HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-10-05 Correspondence
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Date: September 23, 2004
To: City Clerk
From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner ~
Re: Item for October 5, 2004 City Council meeting: Installation of a parking meter, CL427S
with a meter term of 2 hours; $OAO/hour, on the west side of South Clinton Street in front
of the Johnson County Courthouse.
As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council
of the following action.
Action:
Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(17), Installation of a parking meter, CL427S with a meter term of 2
hours; $OAO/hour, on the west side of South Clinton Street in front of the Johnson County
Courthouse.
Comment:
This action is being taken at the request of the Parking Division due to the removal of
newspaper stands near the street.
Mgr/agendaitems/aw-<oourthouse10-5.doc
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Date: September 23, 2004
To: City Clerk ~
From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
Re: Item for October 5, 2004 City Council meeting: Installation of one STOP HERE ON RED
with ARROW sign on the south side of eastbound Church Street at the intersection with
Dubuque Street
As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council
of the following action.
Action:
Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(5), Installation of one STOP HERE ON RED with ARROW sign on
the south side of eastbound Church Street at the intersection with Dubuque Street.
Comment:
This action is being taken to improve bus turning movements from southbound Dubuque Street
to westbound Church Street until this intersection is reconstructed with larger turning radii. This
is being done in conjunction with moving the stop bar west 30 feet.
Mgr/agenda/aw-churchstoponred.doc
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Date: September 23, 2004
To: City Clerk
From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner oJY
Re: Item for October 5, 2004 City Council meeting: Installation of two trail STOP signs at the
intersection of Highway 6 Trail and the new entrance to Pepperwood Plaza on Highway
6
As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council
of the following action.
Action:
Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), Installation of two STOP signs (18" x 18") at the intersection of
Highway 6 Trail and the new entrance to Pepperwood Plaza on Highway 6
Comment:
This action is being taken due to the new entrance being constructed into Pepperwood Plaza
from Highway 6.
Mgr/agendaitems/aw-us6trail1 Q-5.doc
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Date: September 23, 2004 ¡ð /10
To: City Clerk ~
From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
Re: Item for October 5, 2004 City Council meeting: Installation of NO PARKING ANY TIME
signs on the north side of the Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue and Stanford
Avenue
As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council
of the following action.
Action:
Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(10), installation of NO PARKING ANY TI ME signs on the north side
of the Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue and Stanford Avenue
Comment:
This action is being taken at the request of the Fire Department due to parked vehicles on both
sides of the street making it too narrow for emergency vehicles to get through.
Mgr/agendaitems/aw-radcJiffe10-5.doc
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CITY OF IOWA CITY
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, Iowa 52240-1826
(319) 356-5000
September 28, 2004 (319) 356-5009 FAX
www.icgov.org
Residents of Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford Avenue:
A resident of your neighborhood contacted the City regarding a concern with emergency
vehicles being able to travel down Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford Avenue
when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street. On-street parking is currently allowed on
both sides of these streets. You may have noted that on Cornell Avenue parking is already
restricted to one side of the street. This was due to a concern about emergency vehicle access.
The City has investigated this matter, including contacting the Fire Marshall and Fire Chief for
their input. After making several observations of on-street parking during the day and evenings,
we have reached a conclusion that to ensure emergency vehicle access in your neighborhood,
parking should be restricted to one side of Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford
Avenue. We realize this may be an inconvenience for some of you, but we want to emphasize
that this action is being taken to keep your streets clear for emergency vehicle access.
We have periodically had difficulty with snowplows getting down your streets in the wintertime
due to the narrowness with on-street vehicles parked on both sides. This will alleviate that
concern as well.
This matter will be acted on officially by the City Council at their meeting on October 5, 2004.
Shortly thereafter, NO PARKING ANYTIME signs will be erected on the north side of Sweet
Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford Avenue. This side of the street has been selected
for the parking restriction because the majority of observed on-street parking presently occurs
on the south side of these streets.
Feel free to contact me at 356-5254 or anissa-williams@iowa-cityorg if you have any questions
regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
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Anissa·Williams
JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
cc: City Council
City Manager
Fire Chief
Fire Marshall
jccogtp/ltrs/sweetbriar9-22. doc
i ~ 1 CITY OF IOWA CITY
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Date: September 24, 2004
To: City Council
From: Jeff Davidson, Director of Traffic Engineering Planning ~
Re: City policies for allowing on-street parking
On your October 5 meeting agenda consent calendar is an item removing parking from one side
of Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford Avenue. This action is being requested
by the Fire Department because of vehicles parked on both sides of these streets making it too
narrow for emergency vehicles to get through. Cornell Avenue, the next parallel street to the
south, has already had parking removed from one side. Because this matter is likely to generate
comments from the neighborhood, I thought I would briefly review for you our policy for allowing
on-street parking.
On-street parking is typically allowed on collector and local streets, and restricted on arterial
streets. We have some exceptions; for example, we allow on-street parking on portions of
Summit Street, Dodge Street, Jefferson Street, and Market Street, which are arterials. The
reasons for these exceptions include attempting to reduce vehicle speeds on Summit Street, to
provide parking for old houses that have been converted to apartment buildings on Dodge
Street and Jefferson Street, and for commercial businesses on Market Street. On local and
collector streets we typically allow on-street parking on one or both sides if there are no related
safety issues.
Requests for modification of on-street parking are typically generated by residents within a
neighborhood. When a request is received we attempt to gather as much information as we can
about the particular situation. Frequently persons are irritated by neighbors parking in front of
their house. In these instances we have to explain that on public streets in residential zones any
vehicle may be parked for up to 48 hours; it is not illegal for a neighbor to park in front of your
house instead of in front of their house.
If there is a safety concern expressed, it is typically related to the safe passage of vehicles on a
narrow street with parking allowed on both sides. We investigate the matter by making
observations during the day, during the evening, or on the weekend. It may be possible for a
relatively narrow street to have on-street parking allowed on both sides as long as there are not
many vehicles parked on the street. There are many 25-foot wide streets in Iowa City with
homes constructed in the '60s and 70s where this occurs. However, if we observe a situation
where there are vehicles parked opposite each other that restrict emergency vehicles access,
we may determine that it is necessary to remove on-street parking from one side. This is what
has occurred on Sweet Briar Avenue, Radcliffe Avenue, and Stanford Avenue.
When determining on which side of the street that parking should be restricted, we will typically
allow parking on the side of the street where most on-street parking is already occurring. If there
is high demand for on-street parking we may take into consideration which side of the street has
the fewest driveways and consequently the most on-street parking spaces. We also try to
restrict parking on the same side of the street along a corridor, so that a motorist receives
consistent input about on-street parking. There is rarely a solution which makes everyone in the
neighborhood happy, but these are the factors that we take into consideration.
September 24, 2004
Page 2
If we observe very sporadic parking of vehicles in a manner which restricts emergency vehicle
access we may send a letter asking neighborhood residents for voluntary compliance in not
parking vehicles opposite each other on-street. We have had success with such letters during
snow events in making sure snowplows can get through. However, if we feel a safety issue
persists, we will proceed to remove parking on one side of the street.
If we do not observe a safety issue regarding on-street parking and there is a groundswell of
opinion within a neighborhood that on-street parking should be modified, we will typically
conduct a neighborhood survey in order to determine if the neighborhood wants on-street
parking modified. This is not always a "majority-rules" situation, as there may be a minority of
the neighborhood for which on-street parking is a real necessity and their concerns should be
taken into consideration. Ultimately, it is the City Council that makes the final decision.
Let me or Anissa Williams know if you have any questions regarding this matter.
cc: City Manager
PCD Director
Public Works Director
City Engineer
Fire Chief
Fire Marshal
Anissa Williams
jccogtp/mem'on-streel pkg.doc
Page 1 of2
Marian Karr 11~ (4)
From: Anissa Williams
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 11 :37 AM
To: 'City Council
Cc: Jeff Davidson
Subject: FW: Parking Restriction on Sweet Briar, Radcliffe and Stanford Avenues
City Council,
This is my response to Gary Hammond.
Anissa Williams
JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
410 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 356-5254
-----Original Message-----
From: Anissa Williams
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 11 :24 AM
To: 'GHaymond@aol.com'
Subject: RE: Parking Restriction on Sweet Briar, Radcliffe and Stanford A venues
Gary,
Thank you for your request.. You are welcome to comment at the City Council meeting this evening. We did do extensive
observation of these three streets. We observed approximately 12-15 times over the course of a week at different times
during the day. Also, we do want consistency and have the same situation of more parking occurring on the south side on
Stanford and Radcliffe. For consistency the south side was chosen as the more appropriate side for all three streets. We
do realize this is different than Cornell but that was chosen due to the number of driveways on each side of the street
which was also looked at for the three streets.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me or take your concerns to the meeting tonight. There will be an
opportunity for public comment.
Anissa Williams
JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
410 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
(319) 356-5254
-----Original Message-----
From: GHaymond@aol.com [mailto:GHaymond@aol.com]
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 9:18 PM
To: anissa-williams@iowa-city.org
Subject: Parking Restriction on Sweet Briar, Radcliffe and Stanford Avenues
Dear Ms. Williams:
I reside at 3005 Sweet Briar Avenue. I received your letter of September 28 concerning the proposed parking
restriction on this and parallel streets this past Friday.
10/5/2004
Page 2 of2
First, let me note that I am not surprised about the proposal to restrict parking to one side of our street. I agree that
this is probably a necessary step in order to maintain emergency vehicle access and to allow for snow removal.
However, I do disagree with the selection of the north side of our street for the parking restriction. While the
majority of observed on-street parking may seem to occur on the south side of these streets, I believe that a longer-
term observation would demonstrate that there is as much or more parking on the north side of Sweet Briar.
Moreover, I think there are several good reasons to restrict parking on the south side rather than the north side of
ou r street:
1. The natural direction from which emergency vehicles would enter our street is from the west, off of
Westminster. It is therefore logical to keep the south, or right-hand, side of the street free of parking so that an
emergency vehicle does not have to dodge around parked cars and instead can drive unimpeded along the curb.
2. If cars are parked continuously along the south side of the street, I would anticipate that this will create
problems with snow removal. The vehicles parked along the south side will throw their shadows into the street,
causing less natural snow and ice melt and a possible build-up of ice. Having cars parked on the north side of the
street means that the travelled portion of the street will receive full sun exposure during the winter, promoting
natural melting and reduction of ice.
3. You mentioned that parking has already been restricted to one side of Cornell Avenue. It is in fact restricted
on the south side of Cornell. It would therefore seem that the City should be consistent and restrict parking on the
south side of Sweet Briar, Radcliffe and Stanford as well.
Thank you for considering these comments. Given the short notice regarding this proposal, I am concerned that
there has not been an adequate opportunity for citizen input.
Gary L. Haymond
3005 Sweet Briar Ave.
Iowa City, IA 52245
319-351-3186
cc: City Council
10/5/2004
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F. James Bradley I ¡ Michael J. Pugh
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Byron G. Riley Janice J. Kerkove
Michael K. Denney Shannon P. Thompson
Patrick M. Courtney ~-_.~- Kevin C. Papp
Donald G. Thompson Laura C. Mueller
Kelly R. Baier BRADLEY & RILEY PC David J. Zylstra
Gregory J. Seyler ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS Kimberly H. Blankenship
Dean A. Spina Sarah E. Swartzendruber
Joseph E. Schmall CEDAR RAPIDS -IOWA CITY Beniamin B. Dvergsten
Bradley G. Hart 2007 FIRST A VENUE SE Tyler G. Olson
William J. Neppl
William T. McCartan CEDAR R..APIDS, IA 52402-6344 Counsel:
Maureen G. Kenney Melissa Weets Anderson
Vernon P. Squires MAILING ADDRESS: Boston, MA
Timothy J. Hill PO BOX 2804 1-800-353-2665
Paul D. Burns CEDAR R..APIDS, IA 52406-2804
TELEPHONE 319-363-0101 Randall Rings
FAX: 319-363-9824
WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.bradleyriley.com
E-MAIL ADDRESS: vsquires@bradleyriley.com
DIRECT DIAL: (319) 861-8726
September 22, 2004
THIS LETTER CONTAINS AN OFFER TO COMPROMISE AND
THE STATEMENTS MADE IN THIS LETTER ARE INADMISSIBLE
Mayor and City Council
City ofIowa City
410 East Washington Street .....)
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RE: Ron O'Neil c::>
Dear Mayor, Council and Commission:
We represent Ron O'Neil. This letter constitutes written notice under Iowa Code Section 670.5
of claims for damages against the Iowa City Airport Commission, the City of Iowa City, and
commissioners Dan Clay and Randy Hartwig. Mr. O'Neil's claims arise from his wrongful
tennination on August 12,2004 and subsequent acts of defamation by commissioners Clay and
Hartwig.
1. Wrongful tennination
The Commission (by a vote of only 2 of 5 members) tenninated Mr. O'Neil's employment on
August 12 as a result of comments he made at a public meeting on August 10, 2004. By so
{OOt94t92.DOC}
BRADLEY & RILEY PC
Mayor and City Council
September 22, 2004
Page 2
acting, the Commission violated Mr. O'Neil's free speech rights under the First Amendment to
the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The Commission also violated Iowa
Code Section 70A.29, which prohibits reprisals or retaliations against a public employee who
discloses information relating to mismanagement or abuse of authority. The Commission's
action shows remarkable insensitivity to the need for open debate and discussion about matters
of public concern, particularly given the innocuous nature ofMr. O'Neil's comments.
2. Defamation
After wrongfully terminating Mr. O'Neil's employment, Commissioners Clay and Hartwig made
statements to various local media that defamed Mr. O'Neil, including statements impugning Mr.
O'Neil's trustworthiness as an employee. Such statements are defamatory per se under Iowa law
and extraordinarily damaging in terms of Mr. O'Neil trying to obtain new employment. The
defamatory statements appeared, at minimum, in the August 18, 2004 Cedar Rapids Gazette and
the August 19,2004 Daily Iowan.
3. Damages
Mr. O'Neil's causes of action give rise to claims for presumed damages, compensatory damages,
punitive damages and attorney's fees. If the City, Commission and Commissioners Clay and
Hartwig wish to resolve this dispute before Mr. O'Neil files suit, they must agree to pay Mr.
O'Neil the sum of $525,000 by October 15, 2004. They also must agree to issue a public
retraction and apology with the wording approved in advance by Mr. O'Neil, and commissioners
Clay and Hartwig must be permanently removed from the Airport Commission.
Please have no doubt that Mr. O'Neil intends to prosecute his claims with the fullest vigor if
these demands are not met. I look forward to your written response.
Very truly yours,
BRADLEY & RILEY PC
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3547 Rohret Road
Iowa City, IA 52246-9480
22 September 2004
To: Iowa City Council
From: Hetty Hall
Tel 338-6283
I am enclosing my letter to the editor at Iowa City Press-Citizen prompted by
Susan Rotman's death while crossing the intersection at Linn and Burlington
Streets. There is a problem with the way that pedestrian crossing lights are set
up in Iowa City that no-one seems to have noticed as well as a particularly
dangerous traffic pattern at the Linn and Burlington Street intersection.
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Letter to the Editor
Iowa Press-Citizen
Susan Rotman was a friend of mine. She is the woman in the wheelchair who was killed
crossing Burlington and Linn Streets.
What no-one has mentioned in this discussion is that there are NO dedicated pedestrian
crossing lights in Iowa City. That is, when the pedestrian crossing light is on there is
always a green light to some lane of traffic. The pedestrian, having the pedestrian light,
assumes that it is safe to cross. The motorist, having a green light, assumes the
intersection is open. If conditions are less than optimal, the two end up in the same place
at the same time, which is deadly for the pedestrian.
There are two intersections where this is particularly problematic, namely Benton
St. where it ends at Monnon Trek Blvd., and Linn St. where it crosses Burlington. At
both these intersections, the cross traffic turns either right or left rather than going
straight ahead.
This came home to me when I was trying to cross Monnon Trek to walk my dog.
I looked up from attending my dog, saw the pedestrian crossing sign on, and confidently
stepped into the road, ònly to find myself almost under a car.
At Linn Street most of the traffic turns to go up or down Burlington St. Cars making a
left have a green light and assume they have the right of way. How do they know that
pedestrians also have a green light? If the sun is in the driver's eyes or if they are a little
befuddled from drinks or drugs or ifthey are distracted by their cell phone conversation
they may not be quick enough to notice the unexpected.
Pedestrians should not have to depend on the sunlight being favorable or the
driver being sober in order to safely cross the road. In every other town and citYðhen ""
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the pedestrian crossing sign is lit, all traffic is stopped. Less than that is turning ¿: 0 .r-
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After I learned of Susan's death I went out to Linn and Burlington. RUdi~ ši;; l~
Juarez is completely correct. It is impossible for an able-bodied pedestrian to w· :iroross;:- ,.J
the street in the time the crossing sign is lit. You would have to run. In respons Dav(L.)
Dowell's letter, Susan was not old. She was confined to a V'lheelchair by a musde 0
disease, not by age. Her wheelchair was motorized and quite speedy. If anything, the
short light might have contributed to her death by being so short. If she put her
wheelchair into full gear she could bullet across the street within the time of the
pedestrian light, unlike the rest of us. For a motorist turning with limited visibility,
however, an unexpected quick dart into the street could happen before he could react.
I agree with Martha Lubaroff. It is unsafe to cross the Iowa City streets using
pedestrian lights. They lure you into the intersection at the same time they give the
motorist the right of way. If Iowa City cannot provide dedicated pedestrian crossing
lights where all traffic stops for pedestrians to cross, then it should do away with
pedestrian lights altogether.
Hetty Hall
Marian Karr
From: Justin Putney [justin_putney@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 20044:52 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: burlington street
Dear Council Members,
I am writing because I believe something must be done
about the traffic problem on Burlington Street. I
work on Burlington Street and it seems everyday that I
witness at least one traffic-related accident.
Today on Burlington and Linn, someone was taken away
on a stretcher. Our company's parking lot had a car
with a smashed-in windshield and hair lodged in the
broken glass from a pedestrian earlier this surruner. I
myself was hit by car a month ago on a bike when
someone was not looking during a right turn. Then two
weeks later I was almost hit the same way on foot, and
just a week ago I was nearly hit by someOne who sped
through a red light.
When there are no fallen pedestrians there are plenty
of fender-benders. Burlington street is severely
underregulated and has consistently been a problem.
Please consider taking action on this issue.
Thank you,
Justin Putney
Do you Yahoo!?
Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.
http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo
1
Page I of2
Marian Karr ~
From: Tara Wood [isah@uiowa.edu]
Sent: Thursday, September 23, 20044:08 PM
To: 'Tom Gill, Coralville City Council'; 'Captain Matt Johnson, ICPO'; 'Captain Tom Widmer, ICPO'; 'Carol
Thompson'; 'Chair Terence Neuzil'; 'Chief Barry Bedford, CPO'; 'Chief R.J. Winkelhake, ICPO'; 'Henry
Herwig'; 'lowaCity, City Council'; 'Jean Schnake, Coralville City Council'; 'Jeff Barkhoff, CPO'; 'Joh Weihe,
Coralville City Council'; 'John Lundell, Coralville City Council': 'Johnson County Attorney'; 'Johnson County
Sheriff; 'Lieutenant Jim Steffen'; 'Mayor Jim Fausett, Coralville'; 'Mike Lehman'; 'Pat Harney'; 'Sally
Stutsman'
Subject: Take Back the Night Invitation
Please attend this event, and pass along the information to others.
Thank you,
Tara Wood
Iowa Sexual Abuse Hotline Coordinator
Rape Victim Advocacy Program
320 S. Linn Street
Iowa City. Iowa 52240
319.335.6015
isah@uiowa.edu
"The greatest prayer is patience. "..- Buddha
Take Back the Night
Annual Rally & March Protesting Violence against Women
--..- -- ---- --- -- ---- --- --- -- -----
--- --- ---
September 22, 2004
Take Back the Night, an internationally observed event protesting violence against women, will be held in Iowa City
on Thursday, October 7th this year, and we urge you to attend. The purpose of this event is to educate the
community of the problems and solutions to sexual violence, empower those in attendance, provide a safe place for
survivors to speak out, and send a message that this violence must end.
This year's theme is "We Will Not Be Controlled By Fear." The rally starts at 7 PM at City Plaza Fountain Stage
near the Sheraton in downtown Iowa City. A candlelit march will follow and end with a Speak-out at College
Green Park.
The rally will feature VI President David Skorton, RV AP Executive Director Karla S. Miller, Johnson County
Assistant Attorney Victoria Dominguez, and student speakers.
We invite you to attend the Take Back the Night Rally & March and communicate your intolerance to sexual
violence in our community.
Contact the following Take Back the Night Planning Committee Members if you have questions:
Sarah Anthoney Laurie Haag
Rape Victim Advocacy Program Women's Resource & Action Center
335-6018 335-1486
Sincerely,
9/23/2004
Page 2 of2
The Take Back the Night Planning Committee
2004 Planning Committee: Rape Victim Advocacy Program, Women's Resource & Action Center, Iowa Women Initiating
Social Change, Emma Goldman Clinic, UI Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, The Stepping Up Project, Johnson County
Victim Advisory Board
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9/23/2004
Marian Karr r=¡l
From: Oscar C. Beasley [oscarcbeasley@msn.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 26, 2004 6:54 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: Good full page article on eastern Iowa in Los Angeles Times Travel Section Sun. Sept. 12,2004
A California friend mailed me this well written full page article (page L-16) with color photos of Iowa City and surrounding
towns and villages of interest. The lead page of the section is a full page color photo of an Iowa farm with threatening dark
skies above. Very eye catching. Please phone me at 338-4672 if interest in having it. I have the whole travel section for 9-
12-04.
Oscar C. Beasley
30 Ashwood Dr
Iowa City, IA 52245-3204
9/27/2004
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"Your Personal Airline" 2DD4 SEP 27 PH 2: /9
September 24, 2004 en-'y' CLEf~¡<
BY CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED IOVVA CiTy IOINA
Iowa City Airport Commission
1801 South Riverside Drive
Iowa City, IA 52246
RE: Jet Air, Inc. . Iowa City Municipal Airport Fixed Base Operator's Agreement
rNotice of Lease Renewall
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
Existing Lease. I refer to the Iowa City Municipal Airport Fixed Base Operator's
Agreement ("FBO Agreement") dated November 1, 2001, between the Iowa City Airport
Commission ("Commission") and Jet Air, Inc. ("JA").
Initial Term; Renewal Options. Paragraph 1 of the FBO Agreement provides:
Term. This lease shall be in effect for five (5) years beginning the 1 day of
January, 2002, and ending the 31 day of December, 2006. JA is granted an
option to lease the premises for up to four (4) additional five (5) year terms.
JA will notify the Commission in writing 120 days before the end of the initial
lease of their intentions for the second five-year term, and likewise, for each
succeeding five (5) year option.
JA's Exercise of Option to Renew. Pursuant to paragraph 1 of the FBO Agreement, JA
hereby exercises its option to renew the FBO Agreement for the second five-year term
which begins January 1,2007, and ends December 31,2011.
Progress; Relationship with Commission and City. We hope that we've met or
exceeded the expectations of the Commission, the Mayor and Council, the flying public,
and the citizens of Iowa City. We have very much enjoyed our relationship with all of you
and are taking this opportunity to exercise our option to renew as an expression of our good
faith and our continued commitment to the Iowa City Airport and its users.
I can't stress enough that the airport is vital to the effective functioning of the University, of
the University Hospitals and Clinics, of the VA Hospital, and of the many businesses and
industries that are located in and about Iowa City.
Municipal Airport Ii
Rural Route 2, Box 117
GaJesburg, IL 61401
(309) 342-3134
September 24,2004
Page 2
We're looking forward to the runway extension which will allow a great many more jet and
turbo-prop aircraft to safely land at lOW.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me or Jet Air's President, Harrel
W. Timmons.
With every good wish,
.1
Jet Air, Incj .I/
, J ,/,/
/~' Y~;;jb~
by /11)/ . f¿ ;11$
Barry aras
Its E)(ecutive Vice President
cc:
Ernest W. Lehman
Mayor - City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street r¿;
Iowa City, IA 52240 ð ~
z 0 r't\ -\\
? "';--, "'1J __
Steve Atkins y -:2 {'0 '(
City Manager - ~ity of Iowa City 0, n ...J '\Íì
410 East Washington Street -:2t:;:, ~ 0
Iowa City, IA 52240 - _~, ..»
0'7'- r;?
z _
Susan Dulek 'Ý ...0
Assistant City Attorney - City of Iowa City
410 East Washington Street
Iowa City, IA 52240-1826
Harrel W. Timmons, President
Jet Air, Inc.
58 Illinois Route 164
Galesburg, IL 61401
Ronald D. Duffe, Station Manager
Jet Air, Inc.
Iowa City Municipal Airport
1801 South Riverside Drive
Iowa City, IA 52246
Robert N. Downer
Meardon, Sueppel & Downer, P.L.C.
122 South Linn Street
Iowa City, IA 52240-1830
(Jet Air's Iowa City General Counsel)
21 ~'
Marian Karr 4 10
From: Sam Cochran [samcia1232@mchsi.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 29,200410:06 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21
Dear Iowa City City Council Members:
Thank you for taking the time to offer an open work session concerning the nineteen and older ordinance
pertaining to bar admittance. I was present at the meeting, and listened carefully to all points of view. I have
been a resident of Iowa City for twenty-two years, and am currently an administrator at the University of Iowa
(Director of the University Counseling Service) and a member of the executive committee of Stepping Up.
There is no single solution to the problem of alcohol abuse by underage persons in our community. This was
evident in the comments last night. I have my opinions about what would move us in the 'right' direction. But
lately I have begun to view this community problem from a different perspective.
I -think that you, as community leaders, are faced with a difficult task if you go ahead and fully consider
changing the nineteen and older ordinance. But I believe the task ahead also provides you with an opportunity
to clearly communicate to all our citizenry the values you wish to guide our future and the future of our
downtown. At this risk of sounding dramatic, let me tell you how I see this challenge. On the one hand, you
could value the importance of the safety of our young people under twenty one, the future of the downtown area
as a vital and inviting destination for young and old alike, the collaborative effort needed to contain and reduce
the damage done by alcohol abuse both downtown but all over our community, and the good work of your staff
who patrol our streets. On the other hand, you could value the so-called right of the tavern and bar-owners to
exploit the young people of our community, the impassioned and alannist, but baseless, claims of a few
university students who I do not believe represent the majority of students much less the citizens of Iowa City,
and the comfort of avoiding what will be a difficult and painful scenario for many in this community.
I am persuaded by Jim Clayton's economic analysis of this issue. There are simply too many bars in downtown
Iowa City that rely on a large population of under-age drinkers for a sustained profit. This is, in the final
analysis, simply unacceptable morally or economically. In order to have a safe, vibrant, and diverse downtown
some bars will simply have to 'go under.' So be it. I do not believe the rights of the bar owners to economically
exploit our under age citizenry outweighs the interest that you, I, my neighbors, and our children, have in
securing the kind of future we all want for Iowa City. Raising the bar admittance age to twenty one will start us
down the right road. Maintaining the status quo, that is keeping the nineteen and older ordinance in place, will
simply postpone or hinder the work of many of us in the community to move in the right direction and will
continue to send mixed messages to the citizens ofIowa City.
Do the Right Thing!
Sincerely,
Sam Cochran
1232 Teg Drive
Iowa City, IA 52246
9/30/2004
Marian Karr
From: James Dreier [mudrums@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 6: 19 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21 age restriction won't work and will hurt local musicians
Dear council members, A little common sense is needed
in the discussion to raise the bar limit to 21 year
olds only. Not only would it NOT make a dent in the
underage drinking (moving the drinking into the
neighborhoods), but it would do real harm to an
already hurting live music scene. These live music
venues help support musicians all year long, so they
can participate in the "free" music events that make
this city so great (Friday Night Concert Series, Arts
Fest, etc.) .
Live music clubs depend on young people (sorry, but
people our age just don't go out that much) and young
people benefit from hearing great music from here and
around the country. Denying access to these clubs
would be disservice to all involved. Please read the
letter (below) that was published in the PC Op-Ed
section today (9/29/04) . I think I make my point, and
I hope someone is listening.
James Dreier
424 N. Van Buren St.
Iowa City, IA 52245
319.354.7115
----------------------------------------
Bar entry limit would hurt music
Iowa City residents should consider the negative
impact on local musicians, music students, young adult
music enthusiasts and bars that support live music if
the legal age for entering a bar is raised to 21
("Time to end 19-only folly in Iowa City," Sept. 28)
The Iowa City music scene is the best in the state,
and one of the best (considering its size) in the
country. This is largely because of the talent and
perseverance of the artists and a generally supportive
community.
But a strong music scene would be impossible without
the support of local bars willing to make the
investment in live music, and the local young people
who support it and benefit from it.
These clubs (The Sanctuary, The Green Room, The Mill,
The Yacht Club, The Siren, Gabes, and others) are
rarely the site of alcohol-induced riots or calls for
the new city police "paddy" wagon. Yet, a 21-year-old
restriction could very well be the final nail in the
coffin of several clubs struggling to keep both live
music and a profit.
No live music clubs would mean nO real music scene In
Iowa City. Those who are under the illusion that Clapp
and Hancher can supply us all the music we need are
1
sorely mistaken.
The bar scene was the birthplace of American popular
music and where it continues to be nurtured. It is a
critical part of any musician's livelihood and
education. Choking off this cultural resource would be
a huge mistake.
James Dreier
Iowa City
Do you Yahoo!?
New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
2
Page 1 of 1
Marian Karr
From: Nathan, Peter [peter-nathan@uiowa.edu]
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 10: 16 AM
To: marian-karr@iowa-city.org
Cc: James E. Clayton
Subject: Abusive Drinking in Iowa City
Dear Ms. Karr:
I would like to ask you to include in the next City Council Information Packet the attached document, "Abusive Drinking in
Iowa City."
Thank you.
