Land deal could help historic house and environment

QUASQUETON – A plan to bolster the nearly exhausted trust fund that has supported the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Cedar Rock for the past 28 years would also convert 185 acres of cropland into more environmentally sustainable parkland.

“The idea is to sell the farmland to replenish the trust fund, but sell it to us (the Department of Natural Resources),” said Kevin Szcodronski, chief of the DNR's parks bureau.

The farmland would be converted to prairie, which would improve wildlife habitat and water quality in the nearby Wapsipinicon River, he said.

Lowell and Agnes Walter, who in the late 1940s commissioned the famed architect to build their dream home, left at their deaths a trust fund for maintenance of the property, which the DNR has operated since 1982 under its state parks system.

The trust fund, which consisted of two bequests totaling $1.5 million, covered Cedar Rock's expenses until last year, when a state appropriation of $91,456 was needed to supplement the park's budget of $184,505.

According to a Dec. 1 issue review by the state Legislative Services Agency, the trustees of the Walter Charitable Trust Fund have approached the DNR about buying the farmland, with the proceeds of the sale to be deposited in the trust fund.

Though the land has a below-average corn suitability rating of 40, it could sell for as much as $700,000, according to figures assembled in the legislative issues review.

The funds would be used to meet the Walters' commitments, which include scholarships and Halloween candy for local children, but money would also be available for maintenance projects at Cedar Rock.

Szcodronski said the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation would likely broker the deal and hold title to the property until the DNR funds become available.

Pat Schmitz, site manager at Cedar Rock, said about 20,000 people a year tour the architectural gem, which had to reduce its hours of operation this year because of budget constraints.

Free will donations from 2010 visitors totaled more than $12,000, which will be applied to a roof-repair project on the site's two-story Wright-designed boat house, she said.

Szcodronski said money from the trust fund purchased the farmland, which was acquired to buffer the Wright home from development and to maintain the natural setting in which it was built.

John Maehl, parks supervisor for the DNR's Northeast District, said park officials hope to persuade legislators to increase the state parks general fund appropriation to maintain operations at Cedar Rock.

Maehl said long-term plans include establishing a 2-mile hiking and biking trail along the Wapsipinicon from Quasqueton to Cedar Rock and constructing a small campground with overnight cabins on the property.