This, my 2^nd “Word on the Street” column, is one of those that you are just going to have to humor me by reading it!

Just in case you can’t tell, I’m really enjoying my new job. One of the BEST parts of the job is that I get to go into buildings on Main Street that I have never gone before!

Sometimes it’s really great! Such as the time I toured the Odd Fellows Lodge. Wow! What a time-warp that was. I’ve also had the opportunity to go into the basement of the Belle Plaine Pharmacy buildings, the upper level of the Dr. Palmer’s Dentist office and through the building that once housed Miller’s Jewelry and Hadenfeldts Shoes. That is just to name a few.

Sometimes it’s really messy and I wished I’d worn something other than work clothes! But I still have enjoyed the opportunity to witness these inaccessible places.

Why have I gone through these buildings? Well, I’ve assisted structural engineers (with measuring) who have come with RDG, the Façade Grant’s architect firm. Or just plain out of curiosity! I’m afraid the latter has probably been more the case.

Where am I going with all of this? Well, one of the structural engineers needed to access the empty lot at 830 12^th Street – a property owned by the City of Belle Plaine. Fortunately I had a key to the padlock! Curiosity had long wrecked havoc on my mind, so I was incredibly excited about the opportunity to see just exactly WHAT was on the other side of that wall…

But first, for those of you who are or are not familiar with 830 12^th Street, what is left of the façade is a brick structure on the top half with four gaping holes that at one time were window openings. On the bottom half, you’ll see that corrugated metal has been put over the front of the lower level.

To give you a bit of history, 830 is one of three bays, adjoined to 828 and 826 12^th Street. According to a site inventory that was compiled in November 2005, the history of the building is complex, but it appears that the three bays have been functionally interconnected since 1907. In 1940, 830 was gutted by fire.

View of Building ca. 1907.

In the picture to the left, it appears that 826, 828 and 830 functioned as one business.

View of the Building ca. 1945.

In the picture to the right, fire had already gutted 830, although the lower level store front was still in place.

It is unclear to me, when the store front was removed and the cover put in place.

Okay….so back to unlocking the padlock. We opened up the door and WOW! I wasn’t expecting the sight before me. I guess I’m not sure what I WAS expecting… except that it wasn’t a 10 foot drop down (below sidewalk level – of course 830 would’ve had a basement) and I wasn’t prepared visually, for the fact that 830 runs about 100 feet back, to the alley behind. With the façade being narrow, the hole left behind was HUGE!

Just Another Day at the Office!

Joe, the engineer and I climbed down a small iron ladder and made our way through the “jungle” that has grown up in the building’s absence. As I look back to the ladder, a tree grows from behind the wall on Main Street (under the sidewalk) and climbs up to almost the top of the building to the east. On the north side, the back wall is still in place, although it’s in pretty rough condition.

830 is one of the many buildings that will be receiving a face-lift during the façade renovation. Monies have been secured through the Iowa Department of Natural Resources – Brownsfields fund, to clean up the area, repair the façade and fill the space back to street level.

Many ideas have circulated as to what the final outcome of 830 will be. Maybe it will be a small park for people to have lunch, or possibly a catch basin for water run off from 12^th Street. To be honest with you, I’m not sure what the final plan is. I guess it’s one of those – we’ll find out once the decision has been made sort of thing.

All I know is that I’m glad I could see 830 with my own eyes before changes are made. But I’m very excited about said changes so that the people of Belle Plaine will continue to have better access to their community and we’ll be better able to utilize this area that has sat useless for the last 71 years!