Peter E. Nathan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter E. Nathan, PhD
Department of Psychology, College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, University of Iowa, E119 Seashore Hall,
Iowa City IA 52242
319-335-2427; 319-335-0191 (fax)
Department of Community and Behavioral Health, College
of Public Health, University of Iowa, E241 General
Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
319-384-5390; 319-384-5385 (fax)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
*** eSafe scanned this email for malicious content ***
*** IMPORTANT: Do not open attachments from unrecognized senders ***
9/29/2004
Abusive Drinking in Iowa City - I
Abusive Drinking in Iowa City
1. How does drinking by students at the University of Iowa compare to
drinking by students at other colleges and universities?
. Several national surveys by HeillY Wechsler and his colleagues at the
Harvard School of Public Health, beginning in the early 1990s and
continuing to the present, have reported that somewhat fewer than half of
the undergraduates they surveyed (between 42-46%) meet criteria as
bin2:e drinkers. This means that, for males, they reported drinking five or
more drinks (a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine, a I-ounce shot)
once during the two-week period preceding the survey; for females, four
or more drinks on a single drinking occasion meets the criterion. Wechsler
and his colleagues also found that about 1 in 5 of the surveyed
undergraduates (18-20%) met the binge drinking criteria 3 or more times
during the two-week survey periods and were tenned frequent bin2:e
drinkers.
. Our research with VI undergraduates has reported substantially higher
rates of binge drinking and rrequent binge drinking. In our 1997-2001
project, 70% of UI undergraduates met criteria as bin2:e drinkers and
46% met criteria as frequent bin2:e drinkers. In our 2003 follow-up
survey, after the 19-option was implemented, 73% ofUI
undergraduates met criteria as bin2:e drinkers and 43% met criteria
as frequent bin2:e drinkers. These figures place VI undergraduates at the
top of the national distribution of both categories of binge drinkers
2. What are the consequences of drinking by UI undergraduates and how do
they compare to those experienced by students at other colleges and
universities?
. Wechsler and his coworkers asked students to report on the rrequency
with which they experienced 10 alcohol-related drinking consequences:
hangover, regretting something they did when drinking, getting into
arguments while drinking, missing class because of drinking ot its
consequences, forgetting where they were or what they were doing while
they were drinking, experiencing unplanned sex because of drinking,
experiencing unsafe sex because of drinking, damaging property because
of drinking, becoming injured because of drinking, and getting into trouble
with the police because of drinking. Not surprisingly, bin2:e drinkers
reported these consequences significantly more than did non-binge
drinkers, and frequent bin2:e drinkers reported them significantly
more than binge drinkers.
. For example, when VI binge drinkers were asked about the consequences
of their drinking, 66% reported having regrets about something they did
Abusive Drinking in Iowa City - 2
when they were drinking and 52% reported forgetting where they were; by
contrast, 37% of the binge drinkers in the national sample experienced
regrets, and 26% forgot where they were. Similarly, 67% of frequent binge
drinkers at the VI reported getting into arguments when they were
drinking, as against 42% offrequent binge drinkers in the national sample,
while 46% of frequent binge drinkers at the UI reported an experience of
unplanned sex when they had been drinking, as against 41 % in the
national sample. Overall, in 20 of 20 comparisons of alcohol-related
consequences, VI bill!!e drinkers and frequent bin2:e drinkers
reported higher rates of adverse consequences of drinking than
comparable students in the national sample.
3. If VI students can't drink in downtown Iowa City, won't they simply
increase their drinking elsewhere, primarily at house parties?
. Discussions with students about the effects of a possible change to a 21-
only policy in Iowa City's bars and taverns almost always leads to the
claim that if students cannot drink in the bars and taverns, they will simply
begin to drink at house parties and in apartments. Doing so, they claim,
will be much more dangerous than drinking in the bars and taverns,
because they will have to drive to the parties and adults will not be
available to care for them when they become very intoxicated. This
scenario does not accord with a great deal of data reported through
the years that document the importance of easv access to alcohol for
youthful drinkers in leading them to drink. These data indicate that as
price of alcoholic beverages becomes higher or enforcement of laws
against underage drinking becomes more predictable, students drink less.
Similarly, there appears to be a verv significant positive relationship
between the number of bars in a college community, the amount of
drinking by students, and the number of adverse consequences of that
drinking. A recent study published by Weitzman, Folkman, Lemieux, and
Wechsler (2003) makes this point very clearly.
"New findings from the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol
Study (CAS) confirm a strong correlation between frequent and risky
drinking behavior among students and a high saturation of alcohol
outlets - bars and liquor stores - within two miles of their campuses.
The study focused on alcohol outlet density at eight colleges
participating in the American Medical Association's, "A Matter of
Degree" (AMOD) program - a national effort to reduce high-risk
drinking on college campuses. The study is published in the first
quarterly issue of the international journal Health and Place (Volume 9,
Number 1), and was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Findings were based on data collected from eight universities known
for high rates of binge drinking. Researchers used listings of local
alcohol licenses and electronic mapping tools to calculate
Abusive Drinking in Iowa City - 3
neighborhood alcohol outlet density. Comparisons were made between
outlet density and 1999 CAS reports of student drinking. The findings
showed that in areas where alcohol density was highest, students
drank more and had more drinking-related problems.
"Some colleges have a very tough time fighting unsafe and harmful
drinking given the heavy concentration of alcohol outlets in their own
backyards," said Elissa Weitzman, Sc.D., lead author of the article. "An
effect of high density may be greater competition among bars, so
alcohol is accessible everywhere and is offered to young people at
heavily discounted prices. We think this is what links density to unsafe
student drinking."
Researchers point out that reducing the number of alcohol outlets may
be an important component in preventing frequent and heavy drinking
and its harmful effects. They urge college towns to address the role of
outlet density in drinking through public discussion between local
officials and business owners.
For example, communities can actively debate restricting and
supervising alcohol licensing to bars and liquor stores, and limiting
promotions of alcohol to students."
. Based on these data, and a substantial number of other studies making the
same point, we anticipate that while there would be a modest increase in
drinking in house parties were the 21-only option to be instituted in
Iowa City, overall consumption of alcohol by VI underage students
would drop by 25-30%, with a corresponding decrease in the number
of adverse alcohol-related consequences.
Peter E. Nathan, Ph.D.
9/6/04
rag\: 1 Ul 0
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By George Merritt and Monte Whaley tJwV\-<ý"
Denver Post StaffWrifers
Sunday, September 26, 2004 -
Kyle James and Nick Swanson are soaking up the good times Thursday evening with a half-dozen buddies.
The refrigerator at their house in Boulder is crammed with bottles of beer - Easy Street Wheat, Henry Weinhard's
Private Reserve, Mickey's Malt Liquor.
The young men shout over Phish songs and crowd into the kitchen for another round of "quarters" - a fast-paced
drinking game that requires the loser to chug a beer. Marijuana smoke wafts above, and a banner advertisement
for Miller High Life kegs hangs on the wall.
"This is why I love college,· says James, who is still months away from his 21st birthday.
Not long after the sun sets at the University of Colorado at Boulder, groups of underage students make what has
become a routine pilgrimage off campus.
Their mecca? The keg party.
"We go out like four nights a week," says Jaclyn Smith, 18. "We know some older people, and we usually go up to
parties at houses."
At college campuses in Colorado and across the country, underage students are drinking harder and longer than
ever before, researchers say. Mass marketing feeds the craze with images of fun-loving friends drinking to have
fun.
No type of booze is off limits, says John Musa, owner of Campus West Liquor Depot in Fort Collins. And, it seems,
students have more money for liquor than in previous years, he says.
"It's beer one week, vodka the next," he says.
The frenzy perpetuates as eager freshmen arrive every fall, hoping to quench years of anticipation.
"My first weekend here, it felt like Mexico," says CU student Caitlin Boyle, 18.
As each school year begins, administrators and police try to slow the students down. They offer classes about the
dangers of alcohol and warn their flock about breaking the law. Those warnings are the only voices of caution for
students who are beyond the reach of their parents.
Many underage students say the message is futile. They will drink, they say, and they will drink a lot - the law be
damned.
"It is the stage of my life," says Brandon Pacheco, an 18-year-old at CU. "It's time to party."
An eager market
http://www.denverpost.com/cda/article/printlO, 1674,36% 7E23 827% 7E24 27 640,00 .html 9/28/04
ragt; ¿ Vi V
A smorgasbord of cheap and seductive incentives to get plastered greet Colorado college students, and many dig in
with glee.
Beckoning are the sexy images of the Coors twins. Bar promotions such as "Flip Night" and "Power Hour" promise
quick intoxication. Then there are the potent concoctions themselves with the creative names - Car Bomb, Bionic
Beaver, Mind Eraser.
Many students say the revelry leaves them relatively unscathed - a hangover and, perhaps, a few missed classes.
This month, however, two students have died during the festivities. Colorado State University sophomore Samantha
Spady was found dead Sept. 5 with a 0.436 blood-alcohol level after bingeing. Less than two weeks later, University
of Colorado freshman Lynn Gordon Bailey died after an apparent hazing incident involving alcohol.
Several students at CU and CSU said the deaths, while tragic, haven't changed their habits.
"Yeah, I mean, we thought about it," said CU senior Cody Eberl, 22. "But I think we went and got drunk that night."
The temptation to drink is everywhere. Along the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, young women In tight black T-shirts
hand out $5 coupons for drinks at anew bar.
·You guys want free beer?" one asks a group of students strolling by.
Cranford Delano Newell Jr. and several of his friends like to drink at the Boulder nightclub Styr, where drinks are
just $1 from 8 to 9 p.m.
As 9 p.m. approached, Newell's group collected several extra Red Bull Vodkas and a dozen shots of Jagermeister to
suck down after the deal expired.
"This is where I usually start things off," Newell said.
A view from behind the bar
At Sullivan's Sports Tavern near CSU, a football helmet signed by head coach Sonny Lublck dangles over a well-
worn bar.
CSU graduate Brian Mattison fetches crunchy chicken fingers, thick hamburgers and pints of beer for patrons.
Owner Pete Borba - a bear of a man whose old high school football days are immortalized on T-shirts sold at the
bar - tends to random chores.
He was going to hire Spady as a waitress at the end of the semester, he said last week. Her sudden death was a
jolt.
"I just couldn't believe it," Borba said. ·She was smart, funny, and everyone just loved her."
VIDEO Borba is convinced that his bar is probably the safest place for anyone to drink in Fort Collins.
Anyone who is getting too drunk is cut off and given a ride a home, Borba said. That doesn't
Denver Post reporter always happen at private parties.
George Merritt talks
about how students
on college campuses "It's easy for anyone to go to a liquor store and buy a couple of bottles and get hammered,· he
view drinking as a rite said. "But here, everybody watches out for everybody else, and they get taken care of.·
of passage.
~ Play The competition for students is fierce among the bars in Fort Collins, and Borba insists he more
Video than holds his own.
http://www.denverpost.com/cda/article/print/O, 1674,36% 7E23 827% 7E24 27 640,00 .htm1 9/28/04
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drink for 25 cents.
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During the Power Hour on Fridays, students can consume beer and well drinks at reduced
prices throughout the evening, ending with the Bionic Beaver special from 10 to 11 p.m. A Bionic Beaver is
grenadine mixed with beer in a pitcher. Students drink it with a straw.
While the gimmicks can get a student drunk, they don't have to get him killed, Borba said.
"We offer cheap drinks, and then we watch them (students)," he said. "They don't have the opportunity to get
drunk and then take their lives in their own hands."
CU mantra: We're No. 1
Numerous CU students say they keep an eye on the school's rank as a party school. In recent years, Princeton
Review's guide to colleges rated CU as No. 1. While school officials dismiss the review, its message resonates with
students, especially after CU's ranking fell to No.9 this year.
"Being the No.1 party school is a big influence," said Kim loeffler, a senior. "It honestly makes people want to do
more. "
Said the 18-year-old Boyle: "Well, we're going to make it No.1 again. That is all I have to say."
That kind of mentality has students drinking more than ever, according to Harvard studies. While the number of
college binge drinkers has plateaued in recent years, those who choose to drink are downing shots at potentially
deadly rates.
In a recent California survey of 1,000 male college students, researchers found that some freshmen consumed 24
or more drinks in a sitting.
"These are levels of drinking at which most men will have passed out or become comatose," said Paul Gruenewald,
of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.
At Nick Swanson's house Thursday, the young men continued drinking, playing games and offering toasts to
hookers. He and his roommates have tacked 10 keg caps to their kitchen wall since they moved in four weeks ago.
Swanson ought to be a junior, but he is no longer enrolled at CU. Still, he is certain he and his friends aren't
drinking too much.
"These guys know when they get to their maximum," Swanson said. "There are people who don't. They do what I
call 'puke and rally' - you know, get sick and then keep drinking. But these guys are just trying to have a good
time."
His roommate James wears the scars of his drunken adventures with pride. limping around the kitchen, he tells
how he broke his leg scaling a fence at a Rockies game after a dozen drinks.
Doctors rebuilt his ankle with three pins and a plate, but the injury hasn't slowed his drinking. James got home
from surgery and modified his crutches with duct tape to make a holster for beer.
Bars, liquor stores criticized
Critics say the binge drinking is stoked by the bars and liquor stores that target students through volume discounts.
http://www.denverpost.com/cdalarticle/printlO.1674.36%7E23827%7E2427640.00.htmI9/28/04
- ··0'
Liquor companies - through promotions, advertising and corporate sponsorships - have become linked with good
health and a good time, said Jessica Webster, whose brother Taylor, a student at CSU, died two years ago of
alcohol poisoning.
And when students are ready to drink at CSU, Webster noted, they won't have far to go. There are 107 liquor
outlets, including stores and restaurants, within a 1-mile radius of campus.
"They associate beer companies with all the fun events in their lives, baseball games, county fairs, etc.," said
Webster, 23. "We have to wonder if all this is giving young people the underlying notion that drinking is good."
But promotions and ads only tell half the story, said Sally Webster, Jessica's mother.
"They don't show someone peeing on a tree or throwing up on people," Webster said. "They never show the true
aspects of what's going on."
Officials at CSU, however, say the campus has been muted since Spady's death. Last week, there were few, if any,
posters or fliers that promoted heavy drinking.
One young woman, however, was handing out small fliers for a fledgling bar in the main business district of Fort
Collins. Its specialty: a drink that mixes beer, whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream called the Car Bomb.
It "tastes like chocolate," she explained.
The long road ahead
As chairman of CU-Boulder's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, Bob Maust realizes that real change won't
come easily.
While he compares curbing student alcohol abuse to "herding cats," he remains optimistic that, over time, binge
drinking will follow the path of smoking, which has become less and less popular.
Meanwhile, the school is cracking down on repeat offenders - suspending students with just two violations.
Freshmen now are required to take an online course on drinking.
"I don't expect anyone to do that and say, 'Gosh, I don't think I will drink again,"' Maust said. But maybe some 18-
year-olds will say no to the shots that could possibly kill them.
Tougher rules over time will affect what kind of student wants to come here, and what the expectation and attitude
about drinking will be. "That is a cultural shift," he said.
Back at Campus West Liquor Depot, Musa said it simply comes down to choice and personal responsibility.
"A bottle of booze is harmless until you open it up."
Staff writer George Merritt can be reached at 303-247-9948 or Qmerritt@denverDost.com.
Staff writer Monte Whaley can be reached at 970-416-9451 or mwhaley@denveroost.com.
The many consequences of alcohol on campus
According to 2002 research on college students between ages 18 and 24, the effects of heavy alcohol use go far
http://www.denverpost.com/cda/articIe/printJO, 1674,36% 7E23 827% 7E24 27640,00 .html 9/28/04
Page 6 of 6
Drinking patterns
r students at the Uníversity of
Iorado at Boulder are likely to
stain from drili:ing alcohol than
lei" comt:.erparts at other calt1 XJ5eS,
nd they are more likely to binge,
íng to 2001 t(!Search in which
were asked about drirddng
abits. A malè binge drinker imbibes
'Ie or IT1OI'e alcoholic drinks in a
'tUng; a female binge drinker tosses
k at least four.
University of Colorado
National public unilA'!rSitìes with
errollments larger than 10,000
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Cfõ THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
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o 21-0NL Y BAR-ENTRANCE POLICY POSITION
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1
POSITION STATEMENT
The Iowa City community has a serious problem with irresponsible alcohol consumption. However, a
greater problem lies within the proposed actions to curb irresponsible use. Since the enactment of the
19-only bar-entrance policy, in 2003, the City of Iowa City has seen few changes in irresponsible alcohol
consumption. University of Iowa Student Government advocates a different approach in the fight to
educate consumers.
Members of the City of Iowa City are currently advocating for a 21-only bar-entrance policy. This policy,
though seemingly effective in the fight against irresponsible use, will accelerate irresponsible consumption
and destroy the chances that the community may have to effectively combat this serious heàlth
problem.
Currently, statistics compiled by the City staff indicate that the 19-only policy has been effective in
curbing irresponsibility and presupposes that a further restriction will increase the effectiveness. We
qrgue, however, that the results are statistically biased. If there is a concentration of the police officers in
the downtown area, then there will be less police oversight in the neighborhoods. The Press-Citizen ran
an article in August detailing an increase in alcohol sales in Johnson County over the past year. We
believe this correlates to a steady rise in house parties where students seek to consume alcohol.
Many argue that a 21-only policy would enable consistency in the fight against irresponsible
consumption. This is also untrue. The Iowa City community does not have a strategic plan to deal with
alcohol consumption. The interested parties (Le. University of Iowa students, faculty, staff, administration;
The Stepping Up Project: and City of Iowa City) have yet to reach a coordinated and well-developed
plan. The only consistency within the entire debate is the regulated age of consumption, not the means
to curb irresponsible use.
2
Enacting a 21-only policy to control avenues of consumption will not reduce the level of consumption.
This assertion, though researched, forgets the stark reality that consumption will explode in unsafe venues.
Currently, the downtown establishments monitor the patron's alcohol intake, use careful wrist-band
systems, utilize the city's T.I.P.S. training courses, employ sober staff and pay heavy fines if found serving
minors. This is a safer environment; however, the decentralization of consumption will only lead to
uncontrolled house parties in neighborhood areas, which is an extremely unsafe environment.
The University of Iowa Student Government believes that a broad, well planned, and proactive
educational approach should be the number one priority of the City of Iowa City and University of Iowa.
We also believe that the following steps can act as beginning plans to encourage responsible alcohol
consumption.
The University of Iowa Student Government recommends the following actions:
0 The City of Iowa City, University of Iowa Community, and University of Iowa Student Government
should work together to develop a comprehensive 5-year plan to educate and prevent binge
consumption.
A coalition between the City of Iowa City, University of Iowa administration, University of Iowa
Student Government. and The Stepping Up Project should be formed to develop a
comprehensive and strategic educational campaign. The campaign should educate k-12
students and college students on the dangers of over consumption.
0 A coalition should be formed between Health Iowa, College of Public Health, University Relations,
and Iowa State Board of Regents to execute a statewide education campaign,
Broad based support and new actors should be brought into the fight against irresponsible
consumption. The coalition should utilize the effective outreach mechanisms available to reach
young, and old, about the dangers of risky consumption.
3
0 Safety should be the number one priority when setting alcohol consumption policies.
It is important that throughout the debate the safety of the students and neighborhood residents
remain the number one priority. All politics and biases should be forgotten in an effort to educate
and persuade responsible alcohol consumption.
0 After an education campaign and coalition building, the City of Iowa City should evaluate the 19-
only bar entrance policy.
To prevent an increase in house parties and unsafe environments the City of Iowa City should
reasonably evaluate the 19-only bar entrance age and determine the necessity of changing the
policy. If the 19-only policy is changed without the coupling of an education and prevention
campaign, then house parties and irresponsible use will continue. The only accomplishment will
be that the problem will be "Out of sight, out of mind". This stance is irresponsible and detrimental
for the entire Iowa City community.
0 The City of Iowa City should employ supply-side economics to help curb irresponsible use.
The City of Iowa City has the ability to regulate the alcohol vendors in order to curb underage
consumption. We ask the city to address zoning ordinances; place stricter mandates upon
alcohol establishments (Le. drink specials, wristband and fining systems). This is the best policy to
regulate the supply, without irresponsibly regulating the demand.
0 Finally, the coalition should fight to change the State of Iowa law, which prevents the fines for
Possession of Alcohol under the Legal Age (PAULA) to exceed $150.00.
Irresponsible and underage consumers should be hit where it hurts the most-in their pocket book.
University of Iowa Student Government advocates for an increase in the $150.00 PAULA citations
fee. This will keep responsible users from being fined, while irresponsible users will be effectively
punished.
4
If these policies are adopted in a thoughtful and planned manner the entire community will benefit.
Students will be safer. The City of Iowa City will act responsibly. Together everyone will live more
healthfully and happily. Without consideration of these arguments and policies the Iowa City community
is encouraging an environment for irresponsible use and turning a blind-eye to the cultural and historical
problems with irresponsible consumption. University of Iowa Student Government encourages the City of
Iowa City to embrace these policies and join us in the fight against irresponsible use.
S
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To: Iowa City Council Members ç'") 11
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Re: Discussion of 19 ordinance I --
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Dear Council Members, \.D
I would like to request a two- week delay in the discussion of the 19
ordinance. Several bar owners are working to put together a self- governing
board for downtown bars in the CB 1 0 district. While many details are not
refined at this point, the purpose would be to try to set up rules and
regulations that are reasonable and can help cut back on underage as well as
excessive drinking. It is my hope we can come to an agreement on paper
and use peer pressure of a board, as well as citizen complaints to the police
for additional policing to the problem bars, to help to monitor the activity. I
personally am volunteering my time and energy to this and believe I can be
open-minded as to its progress. Please give us time to put this together for
your discussion.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Leah Cohen
~
Page I of I
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Marian Karr
From: West, Vicki [VickLWest@churchdwight.com]
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 8:36 AM
To: 'council@iowa-city.org'
Subject: under 21 in bars discussion
I have written to you before about this discussion. It seems to me that Ames has been keeping under 21 's out of bars for
many years.
It has not hurt them, it has helped. It looks like it comes down to what parents and policemen think vs. students and bar
owners? Which will you
choose? If you make it 21 and over in bars, you will still have fake ID's, which you will need to crack down on, but it will
also relieve the police to
concentrate on house parties! I think Ames has the right idea. You should enact all the laws they have on their books, ie
- kegs, responsibilities
for underage drinking, etc. Iowa City should be able to handle this problem better than Ames. Underage drinking need to
be stopped. They are too immature.
Thank you,
Vicki West
Quality Control Lab Tech
Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
Oskaloosa Plant
641-673-8514
vicki. west@churchdwight.col11
The information contained in this message may be confidential and/or subject to legal privilege, and is for the
use of the intended addressee only. Any unauthorized use, dissemination or copying of the information in this
message is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately
and delete this message.
10/4/2004
1', ·1
ð (I () i
Marian Karr
From: Grace, Elizabeth M [elizabeth-m-grace@uiowa.edu]
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 2004 1 :27 AM
To: counci/@iowa-city.org
Subject: Opinions about bar policy
My opinion may be a minority, but the problem should be addressed.
Fighting the 21 only policy is fine, however, I think a more worthwhile
fight would include improving the lives of the people living in Iowa
City by fighting for a "smoke-free bar policy". States, cities, and
countries as enlightened as California, New York City, and Ireland have
addressed this growing health concern. The effects of second-hand smoke
are known to be extremely dangerous to smokers as well as non-smokers.
Iowa City could really put itself on the map as a progressive school
that cares about public health by enforcing this policy.
Thanks for keeping the forum open.
Sincerely,
Liz Grace
1
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V
Marian Karr
From: gary-hammen@uiowa.edu
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 11 :04 AM
To: cou ncil@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21 ordinance
The City Council of Iowa City:
I would like to voice my opinion about the upcoming discussion about the
21
ordinace. As a life long Iowa resident, I take great interest in the
policies
formed by those who represent me because they will affect me for years
to come.
I am deeply concerned with the idea of making the restriction of
entrance by
age to establishments that serve alcohol a law. I am a veteran of the
U.S.
Army, a parent, and a student. It seems highly hipocritical that an
individual can join the military, be sent to a foreign county, and at
the same
time be denied entrance to a bar.
This extends the restriction of rights that was started when the age to
consume or purchase was raised to twenty-one. Either an individual is
an
adult and citizen at eighteen, or they are not. It is inconsistent to
say a
person is morally responsible, can vote for the president of our nation,
go to
war and die, and be prosecuted as an adult for his or her actions, but
turn
around and deny that individual entrance to a bar.
The results of the city council's attempts to deal with alcohol abuse
will be
watched closely by all of us. Be sure that any restriction of civil
liberties
will become a component of my daily discourse with each person I meet.
Councilman Wilburn and the at large members will be held accountable. I
did
not spend a year of my life overseas protecting this nation to have the
rights
of my daughter to go where she will restricted by anyone.
Sincerely,
Gary F. Hammen
1
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Marian Karr
From: kourtney-heagel@uiowa.edu
Sent: Friday, October 01, 2004 9:55 AM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21-ordinance
I truely hope that the 21-ordinance does not get passed because I will
have
nothing to do. That is one of the reasons I left my home town to come
to
college because there was nothing to do because the bars didn't allow
minors
in late at night and they were all full of adults. The easy access to
alcohol
should not be the problem because wether you are allowed in the bar or
not
there will always be a way to drink. Some of the citizens believe this
is a
safety issue do to drinking and driving, but anyone over 21 can drink
and
drive are they just going to keep raising the age. Being in the bars is
better then walking down the street and getting kidnapped or raped. Why
don't
the citizens of Iowa City just let us have some fun, because after a
long week
at school that is what everyone wants.
Kourtney
1
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Marian Karr
From: Andy Hunsberger [andrew-hunsberger@uiowa.edu]
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 7:28 PM
To: cou ncil@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21-only proposal
Greetings
My voice is one that will always be outnumbered regarding this issue,
but I
want to make sure that it is heard. I want to be sure that you hear
from at
least one student who supports the 21-only policy whole-heartedly. I
can also
assure you that I am not alone.
There are many, many students who would like to see the bars go to 21.
These students are tired of The University of Iowa being known for
having
countless numbers of bars wi thing a mile of campus. We are not proud
that the
University of Iowa ranks near the top of the nation in alcohol
consumption.
We are tired of new freshmen coming to the university thinking that the
only
thing to do for entertainment is to go to the Ped Mall. Most of all, we
are
tired of watching our fellow students be allowed to break laws and drink
when
under the legal age.
Many people, especially students, are quick to argue that the Ped Mall
provides safety that house parties do not, and that a 2l-only ordinance
will
make partying much more dangerous than it currently is. I personally
agree
with them one hundred percent. I do not, however, accept this as a
valid
excuse to keep the bars at 19. I believe that if they afraid of house
parties, then the ball is in their court and it is up to them to simply
avoid
the danger that they claim to be afraid of.
The simple fact is that underage drinking is against the law, and it
absolutely happens in the bars. Students in this town have grown too
accustomed to not being held accountable for their actions. Drinking
has
become a muçh too important part of the college culture in Iowa City.
This
can only be stopped one way, by people willing to take steps to fight
it. The
city council is in the position to do that. I trust that you will
represent
the entire city fairly with your future decisions. I hope that you do
not
forget that there are many students at the university who do support the
21-
only ordinance, and who have fun on the weekends without getting drunk.
In the coming days and weeks there will be a lot of noise made by
students
who oppose the 2l-only ordinance, and they have every bit the right to
be
heard that r do. r just hope that the council remembers that the most
popular
1
answer is not always the best one, and that sometimes unpopular
decisions must
be made to bring about real change. I thank you for your time and wish
you
the best.
Andy Hunsberger
120 N. Johnson #1
Iowa City
563-380-1878
2
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Marian Karr
From: n icole-white@uiowa.edu
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 7:29 PM
To: cou ncil@iowa-city.org
I think proposing a 21 and over law to get into it bars is ridiculous
this is no
longer high school this is college if their 19 years old and old enough
to go
fight for their country in a war or to vote why can't they go and party
in a
bar. What are they trying to do lock college students down so they cant
have
fun. What is this their supposed to be considered adults when they are
18 so why
can't they go into a bar and have fun when their 19 makes no sense.
Anyways
their going to find a way to drink or have fun weather its in the bars
or not so
why go through the trouble of changing it. Remember everyone is
responsibile for
themselves so if they are gonna call themselves adults then they need to
handle
theirselves as adults. You shouldn't penalize everyone just because
some people
choose not to act right when they are at the bar. Thank you for letting
me
voice my opinion and I hope you take it in consideration.
Thank You
Nicole
1
Page 1 of 1
LfC(, é Ie)
Marian Karr \
From: SPC Wee [curtis.wee@us.army.mil]
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 20046:25 PM
To: cou ncil@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21-0nly ordinance
I have an opinion, and that is that a 21-only bar ordinance will only lead to an increase in binge drinking at house
parties. Being banned from bars is not going to stop teen drinking, and this I know from experience. The 19 ordinance in
effect now is rediculous enough. If by 18 years old, any male citizen can be drafted to fight & die for this country, they
should not be barred from visiting a favorite leisurely establishment. This idea goes for females as well, even though they
don't face possibility of the draft. Visiting a place where alcohol is served doesn't necessarily constitute illegal drinking. I
am almost 21, so this ordinance wouldn't effect me directly, but I do recall the times I spent while on Active Duty in
California where they do have 21-only ordinances in effect for most cities, and it really left me out of the social circle not
because I couldn't drink, but because I couldn't even spend time with my older friends/co-workers who would frequent the
establishments. Also, most of my classmates are younger than me, and would be facing the same social obstruction.
Raising the required age for admission into clubs is not going to curb underage drinking, but only harm downtown
businesses and influence more dangerous drinking habits among teens.
Curtis Wee,
(UI Freshman)
10/1/2004
Page 1 of 1
¥"'! (1(,)
, , .,' /
Marian Karr c~
From: Jodie Theobald [ictheobald@mchsi.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 30,20048:17 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: 21 only policy
I am a student and I support the 21 only policy.
