Historic Main Street building listed among ‘most endangered’

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

One of the oldest buildings in Floyd County and part of the National Registry of Historic Places is one of the most endangered properties in Iowa, according to Preserve Iowa, a state preservation organization.

“Presently, the structural integrity of the building is a major concern. The exterior has been severely neglected and pieces of stone have fallen off,” according to the organization, which placed the building at 201 and 203 N. Main St. on its list of the most endangered historical properties in the state.

“A damaged roof has left the interior exposed to water and animals,” Preserve Iowa said.

“It kind of confirms the concerns that we see in the community,” said Charles City Administrator Steven Diers about the building also known as the Dr. J.W. Smith Building or the Winterink Building.

Hopefully, the endangered status will prompt action to “resolve that building and make it stable and work to keep that building in the community for the long haul,” Diers said.

This isn’t the first time the building has been mentioned as needing repairs and review.

On Jan. 24 the Business Improvement Committee presented a letter to the Charles City mayor and City Council, saying, “The deterioration of the … property has been the subject of numerous discussions by the Business Improvement Committee, and other entities/individuals in Charles City.”

The letter was signed by Business Improvement Committee chairman and Charles City Council member DeLaine Freeseman.

The council also received a letter from the Charles City Historical Preservation Commission on Sept. 11, 2017.

That letter, signed by commission Chairman Jeff Sisson, asked the council to hire an independent preservation building architect to provide a detailed assessment of the condition of the building, as well as the condition of its neighbor, 205 N. Main St.

“It is clear that these two buildings are in a serious state of disrepair and that their owners are either unable or unwilling to do something about it,” read the September letter from the commission. “Not only do these neglected structures present a potential safety issue, but their declining appearance and valuation are having a negative impact on the other structures around them.”

There have been conversations with the owner about the state of the building for years, said Sisson.

The building’s nomination listing on the Preserve Iowa website says, “Despite offers of help by Community Revitalization and Historic Preservation Commission representatives in locating preservation resources, the current owner has shown neither an interest in maintaining the property nor in selling it.”

Ellyn Winterink Dix is listed as the property owner on Floyd County records, and has not responded to requests from the Press for comment.

The white stone building on the corner of Clark Street and Main Street that used to house A+ Nails, and currently houses a Verizon store, was built shortly after the Civil War ended in 1866.

The part of the building that held A+ Nails has been empty for several months, but the banner for A+ Nails is still up, next to a ‘For Rent’ sign with the number of the owner.

The building was built with native limestone, though the windows have been replaced since its original construction.

The building, along with the North Main Street Historic District and Central Park, were named as part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The building was one the few left standing downtown after the 1968 category 5 tornado swept devastation through Charles City and Oelwein.

At the time the building was nominated to be part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the building was described as, “in good condition with shops on the ground floor and residential units above. A recent, one-story brick wing houses public bathrooms.”

Dix has owned the building since at least 1997, according to Floyd County records. The building is valued at $169,730.

“Its a cornerstone property in downtown Charles City,” said Sisson. “It’s very historic and it needs to be preserved. It’s got a lot of potential.”

According to Mark Wicks, Charles City community development director, the Iowa’s Most Endangered Properties list was created in 1995 to spotlight special buildings and historic sites that are slowly and gradually slipping away.

The preservation program provides a resource for media coverage and introduces endangered property owners to preservation advocates and resources that can help preserve their historic property, he said in a press release.

“Each year a call for nominations is made through the Preservation Iowa membership, Main Street communities and historic preservation commissions across the state,” Wicks said.

A panel of judges considers four criteria in choosing the final list: geographic distribution, historic significance, nature of the threat and variety of building type.

The Charles City Historic Preservation Commission nominated the Smith/Winterink Building to the list.

The building was constructed by Dr. Joel Washington Smith, one of the first physicians to move to what was then St. Charles and open a practice. 

For many years the building housed a pharmacy/drug store on the ground floor, presumably to go along with Dr. Smith’s medical practice upstairs.

The three-story structure was constructed by Ira and Anson Brackett from native limestone taken out of the old Fairgrounds Quarry, now known as Lions Field Park.

Preservation Iowa is a private, non-profit advocacy group established in 1991 to address statewide preservation concerns.