rockne Cole, who is representing Ingles and Susan Hultman, of Suzy's Antiques and Gifts at 610 S. Dubuque St., filed Monday an injunction preventing authorities from removing Ingles from the property. A hearing on the injunction will take place Jan. 7.

At this point, Ingles said he is steadfast in his plan to stay in the place he has called home and business for decades.

'I have no plan to leave whatsoever,' he said.