Jodie Theobald
10/1/2004
if '(I. (¡~ )
Marian Karr
From: ryan-anderson@uiowa.edu
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 11:48 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Dear City Council Members,
I would like to let you know that as a 20 year old student of the
University
of Iowa I am very much in of favor of the 21-only Bar Entrance Policy
passing. It is common knowledge that the freshman and sophomores that
go to
the bars do not have any trouble whatsoever obtaining alcohol. It is a
joke
to think that this is not so. Older friends will often go buy drinks
for
their whole table or get a few pitchers for their underage buddies. I
just
receieved a letter from Lindsay J. Schutte at <uisg@uiowa.edu> urging
students to help them fight the 21-only policy from passing and to
contact you
to let you know how much we were opposed to it... I am very
dissapointed that
the Student Government would not only take a strong stance on helping
their
underage peers obtain easy alcohol but that they would be as bold as to
assume
that all students are for easy alcohol access. I wrote to Lindsay in
response
to her mass email to the student body to let her know my disapproval and
disappointment with her stance and assumptions of the student body. I
encourage you to keep pushing for the 21-only policy and to not be
intimidated
by student emails to the contrary. Please help our students to find
alternatives to drinking as the peer pressure to go to the bars lS an
enormous
weight on students and especially the incoming freshman. Maybe you
would be
able to help set up strong alternative groups and activities that would
help
freshman and other students get involved in the community instead of
being a
drain on it. Would there be a way to partner with the University of
Iowa to
provide community service involvement such as working at soup kitchens,
mentoring teens and pre-teens that come from disadvantaged families,
nursing
home visitation, visiting and getting groceries for the elderly and
handicapped that have no family in the area, city clean up projects,
helping
to start and maintain youth sports leagues, getting involved in some of
the
poorer schools in the area, volunteering to help set up art with art
exhibits
and concerts... The possibilites are endless!
Please help our students to give back to the community instead of
spending
their time and money at the bars just because they feel that "it is what
everyone does". Help give us (and especially incoming freshman) ways to
get
involved with the community in order to make new friends, make a
1
difference,
and to become more productive members of society. Many people will
respond if
they are given the chance to get involved with their improving thier
community. This would help not only the students but all residents of
Iowa
City.
Please feel free to email me back if you have any questions, conCerns,
or
feedback for me involving the opportunites for student involvement in
the
community.
Sincerely,
Ryan S. Anderson
I think that it would be awesome of the city council partnered with the
University to help meet needs in OUR community. Wouldn't it be great if
all
of Iowa City caught the vision for helping our college students have a
practical and diverse means of learning about their own strengths
through
helping meet the needs of the people in our community.
2
t,f't (10)
Marian Karr
From: Dale Helling
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 9:57 AM
To: 'brett-roberts@uiowa.edu'
Cc: 'City Council
Subject: RE: October 5th Meeting
Brett,
Thank you for your email to the City Council re: the 19 & over
ordinance. Council is scheduled to discuss this at its work session
this evening which begins at 6:30 PM. The meeting will be in Emma
Harvat Hall here in City Hall. There is no discussion or action with
respect to this issue on Council's regular meeting agenda of October 5.
If Council should decide to consider the matter further, such discussion
or action would be included as an agenda item for some future meeting.
Council would determine when that might occur.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Dale Helling
Assistant City Manager
-----Original Message-----
From: brett-roberts@uiowa.edu [mailto:brett-roberts@uiowa.edu]
Sent: Saturday, October 02, 2004 8:41 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: October 5th Meeting
Will the council be addressing the current 19 and over ordinance for
bars on
Tuesday?
Brett
1
Page 1 of 1
Marian Karr 11 (I c)
From: mjc [mcrane@lcom.net]
Sent: Monday, October 04, 2004 8:52 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: the uisg "documentary"???
what exactly is a documentary and how long does it take to gather valid data, organize it, interpret it, etc. sounds to me
like the uisg has an agenda they just cant shake and that is to support underage persons going into bars regardless. and
the fact is that once there, they drink.
why is it that! if persons under 21 can't consume alcohol, they find it so necessary to go into places that sell alcohol?
michael crane
10/4/2004
Page 1 of 1
Marian Karr t.( 'j..t ¡ c )
From: Sigil [Sigil_@msn.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05,200412:12 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: My 2 cents
Hello,
I'm writing you this email, because I do not understand why the City Council is looking outfor the interest of the bars and
underage kids most of which are non-Iowa City residents/Iowa citizens. Please, visit downtown Thursday thru Saturday nights. All
you see are kids to drunk to walk, vomiting, urinating in public (girls too), harassment/heckling, sexual harassments, fights,
vandalism and so much more. I have seen kids almost hit by cars and not even know it, because they are so drunk. Many of these
girls are very vulnerable, because their judgment is impaired. I've seen girls touched and grabbed without their consent and they
were powerless to stop them. I've witnessed these things first hand many, many times.
The bar owners do not care about the city or the students. That's why they advertise drink specials in the middle of the week and
then market to underage drinkers. This is not a secret! They market to underage drinkers. I use to frequent the bars and I have
witnessed people buying drinks for underage drinkers. All you have to do is go to the bar and buy a drink for two. They put a cap
on how many you buy at a time, but that's easily defeated by just taking the drinks to your underage friends and going to buy your
own. Another way is to buy a pitcher for a table. Oh, if you tip early and the "right amount then it's really not a problem. It is a
hard thing to police. The only people who can are the waitresses and they are students, so why do they care? They just want tips
and they see all students as peers, regardless of age. I won't list the many other ways to cheat the system. While you are
downtown "visiting", take a ride on the cambus, which is nicknamed during this time the "drunk bus". Most of its riders are 18
and 19 year old kids who can barely talk or stand. (I drive cambus, so I know!) I heard that people are worried about the impact to
downtown. Are we willing to "look the other way" in order to make a buck? Are the economy and money so important that we will
exploit kids? What about the recent deaths related to alcohol and kids driving or the allegation of a hate crime? Alcohol and minor
were involved? I'm not a conservative person by any means, but many of these girls dress sexy and some go beyond that. If you mix
that with alcohol who knows what's going on.
Additionally, the downtown area is "trashed" afterwards. Also, if you are a citizen who wants to enjoy the Pedestrian mall,' dine
out or watch a movie, you can't! You feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed. It's not the number of people, but how drunk they are.
They are obnoxious, rude, vulgar and wild. How many rapes have gone unreported? How much vandalism? How many citizens
are harassed? The Police have recommendation? Shouldn't we have faith in their recommendation?
Some people question, ifraising the age to 19 had any affect. Yes, it didl When I first started attending school here. I remember
seeing 16 year olds getting drunk in the bars. I also remember them leaving with college student and non-college students who
were older and sometimes much older than they are.
The argument of the "under 21 supporters" is illogical. If, you don'tlet us drink at the bars then we will drink at someone's home
(house party). That is ludicrous! The validity of this argument is dubious at best. That argument is basically stating that they are
drinking at the bars, but we all know that. They also argue that it would be harder for the police to watch them. Why would they
care? They don't but they know you do? If, the police made the recommendation they must think they can handle that situation.
Also, a house party takes place in a neighborhood, if it gets "out of hand" the police can be called and the owner/renter of the
residence can be fined. If, that fines is adequate enough it will be a deterrent. On that subject it seems the Paul Fines or
punishments are not much of a deterrent, maybe that should be looked at.
Why not invest in the movie theatre downtown, maybe work with Cinema Entertainment Corporation and have late night showings
of movies that interest students. One problem with these bars is that they are bars not clubs. They pretend to be, but they aren't. I
know in Illinois they have dance clubs that don't serve alcohol and they do well.
Enclosing, please do not sell us out. Downtown mayor may not change, but it will survive. Think of the people who live here and
call Iowa City and Iowa home and not someone who will be here 2-6 years. If you must compromise, maybe a 20 to enter and raise
thefees on "House Parties" that break the law and on PAULAs could be that compromise. Maybe, some community service
like"litter patrol". By the way, the city does a great job cleaning the mess downtown!
I apologize in advance for the lack offocus and typos of this email.1 am limited in time, but I had to let you know how Ifeel.
Sincerely,
Carl Hampton
10/5/2004
Page 1 of 1
Marian Karr +1- ((Ii' ')
From: Ryan Meyer [rmeyer@youthinkitweprintit.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05,20043:47 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: RAPE and the 21 ordinance.
To Whom It May Concern,
I'm a concerned student writing regarding the proposed "21 ordinance."
As a minor myself I have first-hand experience of the underage drinking crisis in Iowa City. However, being only months
away from legality, I have no personal loss or gain from the ordinance. Nevertheless I have a little sister who intends to
enroll in Fall '05. As a protective older brother I am highly disturbed by the thought of this ordinance if only for her sake.
Regardless of any correlative "evidence", common sense dictates a rise in house parties/apartment drinking/etc when so
many students are unable to attend "the bars". It is my contention that "the bars" are a much safer and controlled
environment.
I have no facts or figures other than what I have personally witnessed over the past few years. However, it occurs to me
that groups of women at "the bars" (as opposed to houses/apartments) are much less likely to be seperated and therefore
are less likely to be raped. The likelyhood of a drunken student being taken advantage of in a bar bathroom is near
nonexistant. The same situation in a quiet upstairs bathroom at the house party down the street.....
I believe a morality argument could easily be made that allowing a thousand underage students to drink illegally is far
better than allowing for one nineteen year old girl to be molested because she was drunk and forced into anarchic
environment due to the few controlled environments in the city being off limits.
Ryan Meyer
10/5/2004
Marian Karr Gmí]
From: Joan Hart Uoan.hart@charter.net]
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 20044:42 PM
To: marian-karr@iowa-city.org
Subject: Jefferson St. Historic District
Michael Maharry
Chair, Historic Preservation Commission
Donald Anciaux Jr.
Chair, Plan and Zoning Commission
Council Members
City of Iowa City
410 E. Washington St.
Iowa City IA 52240
RE: Jefferson St. Historic District
Dear Commission and Council Members:
I am writing to express my support for the proposed Jefferson Street local historic district. As a former owner/resident for
twenty years of the George Rohret home at 328 E. Jefferson St and owner of 324 E. Jefferson St., I worked to preserve
this small and unique historic neighborhood of the original town of Iowa City. Future generations will value efforts that
showcase the cultural and historic heritage of the early founders of Iowa Ctiy through the preservation of their working and
living spaces. I recommend the passing of a local ordinance for the Jefferson Street District. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Joan Hart at the T. C. and Katherine McCarthy House (1896)
848 Jenifer St.
Madison, WI 53703
9/28/2004
Marian Karr G;1
From: Old Mans Creek [oldmanscreek@qwest.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 1 :50 PM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: Presentation of the Snapshot data collected for the last year.
October 13,2004 - 7:00 pm
Kent Park - Conservation Education Center
Johnson and Iowa County Watershed Coalition
Presents
One year of data from
Old Mans Creek and Clear Creek Watersheds
The Johnson and Iowa County Watershed Coalition and IOWA TER will present the data collected from Old Mans Creek, Clear
Creek, Muddy Creek, Snyder Creek, Rapid Creek, Pechman Creek, Buck Creek and Prairie Creek watersheds.
To this date we have conducted 2240 streamside measurements and collected 500 samples for UHL analyses. The volunteers have
provided 570+ hours of testing and 80+ hours of Macro invertebrate collecting and identification.
Did you ever wonder why we started the snapshots? Have you ever asked yourself how much longer are we going to continue doing
the snapshots? What about all of the data we have collected, what are we rmding? Do we know where the bacteria are coming from
in Old Mans Creek? Where is the chloride coming from in Clear Creek?
Come and join us and hear and see what we have learned.
All are welcome!
Please contact my office or me if you are planning to attend.
(319) 354-1397 day or (319) 337-4445 evening
E-mail at oldmanscreek@qwest.net
Dave Ratliff
Project Leader
9/29/2004
City Newsbytes: The Official E-Newsletter for the City of Atlanta Ugë;-3) ,
Marian Karr
From: Mayor's Office of Communications [citynewsbytes@atlantaga.gov]
Sent: Thursday, September 30,20041 :14 AM
To: council@iowa-city.org
Subject: City Newsbytes 09-29-04
September 29, 2004
IN THIS ISSUE: AT-A-GLANCE
Note: The At-A-Glance version of City Newsbytes takes only one click
to view the full version. Just click on anyone of the links below.
· Customer Service Champions Spearhead
Effort to Improve City of Atlanta
Customer Service
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October 6-8, 2004 is National Customer Service Week and it's
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· Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport Has Record-Breaking Month
During the month of July, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta
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The City of Atlanta continues to attract international partners
as its reputation continues grows Atlanta grows as a world-
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· City Launches_Çitywide Employee
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The City of Atlanta's population growth keeps going like the
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9/30/2004
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Will Be Held On Octoberm4,2004 At 5:00
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The Mayor's Night In allows Atlanta residents to express
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· Ra"e Reviews
o The Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural
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Parks Operation Manager...
o The 100 Black Men of Atlanta hosted the 16th Annual
Atlanta Football Classic for a celebration of community,
cultural wealth and commitment to improving access to
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o Mayor Shirley Franklin recently joined The Medical
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o The City of Atlanta received the Department of Justice
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~~~~-r MEMORANDUM
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Date: September 30, 2004
To: City Clerk ()JJf
From: Anissa Williams, JCCOG Traffic Engineering Planner
Re: Item for October 5, 2004 City Council meeting: Installation of one NO U-TURN sign
on Melrose Avenue west of the Highway 218 interchange
As directed by Title 9, Chapter 1, Section 3B of the City Code, this is to advise the City Council
of the following action.
Action:
Pursuant to Section 9-1-3A(9), installation of one NO U-TURN sign on Melrose Avenue west of
the Highway 218 interchange
Comment:
This action is being taken at the request of the Police Department. This is to clarify that U-turns
are illegal westbound to eastbound on Melrose Avenue west of the southbound Highway 218
off-ramp. To avoid the left-turning traffic that is backing up on the off-ramp, vehicles are turning
right and making a u-turn on Melrose Avenue.
jccoglp/mernlmelrose.doc
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DATE: 09/30/04
TO: City Council
FROM: Shelley McCafferty, Associate Planner
RE: Nomination of the Melrose Neighborhood to the National Register
The Melrose Neighborhood Association has proposed that the Melrose Historic District be nominated to
the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). As a Certified Local Government, the Historic
Preservation Commission and Mayor are required to make recommendations to the State regarding the
eligibility of the district for placement on the NRHP. The Commission held a public hearing to discuss
this district on September 23, the preliminary minutes of which are included in this packet. Also
included is a copy of the NRHP Registration Form for the Melrose Historic District and correspondence
from the University.
In March 2004, the Melrose Neighborhood Association received a PIN grant from the City for $4,440 to
hire architectural historian Marlys Svendsen to survey the neighborhood's historic resources and
prepare an NRHP Registration Form. The balance of the $15,569 cost to prepare the nomination was
paid by neighborhood residents, and cash and in-kind donations. The Melrose Neighborhood
Association worked closely with residents to provide information regarding the NRHP nomination and
its ramifications. Attached is a schedule of meetings and communications concerning this nomination.
The September 14 meeting at which Marlys Svendsen presented the final nomination will air on City
Channel 4 Monday, October 4 at 6:00 pm, and Tuesday October 5 at 10:00 am and 1 :30 pm.
Additional viewing times are available at www.icgov.org.
To date, the State has not received any letters objecting to the Melrose Historic District. The State
National Register Committee will review the nomination at their October 8 meeting.
Summary of Meetings/Communications concerning the nomination of the
Melrose Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places
,
1. January 23 and March 6, 2003 - The idea of having the Melrose Historic
District nominated to the National Register of Historic Places was first
discussed at a Melrose Neighborhood meeting January 23, 2003 (that is, over
a year before the Neighborhood hired the historic preservation consultant
Marlys Svendsen). It was also discussed at a March 6, 2003, Neighborhood
meeting. Notice of these meetings went to neighbors with email addresses
only and was otherwise spread by word of mouth
2. March 18, 2004 - An email describing the preliminary perimeter of the
Melrose Historic District was sent to neighbors with email addresses.
3. March 29, 2004 - A notice was sent (via email, hand-delivery and US Mail) to
all property owners (except for a few that had not yet been located) stating
that 32 of the 71 property owners had been contacted and that 29 of them (or
90%) were supportive of going ahead with the nomination.
4. April 24 to May 3, 2004 - A notice was sent to ALL property owners in the
District (and other neighbors) announcing the May 4 meeting and the May 7
walking tour (see below). It also described the progress on the nomination
effort.
5. May 4, 2004 - Marlys gave presentations to Melrose neighbors on what it
means to have a Historic District listed on the National Register. Her slide
show about the District's architecture was well-attended and enthusiastically
received.
6. May 7, 2004 - A walking tour of the District, led by Marlys Svendsen, was
held for residents and the media. A press release announcing the tour was
sent to the Daily Iowan, the Iowa City Press Citizen, The Gazette, and KCRG
TV9. Notices for it appeared in the Iowa City Press Citizen and The Gazette.
A day or so later there was a piece on KCRG TV 9's newscast and The
Gazette printed an article about the Neighborhood's nomination efforts on
June 1, 2004.
7. May 21 to June 18, 2004 -A notice was sent to neighbors updating them on
progress of the nomination.
8. June 9, 2004 - The Melrose Neighborhood hired Marlys Svendsen to give
two identical presentations at 2:30 and 5:00 p.m. to University of Iowa and
City of Iowa City officials, and to the Melrose neighbors.
9. August 26, 2004 - An invitation letter, containing a status report on the
National Register nomination and an invitation to the September 14th
information meeting, went out to ALL Melrose Historic District property
owners.
10. By September 5,2004 - A letter from SHSI, giving official notice that the
Melrose Historic District is being nominated to NRHP at the October 8, 2004
meeting of SNRC, was received by ALL property owners in the District.
Owners were informed about what it means to be on the National Register
and the tax incentives available for income generating properties (rental
houses and apartment buildings).
11. September 14, 2004 - An open informational meeting with Marlys Svendsen
was held at 5:30 p.m., at the Mennonite Church (405 Myrtle Avenue).
Melrose Historic District
National Register of Historic Places
I I I k~
Melrose Avenue
~ Key property Ip
~ Contributing property N
c::J Noncontributing property I
CLG NATIONAL REGISTER REVIEW
CLG Name Iowa City Date of Public Meeting ~/.,:t3 ßf-
Property Name Melrose Historic District. Portions of Melrose Avenue. Melrose Court, Melrose Circle. Brookland
Park Drive. Brookland Place and Mvrtle Avenue. Iowa City. Johnson County
1. For Historic Preservation Commission:
o Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendation of National Register ineligibility
5I,",t"" <#z:;; $tJ D,,, ;/J,tr~V
Print Name /JfI:¿J/;¡e. 4 f¿:;//
Title t:441~ - /lf$-fbo;;' ~"vz:..rvdJ¡;n CÔÞ?1t??,',sJ)IYJ
Reason(s) for recommendation:
The Historic Preservation Commission concurs with the findings of the National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form for the Melrose Historic District prepared by Marlys Svendsen, The Commission finds that the
district is eligible for the National Registers under Criteria A and C.
2. For Chief Elected Local Official:
o Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendation of National Register ineligibility
Signature Date
Print Name
Title
Reason(s) for recommendation:
3. Professional Evaluation Name
o Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendation of National Register ineligibility
Signature Date
Print Name
Title
Reason(s) for recommendation:
RETURN TO: State Historical Society of Iowa, ATTN: National Register Coordinator, 600 E. Locust, Des Moines,
IA 50319
MINUTES DRAFT/PRELlMIMNARY
HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2004 - 7:00 P.M.
EMMA HARVAT HALL - CIVIC CENTER
MEMBERS PRESENT: Michael Maharry, Mark McCallum, Amy Smothers, Jann Weismiller, Tim Weitzel
MEMBERS ABSENT: James Enloe, Michael Gunn, Jim Ponto, Justine Zimmer
STAFF PRESENT: Shelley McCafferty
OTHERS PRESENT: Rodney Lehnertz, Jean Walker
CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Maharry called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION OF ANY ITEM NOT ON THE AGENDA:
There was none.
ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION:
Public meetina to consider the nomination of the proposed Melrose Historic District to the National
Reaister of Historic Places.
McCafferty said this will be an evaluation of the National Register nomination for the Melrose Historic
District. She said that, as a Certified Local Government, the City is required by contract to comment on
whether the proposed nomination is eligible or not eligible and to take public input regarding the eligibility.
McCafferty said this needs to be completed at the present meeting, as the State Nomination Review
Committee will review this nomination at their October 8th meeting. She said the neighborhood association
held a public informational meeting, and two Commission members attended as did architectural historian
Marlys Svendsen. McCafferty stated that about 25 people attended the meeting.
Public hearing:
Rodnev Lehnertz said that he is the Director of Campus and Facilities Planning for The University of
Iowa. He distributed maps that outlined properties owned by the University to Commission members.
Lehnertz read a letter that he submitted to the Commission.
Jean Walker said she represented the Melrose Neighborhood Association. She stated that the
Neighborhood Association hired Marlys Svendsen, who has done a lot of successful work in Iowa City
already, to research the area. Walker said Svendsen informed her that she would not have undertaken
the project if she did not believe it was successful, and now that she has done all of the research, she is
still of the same mind.
Walker stated that this is a unique area that came into being in the late 1800s, and then there were
various waves of building. She said the last big wave occurred when University Hospitals moved from the
east side of the City to the west side. Walker said those structures are very much connected to the
University because of the relocation of University Hospitals and because of the athletic facilities on the
west side.
Walker said there have been other areas on the west side of the City that have been demolished due to
University expansion, and this is the last remaining vestige on the west side of the City. She said she
feels it is very important to preserve the area and feels the historic district should be nominated to the
National Register of Historic Places.
Walker said she just received the University's letter. She said she is glad the University is taking an
interest in the historic nature of this neighborhood. Walker said she hoped the University's review of this
would be as quick as possible and would be available to the public.
Smothers asked Walker how many neighborhood meetings were held regarding this potential district.
Walker said that three or four meetings were held. She said she initially polled people for whom she had
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
September 23, 2004
Page 2
e-mail addresses, which was 38 of the 70 owners, and only two of the 38 did not want to see this become
a historic district. She said there are 85 properties in the district.
Walker said the neighborhood then held various meetings, and she sent a preliminary notification to all of
the property owners. She said that all through this she wanted it to be a transparent process and wanted
everyone to know what was going on.
Smothers stated that the neighborhood association did an excellent job for a grass roots program. She
said that is where preservation stems from and is where the Commission gets its ideas of how people
want preservation to work in Iowa City.
Maharry asked Walker if University representatives were invited to the meetings. Walker said the
University representatives were invited and attended two meetings at which Svendsen made
presentations.
Maharry asked Lehnertz if the University is contending that their properties may not fit into the context of
the proposed district. Lehnertz responded that the University wants to ensure is there was due diligence
in respect to their properties in the preparation of the nomination. He said it is not the intent to say that the
University would like its properties to be out of the nomination, but the University wants to study its
properties with respect to and in relationship to this document. Lehnertz said the University wants to
ensure that what goes forth to the State and federal review is accurate and represents the neighborhood
accurately.
Smothers said that Svendsen has been working in historic preservation for over 35 years with 25 years in
Iowa City alone. Lehnertz said he did not question Svendsen's expertise or the process. He said that as
he looked at the document in an early review there were some things that appeared to be inaccurate at
first glance, including a statement that ownership of the properties was solely private and a statement that
there are no religious institutions or purposes in any of the structures.
Lehnertz said the University wanted to get a better chance to review the document for accuracy. He said
the University consultants have informed him that to take a look at the University properties from the
University's perspective is a course of due diligence that best represents the University's and
community's interests in making sure the properties are accurately represented and fit into the context of
the study.
Smothers said that the document was written for a context. She said that each and every property adds to
that context. Smothers stated that cohesiveness is what the Commission looks at in determining whether
a district is eligible to go to the State and to the National Register.
Lehnertz said he does not question the validity of the report itself. He said the University consultants have
suggested that the University take a careful look at its properties as they relate to the overall document
and the report itself.
McCafferty said that all owners of properties in the district may continue to comment until the district is
listed on the National Register.
Maharry asked if there is a remedy to correct errors of fact if the Commission should recommend
approval of this. McCafferty said that after the review process there will be comments, and there can be
changes and edits to the nomination as a result of the process. She said there is still opportunity for
verification of facts and changes if necessary.
McCafferty said that based on information received from the public, its reading of the document, its
understanding of the document, and the National Register criteria, the Commission's purview is to state
whether or not it feels this district is eligible for the National Register. She stated that the State
Nomination Review Committee will take the recommendation into consideration when making its
nomination to the National Park Service.
Public hearing closed.
Historic Preservation Commission Minutes
September 23, 2004
Page 3
McCallum said this district is neighborhood initiated. He said that for that reason, he is impressed with this
submission and felt favorably inclined to move it forward.
Weitzel said he attended the neighborhood meeting, and it was up to Svendsen's usual high quality. He
said the questions were pretty routine, and there was no sense of opposition to the district. Weitzel said
the document is solid and consistent within itself. He said he would support this and did not see any
reason not to support this as eligible.
MOTION: Weitzel moved to recommend to the State Historical Society if Iowa that the Melrose
Historic District is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. McCallum
seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0.
McCafferty said this item and motion will be on the October 4th City Council meeting agenda, and the
mayor will have the authority to either agree or disagree with the eligibility. She said that recommendation
will then be forwarded to the State for its October 8 State Nomination Review Committee meeting.
Certificate of Appropriateness: 525 Iowa Avenue.
McCafferty said this application was withdrawn.
MINUTES:
September 2, 2004.
Maharry had a few minor changes.
MOTION: Weitzel moved to approve the September 2, 2004 Historic Preservation Commission meeting
minutes, as amended. McCallum seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0.
September 9,2004.
Maharry said that on page nine, in the fourth paragraph after the public hearing was closed, the number
of properties under design review should be changed to read approximately 1,100 instead of 1,700 to
1,800. Maharry also recommended some nonsubstantive clarifications.
MOTION: Smothers moved to approve the September 9,2004 Historic Preservation Commission meeting
minutes, as amended. Weitzel seconded the motion. The motion carried on a vote of 5-0.
INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION:
Maharry said McCafferty included statistics regarding the Commission's past application reviews.
Maharry said there is also information regarding a comparison of property values in the Summit Street
Historic District and the Kirkwood Neighborhood.
Maharry said that the Dubuque City Council recently voted to demolish eleven historic buildings, some of
which are listed on the National Register, in downtown Dubuque.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Anne Schulte
s :/pcd/mi nulesfhpcf2004/hpc09-23-04 .doc
Marian Karr
From: Jean Walker [walkersic@yahoo.com]
Sent: Mondav. September 27, 20044:00 PM
To: q;¡:tv Counçil)Marcia Klingaman; Karin Franklin; Steve Atkins
Subject: Melrose Neighborhood response to UI re Melrose Historic District
~ ~
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27.doc 23.doc
Dear Steve, Karin, Marcia, and City Council Members,
At the September 23 meeting of the Historic
Preservation Commission, Rod Lehnertz, Director of
DI's Campus and Facilities Planning submitted a memo
to the City, the HPC, and the Melrose Neighborhood
concerning the nomination of the Melrose Historic
District to the National Register of Historic Places
(see attached copy for your convenience) .
This matter will come before the City Council on
Tuesday October 5, therefore I have attached a copy of
my response to the DI's memo. I have also sent a copy
to Shelley McCafferty and asked her to forward it to
members of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Thank you,
Jean Walker
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1
l
THE fim
UNIVERSI1Y
OF IOWA I BUSINESS OFFICE
4 Jessup Hall
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1316
MEMO
TO: City of Iowa City
Historic Preservation Commission and
The Melrose Neighborhood Association
FROM: The University of Iowa
RE: Proposed Melrose Historic District
DATE: September 23,2004
We would like to thank the City and the Melrose Neighborhood for their time and efforts in putting
together the Melrose Neighborhood Historic District nomination for National Register of Historic
Places recognition. The University recognizes the importance of this work in preserving Iowa City's
heritage and the significance of properly documenting those neighborhoods and structures that are
integral to our past.
The University itself has made substantial commitments to historic preservation in recent years and
in particular I would draw the committee's attention to the restoration, preservation and relocation of
the Shambaugh house on Clinton Street, the Dey House, home of the Writers Work Shop, Shaeffer
Hall on the Pentacrest and of course most recently the extensive restoration of our Old Capitol, for
which we received a City historic preservation award. Those projects alone, represent
approximately $20,000,000 in commitment to the heritage of our community. The University and
the City of Iowa City share a common heritage and it is our desire to work with all concerned in
arriving at a factually accurate nomination which meets the federally established criteria for
recognition.
Of the 86 parcels contained within the draft district, thirteen are currently owned by the University
and a significant number of those thirteen are contiguous to other University properties.
We have only had the draft document available to us for a week. Still, we have initiated the review
process and have asked the people we work with regularly to carefully review these materials. In
their preliminary review, they have advised us to engage additional consultant support for the
purpose of careful investigation of the thirteen University properties within the draft designation. As
we know the neighborhood would want, we feel it is impo11ant that the submission be both accurate
and complete. That work will take us some additional time. It is our intent to communicate in a
timely manner to both the commission and the neighborhood the results of our findings.
In the end, I am hopeful that we can all agree that the most important outcome is to present an
accurate and detailed picture of the district and it's appropriately defined perimeter. Thank you for
your consideration.
Rodney Lehnertz
Director, Campus and Facilities Planning
Uni versity of Iowa
Rod,
Thanks again for the University's memo of 09/23/04 concerning the Melrose
Historic District's application for nomination to the NRHP. We are glad that the
University shares with the Melrose Neighborhood a similar interest in
preserving Iowa City's (and the University's) heritage as represented by
the Melrose Neighborhood Historic District.
As I said to you at the Historic Preservation Commission's meeting on
September 23 last, the Melrose Neighborhood shares your concern that the
nomination be accurate and as complete as possible. We will be interested to
hear of the comments of your reviewers and would appreciate if you would let us
know who those reviewers will be, so that we can assess the results
appropriately.
We appreciate your willingness to share with us any corrections, additions, etc.
that the University might have for the nomination, which you said should be ready
in a few weeks. Since the Historic Preservation Commission's meeting, I have
spoken with our historic preservation consultant, Marlys Svendsen. She has
advised me that changes to such nominations are typically made up to and
through the time that the State National Register Committee reviews them. She
says she will gladly incorporate any corrections that are appropriate (which is
why everyone was advised in advance of submission of the nomination). In the
case of the Melrose Historic District, she anticipates making corrections until
about two weeks after the October 8 SNRC meeting, therefore any that the
University might have should be submitted to me by then.
As regards the District's defined perimeter, it should be noted that, initially,
Ms. Svendsen looked at the larger area of the entire Melrose
Neighborhood to assess district eligibility. She examined several houses
along Melrose Avenue including the National Register listed Cannon-Gay
House (320 Melrose Avenue), the Chicano American Cultural Center (308
Melrose Avenue), and the child care center at 321 Melrose Avenue. She
also examined the houses along Grand Avenue Court (including 311
Grand Avenue), Melrose Place, Triangle Place, Olive Street, and Oak Park
Court.
In the end, Ms. Svendsen concluded that none of these buildings or blocks
should be included in a Melrose Historic District. Although a number of
buildings have historic value or architectural interest (for example, see the
attached opinion of Ms. Svendsen regarding the architectural value of the
Grand Avenue Court houses) and should be preserved if possible, they
remain ineligible for inclusion due to the rigorous criteria that define a
National Register historic district.
Finally, I wonder if you could clarify for me the significance to the
nomination of you mentioning that the 13 UI properties are contiguous to
other University properties?
Thank you,
Jean Walker
Melrose Neighborhood Representative
Copies to:
City of Iowa City
Historic Preservation Commission
JUl 15 2004
NPS Form 10-900 OMB No. 10024-0018
(Oct. 1990)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
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........___....OI'IoonIrMIIøn...(NPS¡:O"1o.ooG1). u..~,WOId~.OfCCInIpUW,Io~..1Ima.
1. Name of Prooertv
historic name Melrose Historic District
other names/site number
2. LocatIon
street & number Portions of Melrose Ave.. Melrose Ct.. Melrose Circle. Brookland N/A U not for publication
Park Drive. Brookland Place. and Mvrtle Avenue
city or town Iowa City N/A U vicinity
state Iowa code IA county Johnson code 111 zip code 52246
3.
As !/Ie designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended, I hereby certify that this W nomination U request for
determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets
the procedurel and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. in my opinion, Ihe property W meets U does not meet the National
Register criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant
U nationally [X] statewide U locally. <U see continuation sheet for additional comments).
Slgnalure of certifying officiallTllle Date
Slate or Federel agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property U meets U does not meet the National Register criteria. (U See continuation sheet for addllional comments.)
Slgnalure of certifying officiallTllle Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. NatIonal Park Service CertificatIon
I hereby certify that the property is: Signature of the Keeper Date of Action
U entered In the National Register.
U See continuation sheet.
U determined eligible for the
National Register.
U See continuation sheet
U determined not eligible for the
National Regiater.
U removed from the National
Register.
U other, (explain:)
Melrose Historic District John~n Countv. IA
Name of Property County and Slate
5. Classification Number of Resources withIn Properly
Ownership of Properly Category of Properly
(Check as many boxes as apply) (Check only one box) (DO not include previously Usled resources in the o::ount.)
[2g private U building(s) Contributing Noncontributing
U public-local [2g district 112 20 buildings
U public-State Usite
U public-Federal U structure 1 sites
U object
1 structures
objects
113 21 Total
Name of related multiple properly listing Number of contributIng resources previously listed
Enter "NJA" if property II not part of a multiple property listing.) In the National Register
Historic Resources of Iowa City Iowa MPS 11994 amended 20001 3
8. Function or I.!ae
Historic Functions Current FunctIons
(Enter categories ftom Instructions) (Enter categories from Inslructions)
DOMESTIC/Sinale Dwellinas DOMESTIC/Sinale Dwellinas
DOMESTIC/Secondarv Structures DOMESTIC/Secondarv Structures
DOMESTIClMultiDIe Dwellinas DOMESTIClMultiDle Dwellinas
RECREATION & CULTURE/Outdoor Recreation RECREATION & CULTURE/Outdoor Recreation
7. Descrlotlon
Architectural Classification Materials
(Enter categories from Instructions) (Enlsr categories from instructions)
LATE VICTORIANlltalianate foundation STONE/Limestone
LATE 19" & EARL Y 20" CENTURY REVIVALSI walls WOODlWeatherboard
Colonial Revival BRICK
roof ASPHALT
other
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and cunent o::ondiüon of the property on one or more o::ontlnuation sheets.)
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property Counly and Stale
8. Statement of Slantflcance Areas of Sign1f cance
Applicable National Register Criteria
(Mark ·x" In 0118 or more boxes for Ihe criteria qualifying the property (Enler categories from instructions)
for National ReglSler listing.)
ARCHITECTURE
[X] A Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of COMMUNITY PLANNING AND
our history.
DEVELOPMENT
[ðJ B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
[ðJ C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack Period of Significance
individual distinction. 1870-1955
U D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria ConsideratIons Significant Dates
(Mark 'Y in all the boxes that apply.) N/A
Property is:
[ðJ A owned by a religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
SIgnificant Person
U B removed from its original location. (Complete If Criterion B is marked above)
Lambert. Bvron J.
U C a birthplace or grave.
Cultural Affiliation
U D a cemetery. N/A
U E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
U F a commemorative property.
U G less than 50 years of age or achieved signifICance ArchitectlBullder
within the past 50 years. Frever. Frank X.. architect & builder
(Exnlain the sianlficanœ of the Drooertv on one or more continuation sheets.) Wickham. B. A.. architect & builder
Narrative Statement of SIgnificance
9. Malor Blb\1oaraDhlçal References
BIbliography
(Cite the books. articles, and other sources used In preparing this fonn on one or more continuation sheets.)
PrevIous documentation on me (NPS): Primary location of additional data:
U preliminary determination of individual listing [2U State Historic Preservation Office
(36 CFR 67) has been requested U Other State agency
[ðJ previously listed in the National Register U Federal agency
U previously determined eligible by the National [ð] Local government
Register U University
U designated a National Historic Landmark U Other
U recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository:
#
U recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
10. Geoaraphlcal Data
Acreage of Property 34 acres
UTM Referencee
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet.)
1 I.1l.§1 ~ ~ 2 L1.lID ~ ~
Zone Eastlng Northing Zone Easting Northing
3 f..1l.§1 ~ ~ 4 f..1l.§1 ~ ~
W See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary DescriptIon
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundllrie$ were selecled on a continuation sheet.)
11. Fonn Prepared By
nameJtitle Mar1vs A. Svendsen. Svendsen Tvler. Inc.
organization for Melrose Neiahborhood AssociatiQn. Inc. date Mav. 2004
street & number N3834 DeeD Lake Road telephone 715/469-3300
city or town Sarona state WI zip code 54870
AdditIonal DocumentatIon
Submit the following ilems with the complete form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A Sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
AdditIonal items
(Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
ProDertv Own.r
(Complete this item at the request of SHPO or FPO.)
name VariOus - see continuation sheets
street & number telephone
city or town state zip code
P8perwork Reduction Act Statement This information is being collecled for applications to the National Register of Historic Placas to nominate properties
for liSting or determine eligibility for listing, to liSt properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in
accordance with the National Historic Preservation Açt, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form Is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response inclUding lime for reviewing
Instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden eslimate or any aspect of this
form to the Chief, Admlni8tre1ive Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the OffIce of Management and
Budget, Paperwork Reductfons Projects (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. .
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContinuatIon Sheet
Section Number 7 Page 1
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
7. Description: Architectural Classification (continued)
LATE VICTORIAN/Queen Anne
LATE 19th & 20th CENTURY REVIVALSfTudor Revival
LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN MOVEMENTS/Bungalow/Craftsman
OTHER/Four-Square
OTHER/Ranch
OTHER/Cape Cod
Description: Materials (continued)
foundation: CONCRETE
walls: STUCCO
walls: METAUaluminum
walls: ASBESTOS
walls: SYNTHETIC/vinyl
roof: METAL
roof: STONE/Slate
roof: TERRA COTTA
7. Narrative DescrlDtlon:
The Melrose Historic District is an irregularty shaped neighborhood located on the west side of the Iowa River in the area
south of Melrose Avenue and north of the right-of-way of the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The Melrose Historic District is
immediately adjacent to the west campus of The University of Iowa (historically referred to as the State University of Iowa
or SUI in this nomination). The District contains portions of Melrose Avenue (300 to 700 blocks), Melrose Court, Melrose
Circle, Brookland Park Drive, Brookland Place, Lucon Drive, and Myrtle Avenue. Brookland Park, a municipal park that
extends diagonally along the railroad right-of-way at the southem edge of the District, is also included within the District.
The Melrose Historic District is contained within portions of several additions and subdivisions to Johnson County and Iowa
City. They included Custer's Addition in 1881, which was later subdivided into Paden's Addition in ca. 1913 and Lambert's
Addition in 1921; Crowley's Riverview Addition in 1908; Brookland Park Addition in 1924; and Oak Park Court Addition in
1952. Lambert's Addition created the lots along Melrose Circle with Paden's Addition forming the north end of Melrose
Court. Lucon Drive, a private street along the eastem edge of the District, was formed when a large parcel acquired in
1935 by a single owner was divided into separate building lots in the early 1950s. Houses sited on lots in the portions of
Custer's Addition located along Melrose Avenue and the north end of the east side of Melrose Court were never further
subdivided.
Street widths in the District vary considerably. Melrose Avenue, originally laid out as Snook's Grove Road in 1853 with a
width of 30 feet, has a current width of 48 feet after a widening completed in ca. 1995. Melrose Court was laid out with
widths varying from 25 feet (north end) to 30 feet (middle and south end along the north-south stretch) and a 35-foot width
along the east-west section that connects to Myrtle Avenue. The paved surface originally covered only 16 feet of Melrose
Court's Width. In ca. 1991, the paved area was extended to a width of 22 feet. Melrose Circlé was originally established
with a width of just 18 feet on the north-south section and 24 feet on the circle. The portion of Brookland Park Drive west
of Melrose Court has a width of just 20 feet with the block east of Melrose Court widening to 40 feet. The north-south
section of Brookland Place widens slightly to 44 feet. A separate section of Lucon Drive located to the north occupies a
width of just 16 feet. The only alley in the District has a width of 16 feet and extends between Brookland Park Drive and
the east-west stretch of Melrose Court. Blocks are not laid out on a grid format due to the diagonal course of the railroad
right-of-way along the south edge of the neighborhood and the presence of two cul-de-sacs, two short no-outlet streets,
UnIted States Deparbnent of the Interior
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Section Number 7 Page 2
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
and only two through streets in the District. All of the streets in the District are paved In concrete or asphalt, with 4-oot
wide cement walks along Melrose Avenue, narrower walks along the east side of Melrose Circle and the west side of
Melrose Court for most of its length, but no walks along the other streets. Melrose Avenue serves as a two-way arterial
street with Melrose Court providing a connecting route between Melrose Avenue and Myrtle Avenue. A signaled
intersection is located at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Melrose Court
Terrain of the District is generally level along the northem and westem sections of the District. A ravine visually and
topographically dissects the neighborhood extending from midway along the south side of the 500 block of Melrose
Avenue diagonally to the southeast before crossing Lucon Drive and heading toward the Iowa River. The ravine serves as
a natural "green belt containing remnants of native woodland vegetation including young and mature examples of bur oak,
white oak, red oak, sugar maple, silver maple, basswood, hackberry, sycamore, and black walnut"1 It functions as a dry
run except When storm run-off temporarily floods the area including a section of Lucon Drive's road surface that it crosses.
The other major terrain change is along the southwest edge of the District in Brookland Park. The park was established in
1924 prior to construction of nearly all of the houses in the neighborhood. Its terrain slopes to the south towards the right-
of-way of the Iowa Interstate Railroad. The park originally contained a small meandering brook that has now been
straightened somewhat Planted trees surround the park's central grassy area. Some individual lots in the District have
slight rises, terraces, and short retaining walls fashioned of stone or concrete block. Melrose Avenue has a concrete
sidewalk with a wide brick border. Due to the width of the streets south of Melrose Avenue, very narrow sidewalks
frequently line only one side of the street with several blocks built without walks. Streets without walks include all of Lucon
Drive, Brookland Place, and Brookland Park Drive.
Historic aerial photos of the balance of the area south of Melrose Avenue show it to have been largely grassland meadows
and cultivated fields prior to the 1930s. As this area was developed it contained small groupings of houses on "circles,"
"courts," and streets with "no outlet", which frequently resulted in spacious lots that have lent themselves to attractive park-
like landscaping treatments employing massed herbaceous perennials such as hostas and ferns as well as a wide
assortment of decorative conifers, flowering trees. and shrubs. Notable gymnospermous trees include mature white pine,
Norway spruce, blue spruce, hemlock, and ginkgo. The flowering trees and shrubs include noteworthy examples of
Florida dogwood, weeping crabapple, tree peony, tree hydrangea, beauty bush, rhododendron, azalea, high bush
cranberry, and bridal wreath. The age of the District's trees confirms that considerable planting took place before World
War II at the time the majority of houses were constructed. Because of the narrow streets and drives in the District, tree
plantings are generally reserved for front yards rather than curb areas.2
The buifding stock in the Melrose Historic District includes a mix of buildings originally constructed as single-family
residences, duplexes, and one multi-family apartment building. These buildings mostly reflect the historical development
and residential land-use pattems that evolved bèginning in the decades following the Civil War when country residences
and farms were built along Snook's Grove Road, now Melrose Avenue. After the turn of the 20th century a gradual ¡nfill of
new houses occurred along Melrose Avenue. Following establishment of the SUI Hospital complex and West Side
Campus after World War I, residential subdivisions containing a mix of small and moderate size lots were laid out along
narrow streets and cul-de-sacs. Gradually, the neighborhood saw full development. By the end of the 20th century, a
number of residences immediately along the south side of Melrose Avenue were acquired by the SUI and several
churches for ancillary uses that includé daycare facilities, offices, student cultural centers, and apartments. In 2004, the
balance of the District includes privately owned duplexes and single-family dwellings that date from the 1870s through the
1950s, and secondary structures erected during the same period.
The District contains a total of 137 resources including one site (Brookland Park, contributing), one structure (park shelter
in Brookland Park), and 135 buildings, which are divided into 85 primary buildings and 50 secondary buildings. The park is
considered a contributing site because it was an integral part of Brookland Park Addition, which was platted in 1924 when
Ilnfonnation regarding the neighborhood plantings was provided in an emaillnterview with Jefñy Schabillon, professor,
Department of Biologicel Sciences, University of Iowa, May 11, 2004.
2/bid.
United States Department of the Interior
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Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 7 Page 3
Melrose Historic District Johnson Countv.IA
Name of Property County and State
the area was first being developed, and has not physically changed substantially since that time. The park shelter
structure was added within the last several decades and though it is non-contributing due to its age, does not substantially
detract from the park. Of the 85 primary buildings, 88 percent are considered contributing resources with 31 buildings or
36 percent of the 85 primary buildings qualifying as key contributing resources. The District also contains 50 secondary
buildings originally constructed as garages, a carriage house, and a bam. Of these, 38 buildings or 76 percent are
considered contributing while 12 have been determined non-contributing due to alterations or age. Most of the contributing
secondary buildings are well-preserved examples of pre-World War II garage designs, which were built to match the
designs of the accompanying residences. As might be expected for such early garages, 25 buildings or 50 percent were
built with a single vehicle bay.
The Melrose Historic District contains a mix of one and two story houses constructed of brick, wood, and stucco. Frame
residences were the most popular in number while brick and stucco were favored for most of the largest structures. The
earliest frame dwelling dates from 1870 with others dating from the decade of the 1890s through the 1950s. They include
a range of narrow, medium, and wide-width clapboard styles along with weatherboard and board and batten siding found
on more than a dozen secondary buildings. Several instances of decorative shingles are seen in houses built before
World War I with a larger, square-cut shingle style used as a siding material for houses and garages built during the 1920s
and 1930s. A wide range of wood moldings, brackets, spindles, and fretwork are used as trim materials. Masonry
materials for several pre-1900 residences include locally quarried limestone, both ashlar and dressed, for foundations and
trim and locally manufactured brick. Mass-produced pressed brick products are seen in the Districfs largest apartment
building, a brick duplex on Melrose Court, and residences scattered through the neighborhood, all dating from the 1920s
and 1930s. Pressed brick is also used as an important decorative trim material and for prominent exposed chimneys for
cottages built during the same decades. Stucco is used infrequently in the District. Examples include one cottage, one
large primary residence, and several contributing garages.
The Melrose Historic District exhibits a variety of late 19th and 20th century architectural styles and vemacular forms. Good
examples of the ltalianate, Colonial Revival, Georgian, Tudor Revival, and Craftsman styles are found throughout the
District. Most of the Districfs residences, however, are examples of vernacular house forms and domestic architecture
design trends popularized through pattern books and house plan services after 1900. Examples of the Gable-Front and
Wing form and the two-story side-gable I-House form were built prior' to 1900 along the southern edge of the District in an
area known as "Myrtle Grove.· House forms that appeared most frequently between 1905 and 1955 Included the
American Four-5quare, the Side-Gable, the Front-Gable, the Gambrel Cottage, the English Period Cottage (Tudor
Cottage), the Minimal-Traditional, the Cape Cod, and the Ranch. Roof forms, the major features defining these vernacular
forms, include various examples of slde-gable roofs with and without eaves or exposed rafters, low and moderate pitched
front-gable roofs, clipped gable roofs, gambrel roofs with the ridge parallel or perpendicular to the front, and low and
moderate pitched hipped roofs with both shallow and deep eaves.
The ltalianate Style houses in the District are clustered along Metrose Avenue. Two of these houses, the Billingsley-Hills
House (629 Melrose Avenue, contributing, NRHP, Photo #1) and the A.W. Pratt House (503 Melrose Avenue, contributing,
NRHP, Photo #2) are examples of large-scale ltalianate Style residences built in the Gable-Front and Wing form. The low-
pitched intersecting gable roofs of both houses are lined with brackets while porches fill ells and wrap the fronts and sides.
The earlier of the two houses, the Billingsley-Hills House built in 1870, blends Greek Revival elements In its design as
well, a practice typical of Iowa City residences built after the Civil War that were more eclectic in nature. This house, along
with the Pratt House and a third ltalianate Style brick house located just outside of the District, the Wilbur and Hattie
Cannon House (303 Melrose Avenue, NRHP), were Originally widely spaced along Melrose Avenue. After the tum of the
20'" century, as new houses were erected along present day Melrose Avenue, these large ltalianate Style houses retained
their spacious sites despite being absorbed Into more densely developed city blocks.
After the turn of the 20th century, many of the largest houses built in the District were built in variations of the Colonial
Revival Style incorporating classical design motifs Into their symmetrical façades. The Colonial Revival Style houses had
hipped and side-gable roofs of various heights and pitches frequently containing attic dormers and clipped gable peaks.
The Dutch Colonial sub-type using the Gambrel Cottage form in either the front or side variation was used for both small
UnIted States Deparbnent of the Interior
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Section Number 7 Page 4
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and Slate
and large houses scattered through the District. Another house form that frequently appears throughout the District has its
origins in the Tudor Revival Style. Examples of Tudor Revival Style cottages and the successive generation of English
Period Cottages were built during the 1920s and 1930s. This basic sid8i1able cottage form incorporated prominent front
gable projections, steeply pitched roofs and dormers, and dominant exposed chimneys on front or side end walls.
Like the revival style houses, Craftsman Style dwellings were built throughout the District. Examples of the Gable-Front,
Side-Gable, Bungalow, and American Four-Square forms rendered in the Craftsman Style are scattered along Melrose
Avenue, Melrose Court and Brookland Park Drive. Their rectilinear plans have the prototypical Craftsman window - a
double-hung sash with a vertical light configuration in the upper half - in singles, pairs, or groups. Exposed rafter tails,
pur1ins, and knee-brace brackets line prominent gables, com ices, and porch roofs. Well-preserved garages constructed
using Craftsman design elements such as sliding or bi-fold doors and multi-light windows accompany many of the
Craftsman dwellings in the District. Typical cladding finishes for Craftsman Style houses and garages in the District
include pressed brick, clapboard, stucco, and altemating narrow and wide courses of square-cut shingles or random
square-cut shingle applications. Several Craftsman Style houses were originally constructed with metal tile roofs but only
one garage roof using this material survives.
The newest group of house forms to appear in the Melrose District began appearing before Wor1d War II and continued in
the post-War boom period. These forms included the one-story Cape Cod, Minimal-Traditional, and Ranch house forms
with both attached and matching detached garages, The ear1iest examples of these house forms (Cape Cod) generally
had an economical arrangement of four multi-purpose rooms on the first floor and small second floor bedroom areas.
They were typified by low to moderate pitched side-gable roofs. The Ranch houses in the District began appearing in 1949
and continued to be built through the ear1y 1960s. These Ranch houses had a more open interior plan with private areas
clustered at one end, a living room in the center, and a garage connected to the kitchen and dining areas at the other end.
All of these house forms had a mix of window sizes and styles, and virtually no exterior omamentation.
Some of the best examples of residential architectural styles and vemacular house forms in the Melrose Historic District
are listed below. A complete list of contributing and non.contributing resources begins on page 47.
Architectural Styles and Vernacular House Forms
· ltalianate/Greek Revival: Billingsley-Hills House, 629 Melrose Avenue (Photo #1, 1870)
A. W. Pratt House, 503 Melrose Avenue (Photo #2, 1885)
· I-House Form: Clarence & Frances Huffman House, 412 Myrtle Avenue (Photo #3, ca. 1890)
L.E. Elliott House, 402 Myrtle Avenue (ca. 1890)
· Queen Anne: Wm. & Virginia Shuck House, 309 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1905)
· Colonial Revival: Robert & Luveme Wales House, 401-407 Melrose Avenue (Photo #4, ca. 1910)
Smith Rental House, 607 Melrose Avenue (Photo #5, ca. 1927)
Byron & Helen Lambert House, 4 Melrose Circle (ca. 1922)
Rudolph & Ruth Kuever House, 5 Melrose Circle (Photo #6, 1925)
Nelson Duplex, 402-404 Melrose Court (ca. 1939)
Emest & Myrtle Anthony House, 605 Brookland Park Drive (ca. 1927)
· Georgian: Hicks-Andrews House, 2 Melrose Circle (1924)
Unnamed Duplex, 216-218 Melrose Court (Photo #21, 1929)
· Dutch ColonlaV Floyd & Marian Nagler House, 6 Melrose Circle (Photo #7, 1926)
Gambrel Cottage: Dolorosa Richey House, 421 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1918)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
SectIon Number 7 Page 5
Melrose Historic Dlstrld Johnson Counlv IA
Name of Property County and State
Christian & Eva Nagy House, 605 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1918)
David & Edna Armbruster House & Garage, 331 Melrose Court (Photo #24, 1932)
Don & Margaret Munger House, 521 Melrose Avenue (Photo #8, ca. 1911)
· Craftsman/ Manley-Mahan House, 303 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1909)
American Four-Square: Theron & Lela Hill House, 229 Melrose Court (Photo #9, 1931)
Clarence & Francis Huffman House, 408 Brookland Place (ca. 1924)
· CraftsmaniFront-Gable: John & Mary Miller House, 315 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1925)
· Craftsman/Side-Gable: Fred & Anna Miller House, 707 Melrose Avenue (Photo #10, 1918)
Miller-Johnson House & Garage, 508 Melrose Court (Photo #25, 1915)
Jeremiah & Laura McLaughlin House, 223 Melrose Court (1926)
Leslie & Wilma SWitzer House, 422 Melrose Court (Photo #11, ca. 1924)
· Craftsman/Bungalow: Frederick & Nellie Fry House, 506 Brookland Park Drive (Photo #12, ca. 1926)
Howard Duplex, 401-403 Melrose Court (Photo #13, 1924)
Robert & Ethel Hunter House, 316 Myrtle Avenue (ca. 1915)
Elza & Mary Means House, 520 Brookland Park Drive (ca. 1926)
George S. & Anna Randall House, 701 Melrose Avenue (ca. 1919)
· Craftsman/Multi-family: Melrose Apartments/Caywood Apartments, 741 Melrose Avenue (Photo #22,
1929)
· Tudor RevivaV Chester & Lois Miller House, 311 Melrose Court (Photo #14,1929)
English Period William & Betty Holland House, 325 Melrose Court (Photo #15, ca. 1932)
Cottage: Irving & Martha Weber House, 421 Melrose Court (Photo #16, 1929)
Erwin & Eva Gross House, 622 Brookland Park Drive (Photo #17, 1930)
John & Rose Brady House, 513 Brookland Park Drive (1932)
Chartes & Louise Kennett House, 517 Brookland Park Drive (ca. 1928)
Ernest & Myrtle Anthony House, 605 Brookland Park Drive (ca. 1927)
· Cape Cod! Albert & Dorothy Erbe House, 409 Melrose Court (1939)
Minimal Traditional: George & Leona Rebel House, 614 Brookland Park Drive (1941)
Gretchen & C. Merton Spicer, Jr. House, 624 Brookland Park Drive (Photo #18,
1939)
Ostdeik Rental House, 424 Melrose Court (Photo #19,1940)
· Ranch: F. Neal & Ruth Miller House, 603-603% Brookland Park Dr. (ca. 1949)
Thelma & Donald Lewis House, 300 Lucon Drive (Photo #20,1951)
Davis-Walker House, 335 Lucon Drive (1953)
The condition of buildings in the Melrose Historic District ranges from good to excellent. Most of the residences originally
used as single-family homes have been retained as such with several exceptions where they have been converted to
duplexes. In several instances garages have been converted to rental units as well. The most likely alteration to houses
in the District has been the addition of synthetic siding including aluminum siding or vinyl siding beginning in the 1960s.
Other changes include the enclosure of front porches, the addition of breezeways to connect to previously detached
garages, alteration of some dormer areas to create large second floor rooms, and the construction of rear kitChen and
family-room wings generally not visible from the public right-of-way. Historic rehabilitations were completed for a number
of bUildings within the District during the 19908.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
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NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 6
Melrose Hlstorfc Dislrict Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
8. Statement of Significance: Sianlficant Person (continued)
Kuever, Rudolph
Nagler, Floyd
Jones, Howard
Armbruster, David
Johnson, Wendell
Weber, Irving
Lewis, Thelma
8. Statement of Significance: Architect/Builder (continued)
J.H. Hunzinger & Co., builder
Hunzinger-Wagner Co., builder
Hunzinger, Frank E., builder
Wagner, W.H., builder
McLaughlin, Jeremiah, architect and builder
Anthony, Mark, architect
Rust, J. Bradley, architect
Paulson, Wayne, architect
Miller, F. Neal, builder
8. Narrative Statement of Sianificance:
General:
The Melrose Historic District is locally significant under Criteria A, 8, and C.
Under Criterion A, the Melrose Historic District derives significance under the category of "Community Planning and
Development" Resources within the District draw attention to the growth of Iowa City's West Side both prior to 1900 when
the houses along Snook's Grove Road (Melrose Avenue) comprised a sparsely settled country neighborhood and to the
period following World War I, and extending through World War" when the neighborhood transitloned to an early
automobile suburb. Under the category of "Education" the District is closely associated with the development of the State
University of Iowa's West Side Campus, which included its teaching hospital and clinic complex and its athletic facilities, all
built north of Melrose Avenue in the decades following World War I. This period was significant for the University's primary
education mission because these years saw a five-fold increase in student enrollment and a major expansion in physical
plant. The provision of housing for University faculty members, physicians, administrative staff, and students was a critical
private-sector initiative that supported the West Side Campus development between and following the World Wars.
Under Criterion B, the Melrose Historic District is significant for its association with the lives of prominent Iowa City
residents, several with affiliations to the State University of Iowa. Byron J. Lambert, head of the Department of Civil
Engineering at the University was an important Iowa engineer whose career included the design of steel stadiums, bridges,
hydroelectric dams and plants, and water systems throughout the state. Floyd Nagler gained prominence as the founding
director of the SUI Hydraulics Laboratory and for a range of findings in the engineering field. Rudolph Kuever, Dean of the
College of Pharmacy, had an outstanding career in both academic pharmacy and as a consulting pharmaceutical chemist
and patent holder. Howard Jones was the SUI football coach in the early 1920s who developed a highly successful
national football program, David Armbruster was a nationally prominent swimming coach and researcher at SUI. Wendell
Johnson was a nationally known spee¢h pathologist, clinical psychologist, and pioneer in treatment for stuttering. Irving
Weber, SUI's first All-American swimmer, resided in the District throughout his life. He was a leading Iowa City dairy
company executive and a much-loved local historian and newspaper columnist Thelma Lewis, a leader in the campaign
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park SelVlce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContinuatIon Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 7
Melrose Historic DlsIrid Johnson County. IA
Name of Properly County and State
to establish the mayor-city manager form of govemment for the city in the 1950s, became Iowa City's second female
mayor.
Under Criterion C, the Melrose Historic District is significant as a representative collection of the residential architectural
styles and vemacular house forms that appeared in Iowa City neighborhoods during the years that the area was
transformed from a country neighborhood to an early automobile and post-war residential suburb. The neighborhood
contains a subdivision pattem that mixed curvilinear, cul~e-sac, and grid pattern streets with a city park along a major
town and country highway, The shift in domestic architecture during this period from large, multi-storied and richly
omamented houses to smaller scale, less expensive residences with garages integrated onto the site is evidenced by the
homebuilding that took place in the Melrose Historic District. Together the District's subdivision plans and buildings tell the
story of suburban style architectural design and vemacular building practices during the first half of the 20" century in Iowa
City, displaying more than a dozen different architectural styles and house forms.
Two resources in the District are already listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Billingsley-Hills House
(contributing, 629 Melrose Avenue, Photo #1) and the AW. Pratt House (contributing, 503 Melrose Avenue, Photo #2).
The first property contains two contributing resources. The Pratt House is also owned by a religious organization and used
as a student center. No reconnaissance or intensive level archeological surveys were conducted for properties within the
District As a result, no significance is claimed under Criterion D.
The period of significance for this locally significant historic District is 1870-1955. The first date marks the construction of
the earliest architecturally significant resource In the District and the last date marks the 50-year cut-off for National
Register eligibility.
The Historical Development of Melrose Nelghborhood:3
Iowa City was laid out as the new capital city for Iowa Territory In 1839. Its location 50 miles west of the Mississippi River
and Its population centers anticipated the state's westward expansion. Over the next 15 years, the territorial and then
state IegÏ$latOlS sought to connect Iowa City to the balance of Iowa through the establishment of mHitary, territorial and
state roads. One of these roads, Snook's Grove Road, forms the northem boundary of the Melrose Historic District. It
was laid out in 1853 aJong the route of pre$ent day Melrose Avenue to connect Iowa City with Snook's Grove. an early
town site in Poweshiek County, the second county west of Johnson County. The road was connected to the balance of
Iowa City, which was located east of the Iowa River, via a curving route that descended the hillside. and connected to the
bridge that crossed the mer at BUrlington Street.
Early development along Snook's Grove Road is depicted in the 1868 Bird's Eye View of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa
that appears on the following page. Scattered residences are located along the road with the grid-like spacing of trees
suggesting at least one orchard along the north side of the road northeast of the District. The undulating open space
south of Snook's Grove Road appears to be dotted by trees and p$stureland. The tree-covered ravine located midway
between Melrose Avenue and Myrtle Avenue in the vicinity of present day ..ucon Drive appears also. The clearly
depicted right-of-way of the Mississippi & Missouri Railroad (later, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific RR) curves along
the southwest edge of the District. The railroad was completed to Iowa City in the mid-1850s but not completed
westward until after the Civil War.
Myrtle Avenue is shown on the Bird's Eye View Map as a dead end road that p$ralleled, but did not cross, the railroad. A
cluster" of buildings including a farmstead and several other dwetlings appears on both sides of the road. This collection
of structures is actually at the crest of a hili that the map does not depict. The change In grade traversed by the railroad
route is similarly minimized in this view. The crest of the hill at the west end of Myrtle was identified in an 1854 map of
Iowa City as the location of "Myrtle Grove,' the site of a prominent Greek Revival residence (non~xtant) owned by James
3Portions of this section from "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS' listed in the NRHP; authored by Mar1ys Svendsen.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 8
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
Robinson that looked out over the Iowa River.
The pattern of building and the present day density of the Melrose Historic District are a result of the organic manner in
which the area grew as well as conscious planning decisions made by formal subdivision development. Residential
building occurred in multiple waves. No evidence of the first wave of settlement, that which is depicted in the Bird's Eye
View Map, survives although the cluster of houses at the crest of Myrtle Avenue where several of the District's oldest
dwellings are currently located may be linked with the settlement shown on the Bird's Eye View Map. These frame 1-
houses, the L.E. Elliott House (contributing, 402 Myrtle Avenue) and the Clarence and Frances Huffman House
(contributing, 412 Myrtle Avenue, Photo #3) date from ca. 1890 or earlier. In later years Myrtle Avenue passed this pair of
houses before turning southwest and crossing the tracks of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
from Bird's Eye View of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa. 1868 '\
(from the State Historical Society of Iowa - Iowa City) N
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 9
Melrose Historic District Johnson Countv IA
Name of Property County and State
A Country Neighborhood along Snook's Grove Road
The second wave of settlement in the Melrose Historic District took place in the decades immediately following the Civil
War. House sites were established on small acreages located along Snook's Grove Road (Melrose Avenue) with the
formal subdivision of Govemment Lot 1, Sec.16-79-6 in this area of Johnson County. The earliest surviving house in the
District is the country estate of landowner William Billingsley (629 Melrose Avenue, contributing, NRHP, Photo #1). Built in
1870, the multi-acre site originally had a small barn (non-extant)as well as the 16-room house. A two-story garage
(contributing) with servants' quarters on the second floor was added to the property in the 1920s.
Historic VIew of BilJingsley-Hills House and Garage, 629 Melrose Avenue, ca. 1925
(photo courtesy of Michaelanne Widness, Iowa City)
Subdividing of the area south of Snook's Grove Road began in March 1881 when William Billingsley sold Paul Custer and
his wife Gabriella 18 acres of land in the west half of Government Lot 1 that surrounded Billingsley's house site. Nine
months later Paul Custer formally subdivided this parcel into rectangular multi-acre lots fronting on Snook's Grove Road,
the state road that connected Iowa City with points west. Custer's Subdivision extended along the south side of Snook's
Grove Road from near where Lucon Drive and Brookland Place are located on the east to just west of Melrose Place
(outside of the District).
The Custers sold off these lots slowly over the next seven years with the first two going to A.W. Pratt. The other lots
changed hands several times before houseS were built after 1900. The A.W. Pratt House (503 Melrose Avenue,
contributing, NRHP, Photo #2) was built a quarter mile to the east of the Billingsley-Hills House in1885. Pratt was a
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 10
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
partner in the Pratt & Strub Drygoods Store, a successful Iowa City department store. A third surviving house from this
period is located just outside of the District, the Wilbur and Hattie Cannon House (320 Melrose Avenue, NRHP) built in
1884. Sons of the Cannon family and the Pratt family were eventually partners in WA Cannon, Jr. & Co., a perfume and
cosmetics manufacturer at the tum of the 20th century.
Historic View of A.W. Pratt House, 503 Melrose Avenue, ca. 1910
(photo courtesy of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Iowa City)
.,.~
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The next subdivision platted within the Melrose Historic District was east of Custer's Subdivision at the eastern edge of the
District Named "Crowley's River View Addition,' this subdivision was surveyed by J.C. Watkins and platted by Edward
Crowley in February 1908. The lots were laid out along the bluff top facing the Iowa River, along River Road below the
bluff, and with a few lots away from the bluff laid out along the south side of Snook's Grove Road (Melrose Avenue) before
it turned north to descend the hill and connect to the Burlington Street Bridge. Crowley appears to have been
unsuccessful with this platting effort, however, selling only a few lots including one below the hill for use as a sand and
gravel site (outside of the District) and several along Melrose Avenue for house sites that were built on in the decades
immediately following 1900.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 11
Melrose Historic Dlstrk:t Johnson Countv IA
Name of Property County and Slale
The third wave of development in the Melrose Historic District began shortly after the turn of the 20th century, Iowa City
population stood at 7,987 in 1900 with another 1,500 State University of Iowa students not included in this figure. As the
'Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa" MPS states, this population was housed largely in the blocks that comprised the
original town plat and later additions along the eastern and southern edges of the city. Once the Iowa River was breached
with the approval of a new western city limit in the referendum vote held on March 21, 1910, new houses were rapidly
constructed west of the river. This section of town became known alternately as 'West Iowa City" and the 'West Side" on
published maps and in city directories. Between ca. 1905 and the end of World War I, more than a dozen new houses
were completed in the District. Their location was confined to the 30D-700 blocks along the south side of Snook's Grove
Road (Melrose Avenue) and a single house on Myrtle Avenue. The houses ranged from small two-story frame cottages to
large two-story houses fitted out with elaborate entrance porches and rear sleeping porches. These residences were built
and occupied by Iowa City merchants (hardware dealer, seed and feed dealer, agricultural implement dealer, blacksmith)
and manufacturers (perfume and gloves), retired farmers, building tradesmen (carpenters and plumbers), and several
widows. City directories show that no individuals with connections to the State University of Iowa were included in this third
wave of homebuilders.
Iowa City "West Side," from Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa, 1917
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United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 12
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and Slate
Establishment of the SUI Hospital Complex and the West Side Campus
The fourth and most important wave of residential development in the Melrose Historic District began after World War I
and continued through the 19305. These two decades were marked by the platting of four subdivisions in the District and
construction of nearly half of the single-family dwellings, all of the duplexes, and the only apartment building, The single
factor that prompted this swift development was the decision by the State University of Iowa to expand its campus to the
west side of the Iowa River. Prior to this time as noted above, SUI and the SUI General Hospital were situated on the east
side of the Iowa River north of the central business district. Shortly before World War I, SUI made the decision to acquire
a substantial parcel of ground on the west side for purposes of developing a new hospital complex.
This decision was made in the wake of two important events. The first was the publication in 1910 of the Carnegie
Foundation's Flexner Report, a national study of medical colleges in the United States and Canada that recommended that
the SUI College of Medicine and SUI Hospital either make serious reforms or shut down because of deficiencies. The
second event was the passage of the Perkins Act in 1915 by the Iowa General Assembly, which mandated that the SUI
College of Medicine provide care for the state's indigent children. In separate action later that year, the General Assembly
established funding for a 150-bed "Hospital for Indigent, Diseased & Crippled Children." These legislative actions together
with the impetus of the Flexner Report set the course for major reform and hospital expansion. The site selected for the
new Children's Hospital was part of an 8O-acre campus expansion located on the bluffs west of the Iowa River and about a
half-mile north of the present day Melrose Historic District When the Children's Hospital opened in 1919 it was the first
SUI building on the new West Side Campus. It was soon followed by completion of the Psychopathic Hospital in 1920 and
Westlawn (nurses dormitory) in 1921.
The same year that the Children's Hospital opened the Iowa General Assembly passed the Haskell-Klaus Act, which
extended the benefits of free medical care to indigent adults. As a result of the Perkins Act and the Haskell-Klaus Act,
more than half of the SUI Hospital's admissions were made up of indigent patients by the early 1920s. To address the
growing demand for hospital beds, a lengthy process of negotiation was begun to secure funding for the construction of a
new general hospital on the West Side Campus. Abraham Flexner, author of the report that had severely criticized the
SUI Hospital and College of Medicine in 1910, was impressed with the subsequent efforts of the Iowa legislature and the
College of Medicine to deal with the problems. As a result, Flexner became SUI's champion in his new position with the
General Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation.
Flexner proposed that the General Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation help SUI build a new medical
center across the river from the facility he had described in his 1910 report as small and outmoded. He noted to
the General Education Board "that the state legislature had dramatically increased its support of the medical school
from less than $70,000 in 1912-1913 to more than $1 million in 1922-23. But generous though it was to the
medical school, the legislature would not appropriate the whole $4.5 million needed to build a new medical center.·4
Flexner proposed that the Rockefeller philanthropies provide $2.5 million with the balance to come from taxes.
Despite efforts by opponents within the Rockefeller Foundation who did not favor funding tax-supported entities, the
SUI hospital proposal was approved. The project's significance on a national scale was that it combined state tax
dollars with Foundation resources breaking the long-standing position of the Rockefeller philanthropies to not fund
tax supported institutions.
The Iowa General Assembly approved funding for the new General Hospital and Medical Laboratories Building in 1924.
Construction was planned for four years with the opening of the Laboratories Building in 1927 and the 77o-bed General
Hospital in 1928. Representatives of major state and national medical organizations and medical schools from throughout
the country attended the three-day long dedication celebration held in November 1928.
4E. Richard Brown, Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism In America (Berkley, CA: University of California
Press), 1979, p. 177.
UnIted States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 13
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
Subdivision Platting In the 19208
Plat of Lambert's Subdlvlson of Lot 4, Custer's Subdivision.
Once the decision was made regarding the establishment of a new filed April 1, 1921, Johnson County Recorder
West Side Campus for the State University of Iowa, the direction of
Iowa City's future growth west of the Iowa River was assured. The N.
future campus as well as the area to the north and south were
annexed and city services for water and sewers were extended
west of the river. Next came the platting of additions and ~ ----t-- -
subdivisions to spur residential construction, One of the first areas I
favored for developer attention was the area south of Snook's I
Grove Road, which was renamed "Melrose Avenue" following ..
submittal of a petition by residents along Snook's Grove Road to
the Iowa City City Council on December 3,1915, The road
retained its name on some maps for a time. The platting of four
subdivisions and the establishment of a new city park took place ; ,¡, · tJ¡,. s.o._
between 1921 and 1925 in the blocks south of Melrose Avenue. r ·
These actions were followed shortly by the construction of dozens ~ ·
of new houses, a handful of duplexes, and one large apartment ~
building. .~
The first land to be platted along the south edge of Melrose Avenue
- the boundary of the new West Side Campus - was Lambert's
Subdivision of Lot 4 of Custer's Subdivision. This plat was laid out
in April 1921 by Byron J. Lambert, head of the SUI Department of
Civil Engineering, and also a registered land surveyor. The
approximately 600 by 200 foot tract was owned by Lambert and Dr. ....,
Samuel Orton, the resident owner of 629 Melrose Avenue.
Lambert had acquired his portion of the land in the new subdivision ~
shortly before the plat was filed. The relatively small subdivision "
contained only six lots laid out along a cul-de-sac named "Melrose ~ ..
Circle" that measured just 18 feet at the north end. The portion of
the street that looped the circle at the south end of the cul-de-sac ,
widened to 24 feet. Lambert selected Lot 4 for construction of his ".
~
own residence and sold off the other lots by early 1923. , ¿,
Substantial houses were completed on all but one lot within a few
years. In addition to Lambert, homebuilders included the SUI
Athletic Director, the dean of the SUI College of Pharmacy, the
director of the SUI Institute of Hydraulic Research, and the SUI
news director.
"'of'
With houses under construction or nearing completion along
Melrose Circle, in January 1923 James and Augusta Paden
retained J.C. Watkins, a registered land surveyor and civil ,
engineer, to layout Paden's Addition in Lot 3 of Custer's ~ J If
Subdivision. The Padens retained Lot 1 that contained their ,
personal residence (215 Melrose Court, contributing) and laid out a
group of small lots (50 by 100 feet) facing onto a narrow private
drive that joined Melrose Avenue at aT-intersection. The plat for
Paden's Addition appears on the following page. 13(1,'
...... ('
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 14
Melrose Historic District Johnson Counlv IA
Name of property County and State
Before the end of January 1923, a second addition was laid out on land adjoining Paden's Addition on the south taking up
the balance of Lot 3 and a portion of Lot 2 of Custer's Subdivision. The name of this subdivision, Melrose Court Addition,
gave the 20 foot wide private drive its name - "Melrose Court.· The Melrose Court Addition contained 14 smaUlots (50
by 100-120 feet) on either side of Melrose Court. Like Paden's Addition, Melrose Court Addition was laid out by J.C.
Watkins. The plat for the Melrose Court Addition appears below.
Occupants of the houses built in Paden's Addition and Melrose Court Addition included a mix of working and middle class
households, which continued through the years. In addition to SUI faculty, coaches, physicians, and an SUI janitor, homes
and duplexes were occupied by several carpenters, a truck gardener, a bookkeeper, an auto mechanic, and several
commercial travelers.
Plat of Paden's Addition of Lot 3, Custer's Subdivision, Plat of Melrose Court Addition of Lot 3, Custer's Subdivision,
filed January 8, 1823, Johnson County Recorder filed January 18, 1823, Johnson County Recorder
N. Jle1rol. An.
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United States Deparbnel'lt of the Interior
National Park ServIce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 15
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of property County and Stale
The last major subdivision laid out in the Melrose Historic District was the Brookland Park Addition platted in November
1924 by three Iowa City couples - Frank E. and Effie Hunzinger, Mary and J.P. Connell, and W.H. and Mayme Wagner-
who had acquired the land through various purchases and transfers in the months immediately preceding filing of the plat.
The group retained engineer Byron J. Lambert to layout the addition. In addition to filing the joint plat, the Hunzingers and
Wagners shared another important business relationship - ownership and operation of J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and an
investment interest later in the Hunzinger-Wagner Co., both construction and development firms that operated in Iowa City
between the Wond Wars. The work of these companies is described in greater detail below.
Plat of BrookIand Park AddltiQn,
flied November 1, 1924, Johnson County Recorder
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United States Ceparbnent of the Interior
National Park Serviçe
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 16
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and Stille
The Brookland Park Addition was the largest modem subdivision in the Melrose Historic District measuring approximately
850 by 300 feet. It included 22 lots laid out along two streets and, like the adjacent Lambert's Subdivision laid out by B.J.
Lambert, contained an intersecting cul-de-sac with a 40 foot diameter circle. Streets in the addition ranged from 20 to 30
feet wide with a short alley measuring 16 feet. The most significant feature of the addition was the inclusion of Brookland
Park (contributing) that was formally transferred to the City of Iowa City in December 1924 for use as municipal parkland.
The construction of houses in the Brookland Park Addition proceeded at a steady pace through the balance of the 1920s
with 14 new dwellings and one duplex completed between 1925 and 1927. These same three years marked the period of
construction for two major SUI facilities north of Melrose Avenue - the SUI Field House completed in 1927 and the SUI
General Hospital completed in 1928. As might be expected, following the development of the West Side Campus, and the
SUI General Hospital in particular, SUI faculty, staff, and students occupied a major portion of the new housing in the
Brookland Park Addition. A surprisingly large share of the new residences, however, was occupied by working class and
middle class families whose livelihoods were not connected to SUI. These included several carpenters and contractors, a
number of grocers and other merchants, several bank employees, and several salesmen. The result was a socially and
economically diverse neighborhood where a professor of philosophy might reside next door to a carpenter and a grocer
might share a backyard fence with a physician. The poor economy of the Depression slowed construction of new houses
at the beginning of the 1930s but by the end of the decade another 15 houses had been added along Brookland Park
Drive and Melrose Court (including the north end). The last area settled in the District along Lucon Drive is discussed as
part of the post-World War 11 development below.
West Side Campus GlOws
The development of the Melrose neighborhood is important under the category of Education because its growth paralleled
a period of general expansion at SUI. Student enrollment of just 1,500 in 1900 grew to more than 8,500 at the end of the
1920s. Citywide population nearly doubled during the same period to 15,340 by 1930. General growth of the University
and its local impact are more fully described in the historic contexts "Town and Gown Era (1899-1940)" and "University of
Iowa (1855-1940)" in the "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa" MPS.
In addition to the SUI Hospital facilities described above, the West Side Campus's wide-open expanses and level terrain
proved suitable for construction of a series of buildings and athletic facilities that required substantial space. One of the
first facilities completed during the decade of the 1920s was the Armory (non-extant) erected in 1921. It was originally a
free-standing building located approximately one block north of Melrose Avenue opposite Melrose Circle. The second
major building to be completed was the SUI Field House (extant) in 1927. It was connected to the east side of the Armory
with its over-sized swimming pool Incorporated into the fire protection system for the SUI General Hospital that was under
construction at the same time. The third major facility completed during the decade was the new football stadium located
north of Melrose Avenue opposite Melrose Place and the Melrose Apartments. Originally dubbed Iowa Stadium (extant)
when it was completed in 1929, It was renamed Kinnick Stadium in honor of SUI Heisman trophy winner Nile Kinnick.
During World War II Kinnick died in a training flight and his death was mourned as a national tragedy. Vacant land
surrounding the Armory and the athletic facilities was taken over for practice fields, tennis courts, running track, and
parking lots. During the Great Depression years, construction on the SUI West Side Campus came to an abrupt stop.
Growth of the West Side Campus during the 1920s and 1930s along with general growth of the University created a
demand for student housing. Though construction of single-family dwellings dominated housing development in the
Melrose Historic District during this period, provision of student housing was not overlooked. Zoning laws did not regulate
the location of multi-family buildings until the mld-1930s in Iowa City, giving property owners the opportunity to locate
duplexes and apartment buildings on lots that could accommodate larger buildings. As a result, four duplexes were built
along Melrose Court at 410-403 (1924), 21&-218 (1928), 220-222 (1928), and 402-404 (ca. 1939). Through the years, the
tenants in these buildings changed frequently, but they nearly always had an affiliation with the SUI as junior faculty or at
the SUI General Hospital as medical residents, nurses, or staff. For example, In the four decades between the
construction of 220-222 Melrose Court in 1928 and 1967, 17 different tenants were affiliated with SUI. Beginning in the
1940s, several single-family residences saw apartments added. This was most common in cases where a surviving
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 17
Melrose HI$Jorlc Dlstricl Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
widow chose to supplement her income. Though no investigation was done for this nomination to determine the
occurrence of sleeping rooms in houses in the neighborhood, this, too, was a likely practice, given the proximity of the
neighborhood to the SUI West Side Campus.
The largest multi-family building in the District is the Melrose Apartments building at 741 Melrose Avenue, also known as
the Caywood Apartments. Construction of the building was completed in 1929, according to local historian Irving Weber
who, with his wife, Martha, had an apartment there.s The 12-unit building was built and owned by Thomas Caywood, a
professor of engineeling at SUI, and his wife, Sophronia. Through the years apartments were rented primarily to junior
faculty and students at SUI, with medical intems, residents, nurses, and other hospital workers accounting for a substantial
number of apartment occupants.
Architects, ContnlctolS, Engineers, and Deve/opelS of the 19208 and 19308
The visual attributes that characterize the Melrose Historic District are a result of the original layout of the subdivisions and
additions that comprise the neighborhood as well as the design and craftsmanship evidenced in individual buildings.
Individuals known to have participated in the development of the Melrose Historic District in one fashion or another include
those in the following chronological list. The year or span of years for their contribution is included:
· Frank X. Freyder, architect and contractor (ca. 1910)
· B. A. WICkham, architect and contractor (ca. 1911)
· Byron J. Lambert, engineer and land surveyor (1921-1924)
· J.C. Watkins, engineer (1923)
· Frank E. Hunzinger and W.H. Wagner. builders and developers with the firms J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and Hunzinger-
Wagner Co. (1924-ca. 1940)
· Jeremiah McLaughlin, foreman carpenter and designer with J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and Hunzinger-Wagner Co. (1925)
· Mark Anthony, Cedar Rapids architect (1924-1925)
· J. Bradley Rust, architect (1950)
· Wayne Paulson (1950)
· F. Neal Miller, contractor (1949-1962)
Frank X. Freyder was a partner in the firm Sheets & Freyder, a long-standing Iowa City building firm that traced its roots to
the carpently shops of J.M. Sheets and partners Bemard Gesberg and August Hazelhorst in the rnid-191h century, The
men eventually merged operations as Sheets & co. and became noted for their millwork production and contracting
services. By 1897, the firm included partners J.M. Sheets and Frank X. Freyder and operated as Sheets & Freyder.
Freyder listed himself as an architect in city directories beginning in 1909 through World War I. The firm completed
construction andlor design contracts for a number of major commercial and institutional buildings including the Iowa City
Public Library in 1903 and at least five Iowa City churches. Freyder was identified by local historian Irving Weber as the
architect for the Robert & Luveme Wales House at 407 Melrose Avenue.6 The house was constructed ca. 1910, a time
period that coincides with city directory listings for Freyder that identify him as an architect. It is also likely that Freyder's
company completed construction of the house. The Wales House is a good example of an American Four-5quare design
that has been widened slightly to provide a more generous interior floor plan. It is set well back from the street on a
spacious lot giving the house an even greater presence on Melrose Avenue. The house contains two modem features for
houses of the period - a large rear sleeping porch and a two-story garage. An historic photograph of the house from ca.
1928 appears on the following page.
Slnterview via email with Lolly Eggers (Irving Weber's biographer) by Marlys Svendsen, April 4, 2004.
61rving Weber gave crecm to Freyder for designing the house at 407 Melrose Avenue. Though he cited no source for this
information, it may have come in part from the fad that Weber was related by marriage to Freyder's predecessor in the firm Bernard
Gesberg, who was malTied to Weber's aunt. This genealogical information was provided by Weber's biographer, Lolly Eggers.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContinuatIon Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 18
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
Robert & Luveme Wales House, photograph taken ca. 1928 when owned by Dr. Everett & Lillian Plass
(photograph courtesy of Jane Plass, Lawrenceville, NJ)
The second architect-contractor connected to a house in the neighborhood is B.A. Wickham. Wickham's company traced
its roots to carpenter George WICkham, who started the firm in ca. 1890. By 1893 the firm operated as Wickham &
Brothers. Shortly after the turn of the 20111 century the firm became Wickham & Diehl for a short time. Sometime between
1904 and 1909 BA Wickham took over the firm and began advertising his services as an architect as well as a contractor.
In 1907, Wickham successfully out bid Freyder to construct the SUI President's House. Among the carpenters employed
by BA Wickham was William H. Wagner, who later would become a partner in the most important developer-contracting
business in the Melrose Historic District - J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and its successor, Hunzinger-Wagner Co. BA Wickham
has been identified as the designer and contractor for the Donald and Margaret Munger House at 521 Melrose Avenue.
This attribution is based on a notice that appeared in The American Contractor in August 1911, one month after the
Mungers had purchased this parcel, stating that Iowa City carpenter and architect BA Wickham had plans in progress for
a 2-story frame residence for D.A. Munger costing $4,000. This house price coincides with the price paid for the property
several years later when the Mungers sold it. The potential employment of William Wagner on construction of this house
suggests an opportunity for Wagner to become familiar with this developing West Side site a decade before he became a
personal investor in its development
The first step in establishing the appearance of a neighborhood typically involves the formal platting of its constituent
subdivisions and additions. The platting of the subdivisions in the Melrose neighborhood was the responsibility of both the
landowners and any engineer or land surveyor involved in preparation of the actual plat. Byron J. Lambert, head of the
civil engineering department at SUI and a registered land surveyor, took on this role for the creation of two of the modem
subdivisions within the Melrose Historic District described previously - Lambert's Subdivision (Melrose Circle) in 1921 and
Brookfand Park Addition in 1924. The adjoining additions included common design elements such as cul-de-sacs with 40
foot diameter circles, irregularly narrow streets (18 to 30 feet wide), angled street rights of way to accommodate both
existing natural and man-made features, and designated building setbacks. In the case of one subdivision (Lambert's
Subdivision) the circle of land at the center of the cul-de-sac was divided into four quarters and made part of the abutting
lots. In the case of the second cul-de-sac, ownership appears to have been transferred to the municipality along with
adjacent parkland and a park access road.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Servlçe
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Sec:tlon Numbet 8 Page 19
Melrose Historic District Johnson Counlv IA
Name of Property County and Slate
Lambert's layout for the two additions resulted in a variety of lot sizes and shapes that tended to ignore the mandates of
specific comþa$S points in their design. They also built on the growing popularity for Garden Suburbs in the 1920s. Laid
out along major automobile arteries, Garden Suburbs such as those laid out in the Melrose Historic District by Lambert
emphasized the use of traffic circles, residential courts. community parks, and planned open spaces suitable for the
planting of trees and other landscape features,7 The fact that Lambert chose to build his family's residence at 4 Melrose
Circle is evidence of his belief in the Garden Suburb concept Located at the end of a cul-de-sac with a spacious irregular
lot radiating from a circle of open space suitable for landscaping, Lambert's personal choice said a great deal about his
land development philosophy. Lambert played multiple roles in the development of Lambert's Subdivision - land owner,
engineer. plat filer, and real estate developer. Retaining Lot 4 for himself, he proceeded to sell off all of the other lots
along Melrose Circle within less than two years.
After Lambert's succe$Sful involvement with Melrose Circle, the principals of J. H. Hunzinger & Co., a local construction
company, hired him to layout the adjacent Brookland Park Addition. Based upon an examination of property transfer
records that identify real estate acquisitions and subsequent transfers to the parent corporation prior to resale to private
parties, it appears that J.H. Hunzinger & Co. played the multiple roles of developer, real estate agent, and building
contractor. Brookland Park Addition's similarity to Lambert's Addition was noted above, but the larger size of the
Brookland Park Addition and its required connection to the existing route of Melrose Court put several restrictions on its
spatial arrangement The result was the inclusion of a series of smaller, rectilinear lots along Melrose Court that repeated
the pattem already established in the adjoining Paden's Addition and Melrose Court Addition located between Melrose
Avenue and the Brookland Park Addition. Both of these small additions had been laid out in 1923 by J. C. WatkIns, a
local civil engineer in private practice in Iowa City from ca. 1922 to 1938.
As a result of the mix of size and shape for lots in the Bl"ookland Park Addition, J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and its successor,
the Hunzlnger-Wagner Co., were able to market lots to a diverse group of buyers from the prosperous 1920s into the
economically depressed period of the following decade. Substantial houses on spacious lots, mOderate sized homes on
medium sized lots, and small cottages on narrow, shallow lots along Melrose Court and the west end of Brookland Park
Drive were readily sold. An examination of property transfer and occupancy records suggests that up to nine houses and
two duplexes were built by eitherJ. H. Hunzinger & Co. or Hunzinger-Wagner Co. between 1925 and 1941.
J. H. Hunzlnger & Co. had its origins when John H. Hunzinger (1882-1947), a native of rural Johnson County, began work
as a carpenter in Iowa City in 1907 after several years of practicing the trade throughout the Midwe$t His brother, Frank
E, Hunzinger, also a carpenter, joined him two years later. The two continued in partnership until 1915 when they were
joined by WIlliam H. Wagner, another local carpenter, to form "J.H. Hunzinger & Co." John Hunzinger moved with the
company to Burlington in 1916 while Frank Hunzinger and William Wagner remained in Iowa City. References to Iowa
City projects by the firm in The American Contractor begin in 1914 and over the next 12 years include new construction
and remodeling work for a variety of clients. Work included dozens of new houses, several apartment buildings, store
construction and remodelings, a major church remOdeling, a new downtown mortuary, a fratemity house, a hotel
remOdeling, SUI hospital remOdeling, and a stock pavilion.
In 1922 John Hunzinger relocated the company and his personal residence from Burlington to Davenport, Iowa. Another
brother, Fred, joined the company's Iowa City operation that year. In March 1923 J.H. Hunzinger & Co. formally
incorporated in Johnson County with John Hunzinger as president, Frank Hunzinger as vice-president, and William
Wagner as secretary and treasurer. The company was described in its incorporation papers as a general contracting and
building busine$S with a wide range of specific busine$S activities allowed including the buying and selling of real estate.
Capital stock of $100,000 was authorized for the company. It is likely that one of the reasons for incorporation of the
company was the anticipated development of the Brookland Park Addition.
7David L. Ames and Unda Flint McClelland, National Register BuUetin: Historic Residential Suburbs, Guidelines for Evaluation
and Documentation for the National Register of Historic PfaC6s (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service, National Register of Historic Places), September 2002, p. 41.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 20
Melrose Historic District Johnson Cou't:
Name of Property County and
J.H. Hunzlnger & CO. AdverUsement
(from Iowa City Press-Cltizen, December 31,1923, p, 4)
place rz:¡:m(
.
BUILD A HOME!
The first step i~home bùilding is to Hu~gèr,& Co:. ~
We are prepared to draw your plans, show you the quality of lumber and materials figured in yo~ IUmber.bill. -tak~ you·,t.Q...l:iùndre:ds of .
1 satisfied home builders who will at~est to our ability to save money for you without sacrificing quality of lumber or !i.0rkmansþ.Íp. ,
. Whether it is your'purpose to build a ba~n, or a factor;, a bungalow or a skyscraper, consult with us on theprojeet'; asno~g istoa small ~\
Qt.too large for us to handle -and you'll get the same expert ådvice.:. . _ . .
. Consultation. 1,$ Free _
J ..', . _
From the first work òf excàvation to the final toach of the artist's brush "all is do& under our personal supervision. . Thi~ iS,your safe~ .
guard aga,ins~ iníe~ipr mate:ials or workmanship. ; , " ' .. " "'..... ~
1924 wIll be ;.he greatest building year Iowa City ~as had in many years,
Are you. One ~o wÙJbu,jldyour ownþ.ome?, "
" 'J.H. H6nziÌ1g~r '&',·C'O;-:·' ~. I
, Office e,or-ner Governor and- Jef~er50n Streets ," ..
CON1'.RACTING .,~ -- . BUtLDING-, .~CHlTl;;CTS;
Beginning in October 1924 real estate in the area that would be the Brookland Park Addition was transferred to two
couples who were connected to J.H. Hunzinger & Co. - Frank Hunzinger and his wife Effie and William Wagner and his
wife Mayme. A third couple, J.P. Connell and his wife Mary, also were partners in the initial real estate transfer. Connell
had a plumbing and heating business that likely did work with the Hunzinger Co. and the couple built the house at 511
Melrose Avenue (contributing) as their personal residence in ca. 1917. Over the next twenty years, the three couples
along with J.H. Hunzinger & Co, Inc. and its successor firm, Hunzinger-Wagner Co., made 29 separate real estate
transfers for lots in the Brookland Park Addition. An evaluation of property transfer records suggests that the company
built as many as seven houses for the buyers and built another four buildings, renting them until they were sold a few years
later.
The construction boom for J. H. Hunzinger & Co. in the Melrose neighborhood was so important that several of the
company's employees decided to live in nearby houses. Theodore Simmons, a carpenter with J.H. Hunzinger & Co., lived
for a short time at 303 Melrose Court beginning in 1924. Another employee who resided in the District was JeremIah
Mclaughlin, foreman carpenter for J.H. Hunzinger & Co. from ca. 1926 - 1929, a carpenter for Hunzinger - Wagner Co.
from ca. 1929 - ca. 1940, and a carpenter for Wagner Builders from ca. 1940 - 1958. He designed and built a house for
his wife, laura, and family at 223 Melrose Court (contributing). Mclaughlin's pencil drawing for the house's front elevation
along with an historic photograph survive and appear on the following pages. The well-executed drawing with its fine
detailing suggests that McLaughlin may have had some training in drafting and design. The Craftsman Style side-gable
house remains largely unchanged except for the removal of the metal Spanish tile roof and the addition of windows in the
front entrance porch.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 21
Melrose Historic District Jo~nson CountY IA
Name of Property County and State
Pencil drawing, "Front Elevation" for the Mclaughlin House, 223 Melrose Court, drawn by Jeremiah Mclaughlin, carpenter
foreman with J.H. Huntinger & Co., 1925. Roof detailed as "Metal Spanish Tile"
(drawing courtesy of Mark & Carole Ramsey, house owners)
Frank and Fred Hunzinger and William Wagner continued as officers and employees of J.H. Hunzinger & Co. throughout
the 19205, selling lots and building houses in the Brookland Park Addition. Construction and especially homebuilding
boomed throughout Iowa City. According to year-end summaries of construction activity published in the Iowa City Press-
Citizen for the years 1921-1924, J.H. Hunzinger & Co. led local building contractors in terms of the total value of completed
construction projects and the number of houses buill Their construction work rose from $177,600 in 1921 to $320,000 in
1922 and $415.870 in 1923 before dropping back slightly to $317,000 in 1924.8
Byear end construction summaries published in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 31, 1921, December 30, 1922,
December 31,1923, and December 31,1924.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 22
MelrO$e HI$toric Di$tric! John$on County IA
Name of Property County and State
Jeremiah & Laura McLaughlin House, 223 Melrose Court, 1940.
(photo courtesy of Mark R. & Carole L. Ramsey, house owners)
In 1929 the Hunzinger brothers moved to Milwaukee to carry on J.H. Hunzinger & Co.'s contracting business. William
Wagner joined with Ralph Wagner and Clarence Farr to incorporate the Iliunzinger-Wagner Co. in Johnson County in
February 1929. William was president, Ralph was vice-president, and Farr was secretary and treasurer. Like J.H.
Hunzinger & Co., the new firm was described in its incorporation papers as a general contracting and building business
with a wide range of specific business activities allowed including the buying and selling of real estate. Capital stock of
$40,000 was authorized for the company. Because of the continued use of the name "Hunzinger" in the company's name,
it is likely that at least Frank and/or Fred Hunzinger retained some ownership interest in the successor company, which
continued to be listed in local city directories until 1938. In 1940 followingl the death of William Wagner, Ralph assumed
responsibility for the contracting business forming a new firm, Wagner Builders. The last lot in the Brookland Park Addition
owned by Hunzinger-Wagner Co. was sold in 1941.
C.B. Mark Anthony served as the architect for one or possibly two houses in the Melrose Historic District - the Lambert
House (contributing) at 4 Melrose Circle and the Kuever House at 5 Melrose Circle (contributing, Photo # 6). Extant
architectural plans (see front elevation on following page) bearing Anthon(s name and a drafting date of March 6, 1925
document his design of the Rudolph and Ruth Kuever House. The slighttr earlier Lambert House was the first house
constructed on Melrose Circle in 1922, and although plans have not been reviewed Anthony's connection has been
attributed based on an interview with the owners of the Kuever House who have previously seen the Lambert House
drawings.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 23
Melrose HiStoric District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
Anthony maintained an architectural practice in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which is located approximately 25 miles north of Iowa
City, from 1918 to ca. 1948. Anthony graduated with a degree in architecture from the University of Illinois in 1914. He
worked in Chicago for the firm of Huehl & Schmidt as a draftsman and designer during the period in which the firm was
commissioned to complete a major remodeling of buildings along Michigan Avenue as part of the viaduct project along the
Chicago River. In ca. 1917 Anthony joined the firm of Walter Ahlschlager, where he completed the design for the
Oklahoma City Athletic Club. His first Iowa commission was in Cedar Rapids in 1918, where he was the designing
engineer for various building projects for the Quaker Oats Company and the Douglas Starch Works.
Front Elevation from original blueprints drawn by Mark Anthony for Rudolph & Ruth Kuever House. 5 Melroee Circle, 1925
(plan courtesy of Edward & Dordana Mason, 10_ City)
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United States Deparbnent of the InterIor
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 24
Melrose Historic District Johnson Countv. IA
Name of Property County and State
Likely impressed with the opportunity for design work in Cedar Rapids' bustling economy, Anthony stayed and joined the
Cedar Rapids office of Charles A. Dieman as an engineer and architect. In ca. 1920 he left Dieman to form the
partnership of Hatton, Holmes and Anthony, architectural engineers. Within two years, Anthony had purchased his
partners' interests and was practicing on his own. Anthony's clients included a number of Cedar Rapids' largest industrial
firms, such as Hutchinson Ice Cream, Ideal Yeast Company, and Penick and Ford. Other large-scale commissions were
for area schools and churches. By the mid-1920s, Anthony had designed more than thirty houses in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
City, and other nearby towns that, according to a writer for the Cedar Rapids Republican, "bear the stamp of Mark
Anthony's genius.·9 One of Anthony's Colonial Style house designs was widely published in architectural magazines with
copies built in several American cities.
The last designers of houses in the Melrose Historic District were J. Bradley Rust (1908-2000) of Iowa City and Wayne
Paulson of West Branch, which is located about 15 miles east of Iowa City. Little is known about Paulson except that he
had a design and building business that included residences in ca. 1950. He was not a registered architect in Iowa at the
time nor did he have a membership in the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. A good deal is known
about Rust, on the other hand. He had a design practice in Iowa City from 1932 until 1987 that included residential,
commercial, and industrial projects. Rust was born in Grinnell, Iowa and attended both Iowa State University and the
University of Illinois. He opened a practice in Iowa City in the early 1930s and between 1939 and 1943, he and his wife
rented an apartment in the Melrose Historic District at 402-404 Melrose Court. After a brief stint in the U.S. Navy during
the war, he returned to Iowa City to resume his design practice. The post-war years saw Rust's residential design
practice flourish. While his pre-war practice was largely confined to Iowa City, during the late 1940s and 19505 he
designed residences not only in Iowa City but also in Coralville, University Heights, Cedar Rapids, West Liberty, Ft.
Madison, Kalona, the Amana Colonies, Tipton, Marion, Vinton, Newton, Knoxville, and Wever - virtually all in eastern Iowa.
Of the dozens of houses designed by Rust, one is located in the Melrose Historic District - the Thelma and Donald Lewis
House at 300 Lucon Drive. Designed and constructed in 1950, the house is typical of many of the Ranch Style houses
that Rust designed during this period. Its functional floor plan offers fine vistas of the natural ravine nearby and the garage
is hidden in the building's horizontal elevation. A view of the west elevation of the Lewis House appears on the following
page. A second Rust house located near the Melrose Historic District is the Claussen House located at 3 Oak Park Court
built by former residents of 308 Melrose Court within the District.
One of the last contractors identified in the District during its period of significance was Frederick "Neal" Miller (1909-
1999). Miller lived in two houses in the neighborhood and headed up a small firm that built houses nearby and in other
parts of the city. Neal was born in Nebraska and moved to Iowa City in 1923 with his family to put a brother through
engineering school at the University. Neal started out in business working for his father, William Frederick "W.F." Miller.
During World War II Neal gained further experience in the construction trades while serving in the U.S. Navy Construction
Battalion stationed in the South Pacific. In 1941 W.F. Miller acquired three building sites at the west end of Brookland
Park Drive. After the end of the war when Neal retumed home to Iowa City to resume his work in the family construction
business, houses were built on each of these lots - 603 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) in 1949, 625 Brookland Park
Drive (contributing) in 1950, and 611 Brookland Park Drive (non-contributing) in 1962. Neal Miller and his wife Ruth
resided in two of these houses for a time. Miller's firm also built two of the last houses on Melrose Court - the houses at
219 Melrose Court (contributing) in 1953 and 300 Melrose Court (non-contributing) in 1957. The oldest house built by
Miller's firm in the District was the first Ranch Style house constructed in the Melrose neighborhood in 1949 at 603
Brookland Park Drive (contributing). The other houses built were examples of the Ranch Style or modified versions of the
MinimalfTraditional Style sized to fit smaller lots,
9J.S. Farquhar, "Mark Anthony - Architect," Cedar Rapids Republican, Cedar Rapids. Iowa, September 12. 1926.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 25
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
West Elevation, Thelma and Donald Lewis House, 300 Lucon Drive, 1950
Architectural Plans Collection, J. Bradley Rust, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
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Doctors, Coaches, and Professors
Once the West Side Campus was substantially in place in the 1920s, the Melrose Historic District became the
neighborhood of choice for many of the doctors, coaches, and professors connected to the SUI College of Medicine and
the SUI Athletic Department. Dr. S. Orton, head of SUI Psychopathic Hospital from 1920-1932, bought the Billingsley
House at 629 Melrose Avenue (contributing, NRHP). Dr. Paul Huston held the same position from 1955-1971. He built a
house in 1950 at 223 Lucon Drive (contributing) while teaching in the College of Medicine. Dozens of other physicians
resided throughout the neighborhood.
Proximity to neariy all of SUI's athletic facilities drew a number of coaches to the Melrose neighborhood. Howard Jones,
the football coach and athletic director for the great Hawkeye teams of the eariy 1920s, lived at 3 Melrose Circle
(contributing). The same house was occupied by Hawkeye track coach Francis X. Cretzmeyer, Jr., from 1952-1985.
Charles Kennett, the English-bom golf course architect who designed SUI's Finkbine Golf Course in 1923 and served as
coach for the SUI golf team, lived at 517 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) from ca. 1927-1946. Nationally prominent
SUI swimming coach David Armbruster built the house at 331 Melrose Court (contributing) just down the street from the
SUI Field House that housed the SUI pool. James Harris, a football line coach and the acting head coach for the
Hawkeyes during World War II, lived at 424 Melrose Court (contributing). William "Ted' Swenson, assistant track coach
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 8 Page 26
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
during the 1930s and 1940s, resided at 228 Melrose Court (contributing) during World War II. Frederic Beebee. director of
intramural sports and recreation as well as academic advisor to SUI athletes from 1926-1966, resided at 400 Brookland
Place (contributing) from 1949 until his retirement. Paul Brechler, a highly successful athletic director for SUI, resided at
331 Lucon Drive (non-contributing) from 1950 until 1953. And finally, Max Hawkins, a member of the famous 1939
"Iron menD football team at SUI, resided at 607 Melrose Avenue (contributing) during his post-collegiate year when he
served as director of field activities for SUI.
Dozens of SUI professors from virtually every discipline resided in the neighborhood, rising through the ranks from
instructor to professor and, in some cases, department head. The disciplines ranged from philosophy to dermatology,
history to economics, with the especially large number of engineering professors most notable. The neighborhood had
several deans including B.J. Lambert, Dean of CiviVStructural Engineering, who resided at 4 Melrose Circle (contributing);
Rudolph Kuever, Dean of the College of Pharmacy, who lived next door at 5 Melrose Circle (contributing); and Marion Huit,
Dean of Student Affairs for more than thirty years, who resided at 626 Brookland Park Drive (contributing).
Aerial VIew in 1937 of Melrose Historlc District (outlined area) with approximately 76 percent of area developed
University of Iowa Library, Map Collection, Iowa City, Iowa
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 27
Melrose Historic DIstrict Johnson Countv IA
Name of Property County and State
World War 1/ and Post-War Period
The last phase of development in the Melrose neighborhood began during the decade of the 1940s and continued through
the mid-1950s. The development of the Melrose Historic District between the World Wars had reflected a boom in West
Side growth prompted by the establishment of the SUI West Side Campus and the SUI General Hospital complex.
Whereas after the war, the construction of homes reflected the citywide population growth. Eighteen houses
(approximately 20 percent of the Melrose Historic Districfs primary buildings) were built between 1940 and 1955. Eight of
these houses were built on lots located on Melrose Court, mainly along the east side, with the balance scattered along
Lucon Drive in the Lucon Subdivision and the west end of Brookland Park Drive. Nearly half of the first owners and renters
of these houses were SUI faculty, physicians, and coaches, with the balance of the homes occupied by businessmen and
retirees.
The Lucon Subdivision was platted in November 1949 by the two owners of the property - Louise Pratt and George and
Constance Frohwein. The subdivision was actually a replatting of Lot 1 of Custer's Subdivision and a parallel strip of on
subdivided land along the eastern edge of the 1881 subdivision. A single private street - Lucon Drive - named for Louise
Pratt and Connie Frohwein extended from Melrose Avenue South for approximately one block crossing the east-west
ravine that paralleled the avenue. This natural feature had previously restricted homebuilding in the area but with the
construction of a private drive, the occasional high-water situations were dealt with by the resident occupants. Five houses
were built along Lucon Drive between 1950 and 1953, including that of future Iowa City Mayor Thelma Lewis at 300 Lucon
Drive (contributing) and an early example of the Shed Style, the Huston House at 223 Lucon Drive (contributing), both
constructed in 1950 shortly after the area was subdivided. Unsuccessful efforts in subsequent years have been made to
connect Lucon Drive to Brookland Place. In operation, the drive remains a cul-de-sac for its occupants.
Tables appear below and on the following page showing the decade of construction for Melrose Historic District houses
and citywide population figures (with the period of significance for the District highlighted in bold face type).
Melrose Historic District -
Houses Built by Decade
Decade Number of Houses
1870-1900 4
1900-1909 4
1910-1919 12
1920-1929 25
1930-1939 16
1940-1949 10
1950-1959 8
1960-Present 6
TOTAL 85
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
Section Num~r 8 Page 28
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and SIaIe
*First year that student population Is counted In city populallon figure
Who Uved Where
By the time the Melrose Historic District was nearty fully developed in the mid-1950s, the neighborhood consisted of a mix
of middle and upper income households in owner-occupied and rental houses, duplexes, and one apartment building.
Through the years, faculty and staff at SUI made up more than 60 percent of residents in single-family houses built or
occupied during the 1920s or after. Many of the owner-occupied houses saw their head of household progress from
instructor to full professor, department head, or dean. Some of these faculty members obtained national prominence for
their research, discoveries, and technical advancements. The District's smaller houses, duplexes, and sole apartment
building were frequently occupied by SUI junior faculty, SUI staff, and SUI students.
Though individuals with SUI connections established the dominant social pattem of the Melrose neighborhood, there were
a substantial number of exceptions, including retired farmers, bank employees, grocers, doctors, lawyers, store clerics,
commercial travelers, members of the building trades, and many others. The District occupants in the list on the following
pages have been gleaned from biographical histories, city directories (ca. 1900 - 1966),10 obituaries, and other sources. It
provides a sampling - but not a complete list - of the District's residents, their occupations, business affiliations, and the
location of the houses they occupied. Dates shown are estimates for initial building construction and subsequent periods
of occupancy. Individuals employed by the State University of Iowa or the SUI Hospitals are highlighted in italic.
1°Exceptions to this time period include a random sampling of known occupants from more recent years.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 29
Melrose Historic Dlslrict Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and Stale
Brookland Park Drive
505 Brookland Park Dr., Richard & Marian Nelson, SUI, assoc. professor, economics, ca. 1926-1930; William & Mildred
Morgan, SUI, asst. professor; 1932; Fred & Evelyn Fehling, SUI, Instructor, 1938-1943; Dr. Frederick & Josephine
Staab, SUI Hospital, physician, 1949.
506 Brookland Park Dr.. Frederick & Nellie Fry, Fry Brothers Grocery, ca. 1926-ca. 1966.
513 Brookland Park Dr., Kenneth & Margaretta Jones, Boyce Plumbing & Heating, 1932; John & Rose Brady, grocer, 1938-
1958; Paul & Dedra Diehl, Paul-SUI, asst. & assoc. professor, English, & Dedra-SUI Hospital, medical librarian,
1977-present.
516 Brookland Park Dr.. Eldon & Marie Fry, printer, Economy Advertising Co., 1953-ca. 1965.
517 Brookland Park Dr., Charles & Louise Kennett, SUI, golf coach, ca. 1927-1946; Robert & Ann Evans, SUI, instructor, ca.
1952-1957.
520-520% BrookIand Park Dr., EIza & Mary Means, Means Brothers Grocery, 1927-ca. 1955.
603-603% Brook/and Park Dr., F. Neal & Ruth Miller (first house), general contractor, 1949-1961; Jack & Lois Layton, SUI,
assoc. professor, 1949; Robert & Jo Richardson, SUI, professor, 1954-1956; Dr. Broce & Marian Wohlwend, SUI
Hospital, physician, 1958.
605 Brookland Park Dr., Dr. Ernest & Myrtle Anthony, ca. 1927-1942; Dr. Adolph & Alice Sahs, SUI Hospital, physician, 1943-
1949; Dr. Maurice & Janet Van Allen, VA Hospital, 1954-1960.
611 Brookland Park Dr., Neal & Ruth Miller (second house), general contractor, 1962-1966.
614 Brookland Park Dr., George & Leona Rebel, Rebel's Food Market, 1942-1966.
618 Brookland Park Dr., Irvine & Mayne Nickols, Self Serve Grocery, 1937-1944; Dr. Wm. & Bertha Boller, physician, 1946-
1961.
622 Brookland Park Dr., Erwin & Eva Gross, SUI, assoc. professor & professor, 1931-1943; Katherine & James Bradbuty,
SUI Hospital, professor, 1945-1948; Frank & Patricia Kennedy, SUI, professor, 1952-1961; Dr. Philip & Shirley
Huewe, resident, SUI Hospital, 1962-1964.
624 Brookland Park Dr., C. Merton, Jr. & Gretchen Spicer, manager, Great AUantic & Pacific Tea Co., grocery, 1939-1962;
Gregg & Louise Kruse. medical technician, VA Hospital, 1964-ce. 1966.
625 Brookland Park Dr., Dr. R. Byran & Edith Michener, SUI Hospital, physician, 1950-1966.
626 Brookland Park Dr., Marion & Jane Huit, Dean of Students, 1946-1966
Brookland Place
400 Brook/and Place,Tressa Kresensky, widow, ca. 1927-1936; Frederick Seebee, SUI, coach & asst. professor, 1949-1966.
402 Brookland Place, Norman & Glea Meier, SUI, asst. professor-professor, psychology, ca. 1927-1966.
408 Brookland Place, Clarence & Frances Huffman, carpenter, ca. 1925, 1936-1946; Charles & Marian Mitchell, laborer,
1930-1933.
412 Brookland Place, Jack & Anna Vandenbl,lrg, driver, Paris Cleaners,1960-1966.
Lucon Drive
223 Lucon Dr., Dr. Paul Huston, SUI, professor and head, Department of Psychiatty in College of Medicine, 195O-ca. 1971.
300 Lucon Dr., Donald & Thelma Lewis, Donald- SUI, professor, 1951-ca, 1977 and Thelma -Iowa City Mayor, 1961-1964.
320 Lucon Dr., Carlyle & Joan Parsons, salesman, Frohwein's Office Supply, 1951-ca. 1960; George & Constance Frohwein.
president, Frohwein Office Supply, 1961-ca. 1969.
331 Lucon Dr., Paul Brachler, SUI, professor and athletic director, 1950-1953; Wm, & Henrietta Huffman, SUI, professor,
1954-ca. 1967; James & Carolyn Leonard, SUI, asst. professor; 1968; Hal & Suzanne Richerson, SUI, professor,
197O-present.
335 Lucon Dr., Wallace & Helen Davis, manager, New Process Lal,lndry & Cleaners, 1953-1972; Donald & Jean Walket;
Donald - SUI, professor microbiology, 1973-1991, and Jean - SUI, research scientist, 1973-1991 and University
Alumni Office, 1991-1997.
Melrose Avenue
303 Melrose Ave" Ralph & Dorothy Manley, carpenter & foreman, E. F. Rate & Sons glove mfg" ca. 1909-1915; Broce &
Edna Mahan, teacher, assoc. editor, State Historical Society, SUI, extension director & dean, 1919-ca. 1960.
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309 Melrose Ave., Wm. & Virginia Shuck, agricultural implements, ca. 1905; E.D. & Mary Murphy, fumiture & undertaker, ca.
1907-1913; August & Minnie Helm, ratired, ca. 1914-1946.
315 Melrose Ave., John & Mary Miller, farmer & widow, ca. 1925-1962.
407 Melrose Ave., (includes garage at 401) Robert & Luveme Wales, poultry fancier, ca. 1910-1914; James & Vema
Records, Brenard Mfg. Co., 1915-1926; Dr. Everett & Ullian Plass, SUI, professor of obstetrics, 1928- ca. 1945.
421 Melrose Ave., Dolorosa Richey, widow, ca. 1918-1932; George & Constance Frohwein, Frohweln Supply Co., office
supplies, 1936-1958; Carlyle & Joan Parsons, salesman, Frohwein's Office Supply, 1962-ca. 1967.
503 Melrose Ave., A. Walter Pratt, partner, Pratt & Strub Dry Goods Store, 1885; Walter I. Pratt, partner, W.D. Cannon Jr. &
Co., perfume manufacturer, 1900.
511 Melrose Ave., James & Mary Connell, Connen Plumbing & Healing Co., ca. 1917; Jacob & Mary Hartsock, mechanic &
retired, 1919-1958.
521 Melrose Ave., Don & Margaret Munger, retired, ca. 1911-ca. 1917; Ray & Lois Carsen, manager, Merchants United
Delivery, 1919-1926; Frank & Latta Snider, county superintendent of schools, ca. 1946-1962.
601 Melrose Ave., James & Augl,lsta Paden, Smith & Paden Hardware and farm produce gardener, ca. 1914-1936.
605 Melrose Ave., Christian & Eva Nagy, retired farmerlwidOW, ca. 1918-1936
607 Melrose Ave., Irving & Miriam Barron, insurance, ca. 1925-1929; Wm. & Lucie Gibbon, SUI Hospital, asst. professor, ca.
1930-1935; Max & Dolores Hawkins, SUI, director field activities, alumni records, ca. 19~1967.
609 Melrose Ave., Ralph & Dorothy Manley, foreman. E.F. Rate & Sons, glove mfg., ca. 1910; Fred & Josephine Eggenberg,
farmer and worker at Sidwell Dairy, 1912-1922.
629 Melrose Ave., William Billingsley, landowner/farmer, 1870; George Ketttewell, blacksmith. 1901-1912; Dr. S. Orion, head
of SUI Psychopathic Hospital. 1920-1932; Elmer Hills, SUI, head of Deparlment of General Business, 1932-1974; Dr.
John and Michae/anne Widness, John.. SUI. professor, Deparlment of Pediatrics, College of MedIcine, & Michaelanne-
accountant, 1988i1fesent.
701 Melrose Ave., George S. & Anna RandaH. George S, Randall & Co., agricultural implements, wagons & buggies, ca. ca.
1915-1928; Lysle & Martha Fruitig, mgr. Western Union Telegraph Co., 1930-1932; James & Hazel Jones, SUI,
assoc. professor, pharmacy, 1932-ca. 1938; Edmond & Celia Cole, SUI, greens worker, ca. 1958-1962; Melrose Day
Care Center, ca. 1967 to present.
707 Melrose Ave., Fred & Anna Miller, W & F. Miller. flour and feedlwidow, 1918-ca. 1952.
711 Melrose Ave., Albert & Augusta WI8S8, retired farmer & cement contractor, ca. 1911-1940; William Wiese, janitor &
watchman, SUI AII'7IOI)', 1924-1928; Holding Wiese, clerk., SUI Hospitals, 1930-ca. 1955.
727 Melrose Ave., Wm. & Jane Rohret, retired farmer, ca. 1905-1922; Capt. Earl & Beth Paynter, SUI, instructor, 1932;
Cornelius & Lucca de Kiew/et, SUI, asst. professor, 1934; Luther & Gladys NoIf, SUI. assoc. professor. 1936.
741 Melrose Ave., Melrose Apartments! Caywood Apartments, 12 units with substantial majority either SUI instructors, SUI
Hospital nurses, SUI medical residents, various SUI Hospital workers, or SUI students, 1929-1967.
Melrose Circle
1 Melrose Circle, Joseph & Irene Montgomery, SUI, director of Social Work. and SUI nurse clinic, 1977-1988; Julia
Montgomery, SUI, clerk, general stores, 1977-1988; James & Carol Moore, Northwest Airlines employee, 1989-
1993; Carol Moore, 1994-present.
2 Melrose Circle. Frank & Romola Hicks. SUI. news editor, 1923; George & Etta Andrews, SUI, associate professor, 1932-ca,
1940; James & Berbara Andrews, SUI, asst. professor, assoc. professor & professor, Engineering, 1966-
1999,retired, 2000-present.
3 Melrose Circle, Howard & Leah Jones, SUI, athletic director, ca. 1922-1925; Frencis Cretzmeyer, Jr. & Marlan, SUI, asst.
professor & track coach, 1952-1985; Annette Schlueter, SUI, asst. professor, Pathology, College of Medicine, 2001-
present.
4 Melrose Circle, Byron & He/en Lambed, SUI, professor structural engineering and head. Engineering Dept., ca. 1922-1949;
Dr. Christian & Maxine Radcliff, SUI, asst. professor, assoc. professor, and professor, dermatology. 1952-1976.
5 Melrose Circle. Rudolph & Ruth Kuever, SUI, professor of pharmacy, dean of College of Pharmacy, pharmacy product
consultant, 192~ 1971; Dr. Edward & Dordana Mason, Edward-SUI, professor of surgery, 1972-present and
Dordana-dieticlan, 1973-1986.
6 Melrose Circle, Floyd & Marian Nagler, SUI. professor of mechanics, 1926-1936; Luther & Gladys Nolf, SUI, asst. professor,
1938; Hunter & Dorthea Rouse, SUI, director, Institute of Hydraulic Research, 1940; Adhur & Bertha MIller, SUI,
professor of geology, 1942-1973.
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Melrose Historic District Johnson County lA
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Melrose Court
215 Melrose Court, James & Augusta Paden, gardener, ca. 1938-1952; Alfred & Mildred Stahle, carpenter; Hazel Billett, SUI
Hospital. chief cle1#(, 1967.
216-218 Melrose Court, Herl>ert & Eva Martin, SUI, professor of philosophy, 1930-1940; James & Herriott, secretary-
treasurer, Jones-Herriott Oil Co., 194()'1952; Henry & Ida Cole, salesman, 1932; Lysle & Martha Frutig, manager
Western Union Telegraph Co., 1934-1938; Eugene & Dorothy Schelddrup, SUI, assoc professor, 1938-1942; otis &
Lois Lee, SUI, professor, 1942·1949.
219 Melrose Court, David & Jean Andrews, SUI, professor, ca. 1954-1967.
22()'222 Melrose Court, tenants changed frequently and included 17 different SUI students. instructors and professors, ca.
1928-1967
223 Melrose Court, Jeremiah & Laura Mclaughlin, foreman carpenterlWidow, J.H. Hunzinger & Co. and Hunzinger-Wagner
Co., 1925-1967.
224 Melrose Court, Peny & Marge Livezey, foreman, Gartner Motor Co.1938-1942; four SUI employees between 1949 and
1964.
228 Melrose Court. Wm. & Elaine Swenson, SUI, asst. coach. 1940-1943; Peter & Marge Livezey, defense worker, 1943-
1946; David & Doris Knapp, agent, Internal Revenue Dept., 1956-1967.
229 Melrose Court, Theron & Lela Hill. SUI, asst. professor, SUI Psychopathic Hospital, 1931-ca. 1935; Edgar & Alica Boyles,
sec.-treasurer, Johnson Co. Abstract & TrUe, 1936-1942; Carl & Dorothy Dallinger, SUI, professor, early 1960s;
Donald & Judith Sutherland, SUI, assoc. professor, late 19608.
233 Melrose Court, Charles & Miriam Foulkes, retired, 1952; Edward & Evelyn Kadlec, meat cutter, 1954; Janis & Mary
Ratermanis, SUI, assoc. professor, 1956-1961; Erica Opitz, SUI, administrative assistant, 1961-1967.
300 Melrose Court, Jack & Lois Layton, SUI, assoc. professor, 1957-1962; WiNiam & Meredith Snider, SUI, research
associate, 1962-1967.
302-302% Melrose Court, Wm. & Susan Wiese, derk, janitor, & postal carrier, ca. 1928-1949; Susen-widow, 1949-1967;
various tenants. 1954-1967 in apartment.
303 Melrose Court, Theodore & Cecil Simmons, carpenter with J.H. Hunzinger & Co., 1924; Rev. Louis & Ethel Penningroth,
1932-1946; John & Clara McCann, SUI Hospital, Urology Dept., ca. 1949-1954; Don & Ruth Metzler, SUI, professor,
1954-1959.
304 Melrose Court, Frank & Mary Comfort, retired (1949-1953); Danyle & Diane Stamp. seNica rep. Upjohn Co. (1954-1958;
William & Ruth Evans. VA Hospital (1962-1965).
306 Melrose Court, Ada Baldridge, nurse, Mercy Hospital, 1949-1967.
308 Melrose Court, Gene & Margaret Claussen, general manager, KXIC radio station, 1954; Jacquelyn Scorza, audiologist,
Iowa Clinic of Otology, 1961-ca. 1967.
310 Melrose Court, Robert & Norine Wheeler, SUI student 1928; Frank & Sarah Schone, SUI, assoc. professor & professor,
1932-1954; Cleo & EHzabeth Casady, SUI, asst. professor, 1954-1958; Emmett & Lonne Vaughan, SUI, asst.
professor of economics & head of continuing education, 1964-ca. 1966.
311 Melrose Court, Dr. Chester & Lois Miller, SUI, instructor, 193o-ca. 1935; Fred & Myrtle Stanford, salesman, 1936-1940;
John & Dora Brauer, SUI, instructor, 1940-1943; Dr. David & Ann Culp, SUI physician, 1952-1958.
313 Melrose Court, Unnamed house, 1993
318 Melrose Court, Robert & Caroline Dryer, SUI asst. professor, 1955-1958; Roger & Miriam Kirkegaard, SUI physician, ca.
196()'1962.
321 Melrose Court, Edwin & Kathryn Records, bookkeeper. Branard Mfg. Co., ca. 1923-1936; Claude & Viva Reed, Reed's
Repair Shop, 1943-ca, 1955.
325 Melrose Court, Wm, & Betty Holland. J'w. Holland & Son, Iowa City Mayor, ca. 1932-ca. 1961.
326 Melrose Court, J. Miller & Mary Swank, salesman, 1942-1961.
331 Melrose Court, David & Edna Armbruster, SUI, swimming coach, instructor to professor, 1932-ca. 1945; Jerry &
Catherine KoIlros, SUI, professor, 1946-ca. 2000.
401-403 Melrose Court. Sidney & Ada Miller, SUI, professor, 1924-1940; other tenants changed frequently and included 5
different SUI students, instructors and professors, ca. 1924-1946.
402-404 Melrose Court, J. Bradley & Francis Rust, architect, ca. 1939-1943; other tenants changed frequently and included 4
different SUI professors, ca. 1924-1946
409 Melrose Court, Albert & Dorothy Erbe, derk, Racines Cigar Store. 1939-ca. 1955.
410 Melrose Court, James & Virginia Brady, buyer, Rock Island RR Stockyards, ca. 1932-1935; Milford & Beulah Guthrie,
cashier, Iowa State Bank & Trust, 1936-1939; Jerome & Francis Arnold, SUI, professor, 1942; Eari & MyrI Grimes,
salesman, ca. 1945-1961.
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Name of Property County and Stele
421 Melrose Court, Wm. & Halriet Raben, SUI, electrician, ca. 1929-1934; INing & Martha Weber, asst. manager & manager,
Sidwell Dairy, historian/columnist, Iowa City Press-Citizen, 1935-ca. 1995.
422 Melrose Court, Leslie & Wilma Switzer, commercial traveler, ca. 1924-1934, 1940, & 1954; RoIiand & Virginia Williams,
SUI, asst. professor, ca. 1936-1939; Luta Dove, saleswoman, Iowa City Ught & Power Co., 1942-1952.
423 Melrose Court, Vem & Marie Miller, asst. cashier, Sàvings & Trust, deputy county treasurer, supt. of buildings & grounds,
Iowa City Bd. of Education, ca. 1927-1961.
424 Melrose Court, Harry & Rachel Wade, SUI, instructor, 1940; James & Elaine Hams, SUI, coach, 1942; Robert & Joyce
Featherstone, SUI, professor, 1946-1949; Ray & Mae Reynolds, president, Reynolds Motors, Inc., 1952-ca. 1960.
508 Melrose Court, Jacob & Augusta Miller, contractor and builder, ca. 1915-ca. 1922; George & Maude Patrick, SUI,
professor of philosophy, ca. 1923-1929; 4 different SUI professors, ca. 1928-1940; Wende/I & Edna Johnson, SUI.
professor of speech pathology, 1942-1961; Nicholas Johnson & Mary Vasey, Nicholas-8U1, visiting professor, law, &
Mary-t98cher. 1981-p"sent.
521 Melrose Court, Katherine Walker, widow, ca. 1927; Vemon & Louise Sharp,lawyer, ca. 1932-1935; Marvin & Grace
Webster, SUI, instructor, engineering, 1936; Roy and Alta Warner, SUI, instructor, engineering, 1938; Roy & Irene
AIt, fanner and widow, 1946-1961.·
Myrtle Avenue
316 Myrtle Ave., Robert S. Hunter, occupation unknown, 1915-ca. 1950; Eugene & Helen Hunter, SUI, attendant, 1952; Frank
& Neva Itzen, SUI, asst. and assoc. professor, 1954-1967; Paul & Ruth Waltman, SUI, assoc. professor
mathematics, 1967-1983; H. Shelton & Ann Stromquist, Shelton-SUI, professor. history & Ann-researcher. public
health, 1983-present.
402 Myrtle Ave., tenants changed frequently and included laborers and SUI Hospital staff and janitors, ca. 1928-1967.
408 Myrtle Ave., James & Florence Huffman, retired, ca. 1906-1934; Genevieve Steams, SUI, assoc. professor and
professòr, 1938-1967.
412 Myrtle Ave., Clarence & Frances Huffman, carpenter, 1915-ca. 1932; Gilbert Vandenburg, SUI, laborer, 1934-1967.
Continued Growth of the West Side Campus and SUI Hospitals
Construction that had come to an abrupt stop on the West Side Campus during the Depression years and World War 11
resumed in the late 1950s and continues into the 21st century. New buildings and expansions were completed for the SUI
medical complex, including multiple expansions of the General Hospital, a Pharmacy Building, Dental Sciences Building,
Nursing Building, and Speech and Hearing Center. Existing athletic facilities were improved or expanded, with the Carver-
Hawkeye Arena added in the 1980s. The area north of Melrose Avenue went from being a collection of substantial, but
dispersed, hospitals and academic halls to a dense urban center composed of hospitals, clinics, parking ramps, athletic
facilities, and research laboratories distributed amidst a maze of concrete parking lots and access roads. In 2004 despite
growth pressures from the University of Iowa, the area south of Melrose Avenue continues as a single-family residential
district. Its residences and apartments are substantially occupied by University faculty and administrators, hospital and
clinic personnel, University retirees, and students.
Slgnfflcant People of Melrose Historic DIstrict
As noted earlier, residents of the Melrose Historic District included large numbers of individuals affiliated with the State
University of Iowa beginning with the establishment and growth of the West Side Campus, roughly 1922 - 1955. This
pattern of residency by SUI affiliates continues to the present day. Because of the proximity of the Melrose neighborhood
to the medical and athletic facilities of the West Side Campus it is not surprising that individuals with local, regional, and, in
several instances, national prominence should have made this area their home. A list of individuals who stand out in their
respective fields and who made their contributions during the period of significance for the Melrose Historic District follows.
Brief biographies are included for each of these men and women.
. Byron J. Lambert, 4 MelroSe Circle, state level significance
. Rudolph K~ver, 5 Melrose Circle, state level significance
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Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
· Floyd Nagler, 6 Melrose Circle, state level significance
· Howard Jones, 3 Melrose Circle, state level significance
· David Armbruster, 331 Melrose Court, state level significance
· Wendell Johnson, 508 Melrose Court, state level significance
· Irving Weber, 741 Melrose Avenue and 421 Melrose Court, local significance
· Thelma Lewis, 300 Lucon Drive, local significance
Byron J. Lambert11 (1874-1953) was born in Argyle, Wisconsin. He eamed bachelor and master degrees in didactics
from Iowa State Teachers College In Cedar Falls, Iowa and later received a Bachelor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Science in
civil engineering, and graduate degrees in civil engineering at the State University of Iowa in 1899. Between 1899 and
1902 he served in a series of part time positions as assistant city engineer for the cities of Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and La
Porte; assistant county engineer for Black Hawk County; and assistant engineer for the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and
Northern (W,CF & N ) Railway, the electric powered interurban between Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids. In 1901 he was
made chief engineer for the W,CF& N Railway.
In 1902 Lambert joined the faculty of SUI as an instructor and during his 48-year career with the University obtained the
positions of professor, head of the department of structuraVcivil engineering, and acting dean of the college of engineering.
After his retirement in 1944 he continued to teach part-time until 1950. Lambert's career with SUI was interrupted in 1917
when he was commissioned as a Major of Engineers assigned to the 23m Engineer Regiment in charge of the 3m Battalion.
Worid War I engineering responsibilities included: road maintenance near St. Nazaire, railroad and warehouse
construction at Montier -Chaume, road and bridge work near Verdun, and bridge work during the St. Mihiel drive. When
discharged in 1919 he assumed the position of head of the department of structuraVcivil engineering.
Throughout his career with the University, Lambert continued to be involved in a wide range of engineering projects during
the summer months, and occasionally for special assignments, during the academic year. Most of his projects were
carried out in Iowa City and various communities in eastern and central Iowa. In Iowa City and Coralville his work
included: design of the hydro-electrìc power house foundations (1907), design of the Iowa City Street Railway system (ca.
1912-1914), design and construction superintending for reinforced concrete arch bridges at Burlington Street and Iowa
Avenue (1916 and 1917), design and construction oversight for the interurban viaduct over Iowa Avenue (1919), design for
remodeling of Iowa Field for SUI (1919-1920), private development of Lambert's Subdivision (1921-1925), patenting of
design for metal grand stand seat system for SUI's Iowa Field (1922) that was later relocated to the SUI Field House
balcony (1933), oversight of SUI golf links construction (1923), design for the Brookland Park Addition (1924), and design
of the swimming pool in City Park (date unknown).
Documented projects outside of Iowa City, but largely within the state, include design of a concrete dam for Manchester
(1903); construction of water works for Lone Tree (1906); design of a concrete bridge at West Branch (1908); design of
dams and hydro-electric plants at Independence and Tipton (1910); design of hydro electric plants at Clermont,
Marshalltown, Iowa Falls, and Anamosa (1912-1914); design of the water supply system for Columbus Junction (ca.
1913); consulting engineer for the water supply system for Tulsa, Oklahoma (1923); and engineer for the regional airport in
Moline, Illinois (date unknown).
Lambert's patented design for the metal seating installed at Iowa Field (non-extant) is believed to be the first American
application of folded plate structuring. C.J. Posey, former head of the Department of Civil Engineering at SUI, wrote about
Lambert's contribution in the Journal of the Structural Design in 1960. He stated that although Lambert did not call his
design "folded plate,' it nevertheless embodied the principles of this structure theory. Lambert applied the same theory in
the cross sectioning he designed for the interurban crossing over Iowa Avenue in Iowa City in 1919-1920.
11'Lambert, Professor of Engineering, Dies; Funeral Services to be Held Saturday," Iowa CIty Press-CItizen, October 30. 1953
and "Late SUI Faculty Member Applied Structure Theory," Dally Iowan, May ii, 1960.
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Melrose Historic Distric;l Johnson Countv. IA
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In addition to his extensive engineering design career, Lambert was a prolific author. His articles appeared in technical
society magazines and joumals throughout his academic career. His first published book in 1929 was titled Elementary
Structures in Steel and Concrete and was jointly authored with Andrew H. Holt The following year he published A Brief
Outline of the Theory of Design of High Masonry Dams. In 1941, in conjunction with his service as a military training
course supervisor on the topic of airport engineering, he authored a book-length collection of his lectures on airport design.
His last book was published in 1947 and was titled William Galt Raymond. It was a biography of Raymond who had
directed the SUI engineering program from 1905 as the first dean of the College of Applied Science and later the College
of Engineering, until his death in ca. 1929. Upon Lambert's retirement in 1944 his fellow engineering colleagues and SUI
alumni established the B.J. Lambert Scholarship Fund for engineering students attending SUI. Lambert and his family
resided at 4 Melrose Circle (contributing) from ca. 1923-1949. As a member of the Iowa Board of Control of Athletics and
chairman for many years, the close proximity of his home to the SUI athletic facilities just north of Melrose Avenue was
more than coincidence.
Rudolph Kuever12 (1886-1972) was among Lambert's neighbors surrounding Melrose Circle. Rudolph Kuever was dean
of the SUI's College of Pharmacy and an important pharmaceutical consultant and patent holder. He was bom in 1886 in
rural Lowden, located about 40 miles northeast of Iowa City. After two years of study at SUI he received his pharmacy
license in 1907. Later that year he was given an appointment as an assistant in the College of Pharmacy at SUI and
pharmacist for the SUI Hospital. Over the next four decades he rose steadily through the ranks of the department He
was awarded his Ph.C. in 1911, was appointed full professor in 1925, and dean of the College of Pharmacy in 1937, a post
he held until 1952. Thereafter, Kuever taught pharmaceutical chemistry on a part-time basis until 1960.
As distinguished as Kuever's career in academic pharmacology was, it was his work as a pharmaceutical consultant that
makes him stand out in his profession. Kuever writes that his work in this regard began in the years leading up to Wortd
War I, when few of the fine chemicals necessary for pharmacy and medicine were manufactured in the U.S. Once World
War I broke out, supplies of these chemicals became scarcer and eventually unavailable. When supplies of German-
produced aspirin, an important analgesic in use in the U.S., became nearty impossible to secure, a near emergency was
declared at the SUI Hospital. Though aspirin was a product of the Bayer Company and protected by patent, a meeting
was convened by SUI President Walter Jessup to consider the merit of manufacturing the drug. It was attended by Kuever
as well as the dean of the College of Pharmacy, the dean of the College of Medicine, and the chairman of the finance
committee of the Iowa State Board of Education. Manufacturing a patented drug was a risky step but the decision was
made to produce a limited supply for the exclusive use of SUI hospitals. Kuever headed the production of the aspirin at
the College of Pharmacy's manufacturing laboratory, and though every effort was made to keep the manufacturing story
out of the public eye, a newspaper account eventually reported on the work at Kuever's lab. The Bayer Company
investigated and brought suit in federal court in Cedar Rapids. While the case was continued, war was officially declared
against Germany in April 1917. Soon thereafter, all German patents - including the Bayer Company's for aspirin -were
passed to an "Alien Ownership Custodian," which collected a nominal fee from American manufactures. Under this
arrangement, the SUI Hospital laboratory was allowed to continue to prepare aspirin for the hospital's own consumption
without penalty.
Though the aspirin story is among the more colorful of Kuever's accounts, it testified to his skill as a chemist and
pharmacist. From 1913 to 1937 when he was appointed dean of the College of Pharmacy, he developed an extensive
consulting practice that kept him busy during weekends, vacations, and days when he was not teaching. Kuever lists
dozens of U,S. companies among his clients, including the Palmolive Co. of Milwaukee; the Chartes Pfizer Co. of New
York; Wilkes, Martin & Wilkes of New Jersey; the Nutrition Research Laboratories in Chicago; the M.F. Price Co. and
Weber Laboratories, both in Iowa City; the Federal Phosphorus Co. of Alabama; the Citrus Fruit Growers Association of
Califomia; the Espey Company of Chicago; and many others. He was awarded six patents through the U.S. Patent Office
during his 25-year career.
12Rudolph A. Kuever, unpublished "Memoirs of RA. Kuever," Vol. 1, No.6, in a collection with binder's title: "State University
of Iowa Faculty Memoirs" (contents "The Aspirin Story at the State University of Iowa" and "The Beginning of Hospital Pharmacy at the
State University of lowaj University of Iowa Libraries, Special Collections University Archives, 1958.
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Among the more famous household products that Kuever was associated with was the toothpaste "Pepsodent.· Kuever's
formulation for the toothpaste included its mysterious and highly advertised additive "Irium,' which, according to
advertisements, provided its users with a gentle way of cleaning teeth, while leaving a refreshing taste. In the late 1920s
with sales of Pepsodent slipping. the sales staff decided to make the toothpaste the sponsor for a new radio show that
premiered on the NBC Blue Network in August 1929 - the "Amos 'n Andy Show," which went on to become one of the
popular radio shows of the 1930s. "Irium became almost as famous as the product that contained it. "13 During the 19405
when the 'Pepsodent Show" starring Bob Hope aired advertisements about a girl named Miriam - rhymes with lrium - its
advertising value continued. Back in Iowa City, locals began to refer to the Kuever residence on Melrose Circle as "the
house that lrium built." Kuever and his wife Ruth resided at 5 Melrose Circle beginning in ca. 1925. After his wife's death
in 1955, Rudolph continued to reside here until shortly before his death in 1971.
Kuever's pharmacy career was rounded out by his authorship of more than 60 articles for pharmaceutical journals and the
popular pharmacy college text book, Pharmaceutical Laboratory Manual. published in three editions by J.P. Lippincott. He
also served on the advisory boards of several pharmaceutical joumals and the U. S. Pharmacopoeia X revision committee.
Floyd Nagler14 (1892-1933) was the third notable resident of Melrose Circle. Nagler gained prominence as the founding
director of the SUI Hydraulics Laboratory, today known as the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research - Hydroscience &
Engineering (IIHR), Nagler was born in Howard City, Michigan, graduated from Michigan State College in 1914, and
received masters and doctoral degrees in engineering at the University of Michigan. In 1920 he joined SUI as assistant
professor of mechanics and hydraulics, becoming a full professor by 1927. As the founding director of the Hydraulics
Laboratory, Nagler championed its expansion during his 13-year tenure as director. His success can be measured in the
50-fold expansion of the 500 square toot hydraulics workshop in 1921 into a cutting-edge hydraulics research facility in
1927. During his tenure, the staff grew from himself, two research assistants, and a mechanic to 26 employees and 15
engineers.
During his career at the Hydraulics Laboratory, Nagler launched the lab on an aggressive research program involving
practical applications of hydraulic engineering - addressing questions of water flowing in culverts and spillways. around
river curves, undemeath bridges, and over weirs and dams. His own research focused on the completion of river surveys
in order to understand the flow characteristics of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Comelia F. Mutel, Nagler's
biographer and IIHR historian. writes about the important contribution Nagler made to the efforts of the Iowa Board of
Conservation, the Fish and Game Commission, and later, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1920s and
early 1930s. "Nagler became Iowa's chief consultant for water-related aspects of their projects, and he tramped the sites
of future state parks, assessing their potential for artificial lakes and then designing the dams tho form the lakes. ,15 This
was an intense period of park development in Iowa. with 39 state parks and three preserves established between 1918
and 1932, many with dammed lakes or lake improvements suggested by Nagler as part of his contribution to the Report on
the Iowa Twenty-Five Year Conservation Plan that was published in 1933. Among the lakes Nagler proposed was Lake
Macbride in the state park of the same name located just north of Iowa City. It was under construction in 1933 when
Nagler died,
During the same years that Nagler was studying and reporting on Iowa waterways for the Iowa Board of Conservation, he
was involved in completing river and tributary studies for the U.S. Engineering Department (Corps of Engineers) of the
Mississippi River in advance of construction of the Corps' 9-foot channel project. Nagler was named the 'Engineer in
Charge of Stream Investigations," Mutel writes that Nagler believed that the Mississippi could best be comprehended by
understanding Its tributaries. He organized field parties under his supervision to assess stream profiles and features,
13.A Success Stoty...From Near Extinction To Top Selling Brand' from the "Old Time Radio· web site available at
http://www.old-time.comIcommercialslsuCC8SS_story.html: accessed June 6, 2004.
14Biographlcal material taken from: Cornelia F. Mutel, Flowing Through Time: A History of the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic
Researoh (Iowa City. Iowa: Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research), 1998, pp. 10-14. and Cornelia F. Mutel, "Floyd Nagler's Passion for
Wàter Power," Iowa Heritage Illustrated. vol. 77 (Winter 1996), pp. 152-156.
15Mutel, "Floyd Nagler's Passion for Water Power," p. 154.
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report on prospective reservoir sites, and search out all power developments. Nagler's work on this project was completed
in 1930 with the publication of detailed reports on the Iowa, Des Moines, Boone, Raccoon, Turkey, Wapsipinicon and nine
other Iowa rivers.
Nagler's contribution to hydraulics is best summarized by this recent account of his engineering career:
Floyd Nagler... was an influential figure in development of hydraulic engineering in the United States during
the early twentieth century. His arrival, and the subsequent construction of today's laboratory (IIHRJ, are
indications of a major shift in U.S. hydraulic research: in addition to traditional field studies, researchers
became increasingly reliant on small-scale, proportional models of hydraulic structures that would yield
information about river processes and water's flow. Nagler capitalized both on the use of such models
and on traditional field investigations to build a research program that investigated a growing diversity of
topics-including flow in pipes and conduits, the functioning of hydropower dams, and detailed surveys of
tributaries of the Upper Mississippi River. While some of the laboratory's studies were funded by industry,
as was typical of the time, Nagler also managed to establish joint research endeavors with U.S.
govemment agencies that needed answers to basic questions-for example, how to transport flowing
water through culverts undemeath roadways in the nation's growing highway system. Nagler also
exhibited a strong interest in the history of hydraulics. His field investigations became quests for remnants
of the previous century's water-powered mills, and he hauled many degrading mill structures back to his
university office. With his diversity of interests and approaches and his dogged enthusiasm, Nagler was a
coIOIfuI and energetic example of broad-based, early 20th century engineers. These same traits also laid
a finn foundation for the University of Iowa's still thriving engineering institute, IIHR-Hydroscience &
Engineering (fonnerly the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research), which continues to reflect the diversity of
subject and approach modeled by its founder.18
Several anecdotes shared by Nagler's biographer and descendents of families that resided on Melrose Circle in the 1920s
and 1930s link his passion for the study of waterpower with the family home that he reportedly designed. The Naglers had
three children, and Floyd had an affection for gardening. He apparently combined these interests with his engineering
vocation when he began building an elaborate garden at his home at 6 Melrose Circle that included a dammed water
course that created pools. He began lining the pools with rocks collected while he completed various river studies
accompanied by one or more of his children. Before he finished the project he died suddenly. One childhood resident of
Melrose Circle recalls the ponds that fonned as great places for catching frogs and polliwogs. Today, the side yard of 6
Melrose Circle still contains rocks from the aborted artificial lake but no pond.
Howard Jones (1886-1941) rounded out the circle of notables on Melrose Circle. He came to Iowa City in 1916 to coach
football and developed a highly successful football program during his tenure at SUI. Among the individuals responsible
for bringing him to SUI was B.J. Lambert, a member of the Iowa Board of Control of Athletics. A graduate of Yale
University, a powerhouse sports center among the Ivy League schools after the tum of the 20111 century, Jones had a
coaching career described by contemporaries as spotty, at best, upon arrival at SUI. World War I depleted the ranks of
athletic teams during Jones' early years at Iowa but by 1918 in his third season, Jones' team held six opponents scoreless
and beat its arch-rival, the University of Minnesota, for the first time in school history. The SUI Hawkeyes began a 2()"
game winning streak in 1920 on their way to eaming Big Ten championships in 1921 and 1922.
Among the most noteworthy games during this winning streak was SUI's win over Yale University in October 1922. Thé
game was the famed ·Yale Bowl" where west met east. A face-off of a different sort at that game involved brothers
Howard Jones for SUI and Tad Jones for Yale as coaches. Howard introduced their eastem counterparts the use of the
huddle system for giving play signals. When Iowa won the game with a final score of 6-0, it was cheered as a victory of
18Abstract from Henry Darcy, et. aI., editors, Henry P.G. Darcy and other Pioneers in Hydraulic$: Contributions in Celebration
of the 200th Birthday of Henry Philibert GasparrJ Darcy, June 23-26, 2003, PhHadelphia, PA, as it appeared online at
http:/twww.pubs.asce.org/WWWdisplay.cgi?0301413, accessed May 24, 2004.
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"com over culture." New York Sun football editor gave credit to Jones for his team's success, noting that "Boys sprout
high, wide and handy out where the tall com grows. Iowa's black earth belt is prolific of ideal football material... it reaches
the university raw and unpolished, but when there's a Howard Jones to do the buffing, Iowa's Old Gold and Black is very
much in evidence.-17
Beginning in 1918 rumors began to circulate that Jones. now athletic director, was at odds with the chairman of the Iowa
Board of Control of Athletics, B.J. Lambert. It is not clear how much validity there was to these claims, since Jones and his
wife Leah bought a lot on Melrose Circle from Lambert in 1921. Their house was completed at 3 Melrose Circle the
following year. Nevertheless, professional tensions mounted in the 1923 season between Lambert and Jones over issues
of pay raises for coaches and opposing views on combining athletics with physical education. In February 1924, Jones
resigned after eight seasons with SUI.
Jones' importance to collegiate football on a national scale was affirmed by 194 lifetime career wins. After moving on to
Duke for a year, Jones took up the position as head football coach for the University of Southem Califomia. He achieved a
121-36-13 record as USC's football coach from 1925-40, winning three national titles, eight conference championships,
five Rose Bowl victories, and he produced 19 All-Americans. Jones passed away unexpectedly in 1941.
Jones' residence at 3 Melrose Circle was brief but important for several reasons. Like B.J. Lambert, Jones chose to build
a house with proximity to the future SUI Field House site and practice fields located north of Melrose Avenue (Kinnick
Stadium had not been erected during his tenure at SUI). Second, Jones' brevity at this location tells the story of his hasty
departure from Iowa in 1924 following a period of years in which he stood in opposition to B.J. Lambert, his neighbor at 4
Melrose Circle. Coincidentally, the Jones House was later occupied by another long-standing figure associated with SUI
athletics - track coach Francis X. Cretzmeyer and his wife Marian from 1952-1985. The present day outdoor track
complex at the University is /'lamed in Cretzmeyer's honor.
DavId Annbruster18 (1890-1985) was a nationally prominent swimming coach and researcher at SUI from 1917-1958.
His contributions to the sport of swimming led to important innovations for Iowa swimmers and the sport in general during
his tenure. In 1928 he introduced the practice of underwater filming of swimmers in the U.S. as a means of studying
strokes and kicks to produce faster, more efficient swimmers. Until that time, swimmers had experimented by trial and
error and watching others. Filming allowed Armbruster to assess problems and demonstrate corrections to swimmers.
In 1932 Armbruster's observation skills combined with the remarKable swimming skills of Jack Sieg, a varsity swimmer at
, SUI. Described as a "serendipitous experience [of] a creative coach and swimmer: coach and swimmer discovered that
by combining a "dolphin kick" with the double overarm or butterfly, Sieg could gain considerable speed. The combination
of kick and stroke that Armbruster is credited with discovering was rejected in NCAA competition for several decades but
the stroke's inventor continued to defend its merit as a faster stroke. By 1956 Armbruster had prevailed, and the
Intemational Olympic Committee adopted Armbruster's butterfly stroke with a dolphin kick as a separate Olympic event.
Other innovations introduced by Armbruster included the first all-rubber swimming suit and trunks, a design for overflow
scum gutters to make competitive swimming faster, a perfection for the kicking board, development of the flip or tumble
tum for competitive swimmers, and the underwater observation window, which was used in conjunction with underwater
filming. While at SUI Armbruster coached two of his students, Walter Ris and Bowen Stassforth, to Olympic medals. He
coached the Hawkeyes to a 114-83-3 record. His 1936 team won the Big Ten championship, and the 1949 squad was
second in the nation. Under his coaching, 75 swimmers and divers eamed All-American status.
Armbruster was the co-author of three books that continued to be published in new editions into the 1970s. They included
Swimming & Diving which first appeared in 1942, followed by Sports and Recreational Activities for Men and Women, and
17Carol Wilcox, "100 Years of Iowa Football: Iowa Alumni Review, September 1989, p. 25.
180Dolphin Kick Makes Olympic Splash: The Iowa Alumni Review, May/June 1984, pp. 16-19 and "Former Iowa Swimming
Coach Dies: News Release, University of Iowa Sports Information Service. August 6, 1985.
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Basic Skills in Sports for Men and Women, which he co-authored.
Armbruster and his wife Edna built the house at 331 Melrose Court in 1932 - the same year he discovered the dolphin kick
butterfly stroke. located just two blocks south of the SUI Field House, which housed one of only three long course pools
(60 by 150 feet) in the country, the Melrose Court house was a quick walk from work for Armbruster. Irving Weber, an AlI-
American swimmer who Armbruster coached in the 19205, liVed down the block and became a life-long friend of
Armbruster's. Armbruster and his wife moved from the Melrose neighborhood at the end of World War II.
Wendell Johnson 1t (1906-1965), a nationally known speech pathologist, clinical psychologist, and pioneer in the
treatment of stuttering, was born in Roxbury, Kansas. He moved to Iowa City to attend SUI, where he obtained his BA,
MA, and Ph.D. degrees between 1928 and 1931. He joined the faculty of SUI, rising through the ranks to full professor
and director of the SUI Speech Clinic by 1945. His major areas of research throughout his career were stuttering and
communication processes and disorders.
Johnson's pioneering work resulted in part from the fact that he himself was a stutterer. In 1961 he said that this fact "led
to my becoming a specialist in my own distress. ,20 As a part of his efforts on behalf of stutterers he established dozens of
experimental and therapeutic programs in his growing department The result was the attraction of so many patients that
Iowa City became known as 'the stuttering capital of the world. ,21 His masters thesis was subsequently printed in 1930 by
a commercial publisher as his first book, Because I stutter.
Johnson's work in clinical psychology led him to a new field in the 1930s, general semantics. His first course on the
subject was introduced in 1939 and became highly popular, drawing students to the department It also led to publication
the1946 publication of his book, People in Quandaries: The Semantics of Personal Adjustment Embracing the potential
for new technology, Johnson produced a series of lectures used in his general semantics course that were broadcast over
Radio Station WSUI in 1956 and 1959. The tapes were then made available through the Extension Division of SUI.
Among Johnson's other books were: Speech Handicapped School Children in 1948 and revised edition in 1956 (co-author
and editor); stuttering in Children and Adults: Thirty Years of Research at the University of Iowa in 1955 (editor and c0-
author): Diagnostic Manual in Speech Correction in 1952; Your Most Enchanted Ustener in1956; The Onset of Stuttering:
Research Findings and Implications in 1959; stuttering and What You Can Do About It in 1961 with a paperback edition in
1962; and Diagnostic Methods in Speech Pathology in 1963 (editor and co-author). Several of these went through multiple
printings in response to continuing demand.
Between 1928 and his death in 1965 he authored more than 200 articles on speech pathology and related topics that
appeared in technical journals and popular magazines. He also served as a book reviewer for the New Yorl< Times and an
editor or associate editor for the Inter-State Special Education Series, the Joumal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, ETC:
A Review of General Semantics, and the Quarterly Joumal of Speech.
Through his career, Johnson's pioneering research resulted in his appointment to key federal and state govemment policy-
making organizations and advisory groups that focused on issues related to speech pathology. National appointments
included the National Advisory Council on Vocational Rehabilitation (1957-1961); Committee on the Study of
Competencies Required of Teachers of Handicapped Children, Sub-Committee on Teachers of the Speech Handicapped,
Office of Education (1952-1954); Advisory Council on Participation of National Organi2:ations of the Mid-century White
House Conference on Children and Youth (1950 and 1960); consultant in Speech and Hearing, National Institute of
Neurological Diseases and Blindness (1957); U.S. Army: Consultant in Speech Pathology, Audiology and Speech Center,
19.y¡endell Johnson: Credentials, July, 1963' at Wendell Johnson Memorial Home Page available at http://nicholas
johnson.orgJwjohnsonJwjcv,htmJ:..accessed April 19, 2004, and Who~ Who in America, (New Providence. NJ: Marquis Who's Who),
1956,
20 John C. Gerber, A Pictorial HistOfy of the University of Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press), 1988, p. 197.
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Walter Reed Army Hospital (1954-1961); National Office Consultant in Speech Pathology, Veterans Administration (1960-
ca. 1965); and the Evaluation Committee, Special Education and Rehabilitation Study, Committee on Education and
Labor, U.S. House of Representatives (1960).
From 1928 to 1965, Johnson was a member of every major state and national speech pathology, psychology, and general
semantics organization, serving in leadership capacities for most As an advocate for speech pathology issues he was a
founder and chairman of the Speech Correction Fund. The topic of pioneering treatments for stuttering held considerable
appeal resulting in Johnson giving nearly 400 lectures, interviews, and papers to a wide range of audiences. Among the
more famous was the documentary episode filmed for CBS-TV in The Search series titled "New Hope for Stutterers."
Johnson and his wife Edna moved to the house at 508 Melrose Court in 1941 and resided here through the balance of
their lives, 1965 and 1989 respectively. The Johnson House, which appears below, continues to be occupied by Johnson
family members.
Historic View of Wendell and Edna Johnson House, 508 Melrose Court, ca. 1918
(photo courtesy of Nicholas Johnson & Mary Vasey, Iowa City)
Irving Webef2 (1900-1997), a leading Iowa City dairy company executive and a much-loved local historian and
newspaper columnist, was bom and grew up in Iowa City. He graduated from SUI in 1922 following, an outstanding
collegiate swimming career coached by SUI's David Armbruster. He became SUI's first All-American swimmer in 1922.
Weber's biographer, Lolly Eggers, describes him as "a lifelong supporter and fan of University athletics, especially
swimming and football. He spent fifty years as referee/starter for over 10,000 races - Big Ten, AAU, and Iowa and
Midwest high school swimming events - and personally knew every University of Iowa swimmer and diver from 1917
22LoJIy Eggers, "Introduction" to Iowa City's Irving Weber, July 2003 draft. unnumbered pages.
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through 1996:23
Upon graduation from SUI with a degree in commerce, Weber went to work as an advertising man for Sidwell Dairy, a
family owned business in Iowa City where he had worked as a delivery boy since 1918. Over his 48-year career with the
dairy, which specialized in the manufacture of ice cream, he worked his way up to manager and part owner. In 1944 he
was a guiding force in the establishment of what is now an international dairy trade organization, Quality Chekd Dairy
Products Association. The Association was comprised of 21 of the leading independently owned ice cream and milk
companies from the Midwest The Association grew to become national and then international in scope over its first half
century. Member dairies in 43 states and 5 provinces in Canada distributed dairy products marked by the big red check of
the Association. Weber was Quality Chekd's president for 25 years, and after his retirement in 1966, he continued on its
board of directors for another 30 years until his death. In recognition of Weber's contribution to the dairy industry and the
concellt behind Quality Chekd, the Association named their new national headquarters in Naperville, Illinois after Weber in
1987. In 1994 Weber wrote a 50-year history of the organization, Quality Chekd. An Idea Whose Time Has Come,
1944-1994.
Despite his long and important career in the dairy industry, Irving Weber is best remembered for his work as a local
historian and newspaper columnist for the Iowa City Press-Citizen, a "second career" that he began at the age of 72.
Gifted with a natural curiosity and a remarkable memory for details, Weber became well versed on a wide range of local
history topics. He wrote a weekly newspaper column producing over 850 columns, turning much of this work into eight
volumes of local history - Irving Weber's Iowa City published in 1976, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990. Throughout his
writing career, his weekly columns drew fan letters from readers throughout Iowa (45 towns outside of Johnson County)
and 30 states. Eggers writes that Weber "personally answered almost every letter and in the process often researched the
writer's questions and sent copies of his columns or other materials to support the writer's interests. He always
encouraged others to collect, preserve, and write local history." So revered was Weber's work that in 1989 the City Council
named him Iowa City's Official Historian.
Awards and recognition continued during the next decade. Summarizing Weber's lengthy list of honors, Lolly Eggers
writes that
"In 1992 the Johnson County Historical Society established the Irving Weber Local History Award and the University of Iowa
dedicated the Irving Weber Walkway and Plaza near the school's swimming pool. The Irving B. Weber Elementary School
opened in 1994. Local playwright Maggie Conroy wrote and produced /tYing Weber's Iowa City, with presentations at the
Iowa City Community Theater, Riverside Theater, and all Iowa City elementary schools in 1995. He gave at least 325 talks or
slide shows to over 175 groups, organizatiOns and schools, and between 1985 and 1996 he conducted at least 18 University
of Iowa sponsored bus tours on Iowa City history, the last one in the spring of 1996. After his death, the community
established an annual Irving Weber Day, a celebration of his life and of local history. In the year 2000 the Iowa City Press-
Citizen named him Iowa City Man of the Century. In 2003 the Lions Club installed a statue of Irving Weber on his beloved
Iowa Avenue looking down Linn Street. Each day he is seen tipping his hat to his many Iowa City friends.·25
Irving Weber and his wife Martha made the Melrose Historic District their home for nearly their entire married mlives.
When the new Melrose Apartments opened to tenants in 1929, the Webers took a flat in the 12-unit apartment building
that overlooked the SUI football stadium (Kinnick Stadium) that was then nearing completion. The apartment building was
just a few blocks away from the Field House swimming pool where Weber swam daily until his last years. After a brief
residency outside of the District, in 1934 the Webers moved to a flve-year-old house located at 421 Melrose Court. This
location was even closer to the Field House and just half-block away from his mentor and life-long friend, SUI swimming
coach David Armbruster. A long-time resident of the Melrose neighborhood recalls that Weber was an organizer for the
Dolphin Club variety shows held at the Field House to benefit SUI swimming. In another event, Weber's dairy provided
23'bid.
24,bid, and Irving Weber, Quality Chekd. An Idea lNhose Time Has Come, 1944-1994. 1994. preface.
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Sidwell Ice Cream for ice cream eating contests for swim team members.26 At the end of Weber's nea~ century-long life,
his biographer described him as a "local celebrity, perhaps better known than any other local resident.'
Thelma Lewla26 (1904-1988) was Iowa City's second female mayor and a leader in efforts to develop a council-manager
plan for city government during the early 19505. She was born in 1904 in Hamilton's Fort, Utah, and graduated frorn the
University of Utah. In 1931 she moved to Iowa City where her husband, Donald Lewis, was a professor of psychology at
SUI. During World War II, Lewis lived in Washington, D.C., and worked as an aide in the State Department for the
Division of German-Austrian Economic Affairs. In 1947, she accompanied Secretary of State George C. Marshall on his
mission to Moscow. She served as an information specialist during the drafting of the Marshall Plan that was in
preparation at the time.
Lewis returned to Iowa City where she became active in local politics during the 1950s and 1960s. She was a leader in the
campaign to develop a council-manager plan for Iowa City's municipal government. After it was adopted by voters in 1950
she wrote a newspaper article describing its strengths and how it would operate. She was also a founder of the Council-
Manager Association (CMA) when it organized in 1950 to, as she wrote, "promote good government... and to select and
support candidates.,,29 In writing about the CMA a decade after its founding, Lewis wrote that the "CMA had been highly
conscious of the need for wide representation among its members, particularly board members. Bi-partisans and
amateurs in politics, the members had tried to keep a balance on the board as among political parties, religious affiliations,
town and university and the five wards of the city... candidates also had been selected with such representation in mind.,,30
Coincidentally, the same year that Lewis helped found the CMA, she and her husband were building their new house in the
Melrose Historic District at 300 Lucon Drive (contributing). The council-manager system, which included the indirect
election of the position of mayor by the city council rather than direct election by voters, was challenged by the electorate in
1961. The system was retained. From 1958 to 1963 she served on the City Council. She was elected mayor in 1961 and
received congratulatory correspondence from throughout the state. She was frequently referred to as Iowa City's "Lady
Mayor." Lewis died in Ontario, Califomia, in 1988.
In addition to the people discussed above, several individuals may be determined through future research to meet the
criteria necessary for individual significance. They include:
· Dr. S. Orton: head of SUI Psychopathic Hospital, 1920-1932.
· Chartes Kennett, golf course architect and coach for the SUI golf team, ca. 1927-1946.
· Francis Cretzmeyer, Jr., SUI track coach, 1948-1978.
· Dr. Paul Huston, head, SUI Psychopathic Hospital, 1956-1971, and head, Department of Psychiatry, SUI
College of Medicine, 1955-1971.
At the tum of the 2181 century, the Melrose Historic District continues to be the residence of several other individuals of
national prominence whose contributions have been made outside of the period of significance. They, too, are likely to
meet the criteria necessary for individual significance at a later date. They include:
. Dr. Edward Mason: professor at the University of Iowa College of Medicine from 1953 to 1992; developed the
first successful bariatric surgery procedure (stomach by-pass) for treatment of obesity in 1966, and refined and
promoted its use in subsequent years; grew up in Iowa City and was a resident of the District from 1971 to
present.
28lnterview with Nicholas Johnson (resident, 508 Melrose Court, Iowa City, Iowa) by Martys Svendsen, April 2, 2004.
27Eggers.
280bituary, Thelma Lewis, Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 15,1988; and biogrephy of Thelma B. Lewis. "Iowa Women's
Archives, University of Iowa Libraries; available online at http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.eduflW8lfindingaidslhtmVLewis Thelma.htm; accessed
May 29, 2004,
2~helma B. Lewis, "Iowa City, Observations on 1961 City Election." Unpublished paper, May 16,1962, p. 1.
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. Nicholas Johnson, lawyer: Federal Maritime Administrator from 1964 to 1966; Federal Communications
Commissioner from 1966 to 1973; visiting professor at the University of Iowa College of Law from 1981 to
present; played critical reformer role at FCC during his tenure as a Lyndon B. Johnson appointee; also was
U.S. Senate and Congressional candidate, author, and nationally syndicated columnist
The Architecture of the Melrose Historic District:
The domestic building stock in the Melrose Historic District provides a representative sampling of architectural styles and
vemacular forms typical of late 19th and both early and mid-20th century neighborhoods in Iowa City. The buildings provide
a blend of architectural scale, materials, and designs ranging from I-houses and ltalianate mansions from the late 19th
century to good examples of Colonial Revival and Craftsman Style residences from the early 20th century. The District
even contains a well-preserved collection of garages from the early automobile suburb era.
The architects, developers, builders, and carpenters who contributed to producing the physical appearance of the Melrose
Historic District have been discussed above as part of the development history of the neighborhood. Their design
decisions and recommendations were important in creating the architectural character of the Melrose Historic District. Of
similar importance were the individual decisions made by homeowners in the selection of dozens of different house plans,
building features, materials, and decorative details. The collective design decisions have given the District its character.
The oldest houses in the Melrose Historic District demonstrate the choices of their owners for adapting common house
forms and, in the case of two houses, popular architectural styles of the era, into single buildings. Both the 1870
Billingsley-Hills House at 629 Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #1, NRHP) and the 1885 A.W. Pratt House at 503
Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #2, NRHP) have front-gable forms with cross-gable roofs. They each blend Greek
Revival and ltalianate style elements including paired brackets, semi-circular and flat arched Window hoods and entrance
transoms, and dentiled comices to form successful eclectic designs. Both houses also had Classical Revival Style
wraparound porches that were successfully integrated into their designs at the tum of the 20th century.
The only other houses built prior to 1900 in the District are examples of two vemacular forms popular elsewhere in Iowa
City: the I-House and Gable-Front and Wing forms. A pair of frame l-houses built ca. 1890 or earlier face Myrtle Avenue
along the south edge of the District - the Clarence and Frances Huffman House at 412 Myrtle (contributing, Photo #3) and
the L.E. Elliott House at 402 Myrtle (contributing). The houses are nearly identical in size (three bays wide, one room
deep), Window and door arrangement (off-center entrance flanked by single 1/1 double-hung Windows), and porch details
(hipped roof porch extending over center bay). Each house also has a small pedimént centered above the porch in the
attic level. In the case of the Elliott House, the pediment is richly ornamented with decorative shingles and the porch is
embellished with scroll cut decoration and a miniature pediment that reflects that found on the main roof. Several
examples of the Gable-Front and Wing form are found in the District as well, though subsequent Wings and porch
alterations have diminished their architectural significance somewhat.
Other houses constructed in the Melrose Historic District drew inspiration from architectural styles and vemacular forms
that swept the country after the tum of the 20th century. Homebuilders for these houses tumed to pattem books and
design catalogues that were readily available from local lumber companies. After the tum of the 20th century, residents
could have tumed to manufacturers of pre-cut houses such as AIaddin Homes, Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck and
Company, and Iowa's own Gordon-Van Tine Company. Another source of vernacular home designs were the plans
offered thl'Qugh plan services such as the Home Owners Service Institute or pattem books published by Ray Bennett,
Gustav Stickley, Herbert C. Chives, the Radford Architectural Co" or Harris, McHenry & Baker.
The houses built by homeowners in the Melrose Historic District after 1900 tended to fall into two broad categories, those
built in the Colonial Revival or Dutch Colonial style and those that adopted the Craftsman Style in one of its forms:
American Four-Square, Front-Gable, Side-Gable or Bungalow. The Colonial Revival group includes the Robert and
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Luveme Wales House at 407 Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #4) constructed ca. 1910 and the Smith House at 607
Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #5) built two decades later in ca. 1925. Both have wide, 3-bay fronts with low-pitched
hipped roofs and attic dormers. In the case of the Wales House, which was reportedly designed and built by local
architect-contractor F.X. Freyder (see page 17), the roof is slightly steeper with a bell-cast profile and matching hipped
dormers on all sides. The center bay has an entrance portico and a projecting bay window on the second floor. The Smith
House has a more horizontal design with an eyebrow dormer centered above the semi-circular arched entrance hood.
Both houses have sidelighted entranceways in the Colonial Revival fashion with multi-light upper sash in their double-hung
windows. Like earlier houses along Melrose Avenue, both the Wales and Smith houses blend other architectural styles in
their designs. In the former, it is the simple lines of the Craftsman Style, and in the latter, it is the horiZontal feel and eye-
brow arches of the Prairie School Style.
The most purely Colonial Revival house in the District is the Rudolph and Ruth Kuever House built in 1925 at 5 Melrose
Circle (contributing, Photo #6). Designed by Cedar Rapids architect Mark Anthony, it was originally designed to have a
stucco finish with half-timbering in the contiguous front-gable entrance bay. However, when it was built, the house was
clad in shingles and the half-timbering abandoned. Other elements of the well-executed Colonial Revival design (see front
elevation on page 23) include a steeply pitched side-gable roof with prominent chimneys and groups of 6/6 double-hung
windows. Due to mature landscaping the front is largely hidden today, but the rear is clearly visible - as can be seen in the
photographic documentation for this nomination. The property also contains a free-standing garage (contributing)
designed in the Colonial Revival Style with a tall roof that matches the pitch of the house and round-arched, multi-light
windows in the gable ends. The crowning Colonial Revival decorative elements that remain on the house are the scroll-cut
shutters on all second story windows. The Byron and Helen Lambert House, located next door at 4 Melrose Circle
(contributing), is also attributed to Anthony. It was built ca. 1922 and has a side-gable roof with clipped gable peaks and a
formal entrance portico with Classical omamentation. Like Anthony's pròposal for the Kuever House, it has a stucco finish
for both the main house and the freestanding garage (contributing) built with the house.
Sears and Roebuck House No. 11331
Dutch Colonial Revival houses
make up the last sub-set of
Colonial Revival houses in the
District. They include eXamples of
the Side-Gable, Front-Gable, and
American Four-Square forms.
The Floyd and Marian Nagler
House built in 1926 at 6 Melrose
Circle (contributing, Photo #7) is
an example of the Side-Gable
form with a clipped gambrel roof
and wide shed dormers. Like its
Colonial Revival cousins, the
house has multi-light upper sash in
the double-hung windows that are
arranged both in bands and as
widely spaced singles. Wide
clapboard siding without
cornerboard trim makes for
cleaner lines. According to Nagler's son, the Nagler House was designed by its engineer-owner. It has a companion
garage (contributing) of the same design and vintage. Other examples of Side-Gable Dutch Colonial Revival houses
31Katherine Cole Stevenson and H. Ward Jandf, Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company
(Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press) 1986, p. 312.
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Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
include the Dolorosa Richey House at 421 Melrose Avenue (contributing) built ca. 1918, and a small version of the form
built at 331 Melrose Court, the David and Edna Armbruster House (contributing). The Armbruster House has its original
garage (contributing, Photo #24) built as a reduced-scale "temple" with stucco and brick walls and closed gable ends.
The two other forms used for the Dutch Colonial Revival houses in the District are seen in the Don and Margaret Munger
House at 521 Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #8) constructed ca. 1911 and the Christian and Eva Nagy House
constructed ca. 1918 a half-block to the west at 605 Melrose Avenue (contributing). The Munger House was designed and
built by BA Wickham (see page 18) in the basic American Four-Square form but took on a distincUy Dutch Colonial
Revival appearance with the addition of gambrel roof projecting wall dormers above the wraparound porch at one of the
comers of the house. The resulting design fits the comer lot although a reverse floor plan with the gambrel gables at the
intersection might have been more fitting. The Nagy House is an example of the smallest cottage form of the Dutch
Colonial Revival Style. It was frequently adapted by pattern book publishers and plan services for small, affordable
houses. The Sears and Roebuck Plan NO.113 that appears on the previous page is virtually identical to the Nagy House.
The most common architectural style favored by earty 20111 Century homebuilders in the Melrose Historic District was the
Craftsman Style. These houses had straightfotward forms with clean lines and simple detailing. Melrose houses always
used double-hung windows in singles, pairs, or triples with divided lights in the upper sashes configured with either vertical
or rectangular lights. Eaves were generally deep and frequently lined with exposed rafter tails and knee-brace brackets,
Cladding materials included examples of brick, stucco, clapboard, and square-cut shingles, the latter sometimes laid in
alternating wide and narrow courses.
The Craftsman Style houses distinguish themselves by their basic form. Though there are only a few American Four-
Squares in the District rendered in this style, they were well executed. The Theron and lela Hill House at 229 Melrose
Court (contributing, Photo #9) has a low-pitched hipped roof on both the main house block and the front porch. Exposed
rafter tails line the deep eaves. It is clad in narrow clapboards with a raised beltcourse separating the stories. The front
porch has a closed, clapboard-clad balustrade, which. along with the dormer1ess roof, helps accent the horizontal qualities
of the design. Windows are 8/1 double-hung sash with a larger 12/1 sash in the parlor. Another example of the American
Four-Square form is the Clarence and Francis Huffman House at 408 Brookland Place (contributing). Its most
distinguishing feature is the use of altemating narrow and wide shingle cladding.
The Front-Gable form of the Craftsman Style, which is common elsewhere in Iowa City, has only one example in the
Melrose Historic District. The John and Mary Miller House at 315 Melrose Avenue (contributing) was built ca. 1925. The
broad front-gable has retuming cornices and the flat-roofed porch spans the full width of the front façade. like many of the
other Craftsman Style houses in the District. the Miller House has a garage built to accompany the house.
Some of the best Craftsman Style Houses in the District are examples of the Side-Gable form. The Fred and Anna Miller
House at 707 Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo # 10) was constructed in 1918. The narrow-front house has a
distinctive clipped gable roof with retuming comices and a clipped gable attic dormer centered on the front A full-width
hipped roof porch spans the front Craftsman Style vertical window lights are used in all of the double-hung windows' upper
sash. including a group of three small windows in the dormer. The use of vertical design elements is emphasized in the
porch balustrade and skirting. Like many of the Craftsman Style houses in the District, this house has an exposed
pressed brick chimney that pierces the roof plane.
Another Side-Gable Craftsman Style house of similar scale and age is the Miller-Johnson House built ca. 1915 at 508
Melrose Court (contributing). An historic view of the Miller-Johnson house appears on page 39. Mature landscaping
prevents clear photographs of this otherwise well-preserved house. An exposed view of its garage (contributing, Photo
#25) shows that it, too, retains all of its original elements. The Miller.Johnson House was built by its first owner, Jacob
Miller, who worked as a building contractor. It has a Side-Gable form with a beltcourse separating the narrow clapboard of
the second story from the medium width clapboard of the first story. The house uses shed roof forms for the attic
dormers, front porch, entrance hoods, and front bay window.
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Two other examples of the Side-Gable form are the Jeremiah and Laura McLaughlin House at 223 Melrose Court
(contributing), designed and built by its owner in 1926 and the Leslie and Wilma Switzer House at 422 Melrose Court
(contributing, Photo # 11), likely constructed on speculation by J.H. Hunzinger & Co. ca. 1924. The McLaughlin House,
which appears in elevation and a historic view on pages 21 and 22, employs the use of square-cut shingles laid in
alternating narrow and wide courses as well as exposed purlins along the eaves of the gable ends. The Switzer House is
a smaller house also built with shingle siding. Its three-bay front has a fonnel pedimented entrance hood with a semi-
circular opening that matches the inset arches over the paired 6/1 double-hung windows. The insets above all of the first
story windows have the shingles laid in staggered courses. The house's original garage (contributing) is sited for framing
by an opening in an extended wing wall attached to the edge of the house. The garage retains the original Spanish metal
roof tile used for both this house and the Mclaughlin House.
The last of the Craftsman Style house forms employed in the Melrose HistoriC District was the Bungalow. Single-family
Bungalows were built on Melrose Court, Brookland Park Drive, and Brookland Place. A Bungalow duplex was built at the
intersection of Melrose Court and Brookland Park Drive. The Frederick and Nellie Fry House at 506 Brookland Park Drive
(contributing, Photo #12) is an example of the cross-gable Bungalow form, with the front porch recessed beneath the
broad gable. This particular house has a pressed brick foundation with dressed limestone used for the watertable and
porCh trim, and stucco walls. Oversize knee brace brackets line each of the gables, including those of the small garage
(contributing). Other single family Bungalows include the Robert and Ethel Hunter House at 316 Myrtle Avenue
(contributing) built in 1915, the EIza and Mary Means House at 520 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) built ca. 1927, and
the George S. and Anna Randall House at 701 Melrose Avenue (contributing) built ca, 1919.
The Howard Duplex at 401-403 Melrose Court (contributing, Photo #13) is one of four duplexes built in the District. It is the
only one that uses a variation of the Bungalow form for its design, however. Property transfer records suggest that J.H.
Hunzinger & Co. completed the construction for the investor-owner. The house uses a basic front-gable form with side-by-
side units dividing it down the middle for tenants. For maximum privacy, the design incorporates private entrance porches
at the outside comers. Standard Craftsman Style detailing includes 8/1 double-hung windows, vertical porch skirting, and
small knee-brace brackets in the gable ends of the house and porches. The house has been sided so the original
cladding is unknown. Because of its location at the intersection of Melrose Court and Brookland Park Drive, the Howard
Duplex stands out.
The Tudor Revival Style was first introduced in Iowa City in large houses, apartment buildings, and both sorority and
fraternity houses - all during the years leading up to and immediately following Wortd War 1. By the time it found its way
into smaller houses, such as those found in the Melrose Historic District, it had been radically transformed, Stucco and
half timbering was still used in at least one house as the cladding of choice - the Chester and Lois Miller House at 311
Melrose Court (contributing, Photo # 14) built In 1929. Its asymmetrical front-gable form has a projecting wall bay on the
second floor and its windows contains the standard window choice used for both Colonial Revival and many Craftsman
houses of the day - 8/1 double-hung sashes.
During the 1920s and 1930s the Tudor Revival gradually lost the more pronounced Tudor qualities for small houses, taking
on features associated with English cottages. A number of these English Period Cottages were built along Melrose Court
and Brookland Park Drive as the area saw its heaviest development. Period Cottages took on many forms in later years,
and because of their original small sizes, have been the subjects of considerable alteration in the neighborhoods where
they are frequently found. The William and Betty Holland House at 325 Melrose Court (contributing, Photo #15) features
the most common elements of Period Cottages including an asymmetrical front façade with a steeply pitched front gable
entrance bay often constructed of a material contrasting with the balance of the house. Tudor ornamentation including
keystones, a mix of round and pointed arched windows, and quoining was frequently found in the projecting entrance bay.
This was true in the Holland House, A similar English Period Cottage is located across the street at 326 Melrose Court,
the J. Miller and Mary Swank House (contributing), not built until 1942.
A smaller version of the English Period Cottage is seen in the Irving and Martha Weber House at 421 Melrose Court built
ca. 1929 (contributing, Photo #16). In this example, the front façade contains the dominating brick chimney with the
·
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gabled entrance bay formed by contiguous gables. Smaller multi-light windows are combined in pairs and groupings to
give the house a more picturesque look. As with other houses in the Melrose Historic District, the companion garage
(contributing) adopted the same stylistic features.
At the opposite end of the spectrum were the English Period Cottages that were built in larger forms, such as the Erwin
and Eva GrQss House at 622 Brookland Park Drive (contributing, Photo # 17) built ca. 1931. Its full two-story height gives
this house substantially more space. Its more richly varied front façade contains the requisite chimney next to the
projecting entrance gable, an omamented brick and stone entrance surround, a bracketed entrance hood, and multi-light
double-hung windows in singles, pairs and triples on each of the façades. The use of a shed roofed wall dormer seen here
is typical of several houses in the District. Another element found elsewhere in the District is the use of a wall extension
with an arched opening, which continues the roofline established in the gabled entrance bay. Other examples of larger
scale Period Cottages include the John and Rose Brady House at 513 Brookland Park Drive (COntributing) built in 1932,
the Charles and Louise Kennett House at 517 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) built ca. 1928, and the Ernest and Myrtte
Anthony House at 605 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) built ca. 1927.
On the eve of World War II a new house form and architectural style was introduced to the Melrose Historic District - the
Cape Cod, Beginning in the 19308 with establishment of the Federal Housing Administration's programs for providing
mortgages for small homes, these 1 %-story brick and frame houses became increasingly popular. Plan services in
Washington, D.C. and around the country issued catalogues of small house plans frequently touting the Cape Cod cottage
as ideally suited to the new homebuyers. When the FHA introduced its minimal house in 1936, the form was praised for
its careful economy and compact interior arrangement On the exterior the Cape Cod houses had steeply pitched side-
gable roofs that enclosed potential living space. This area was made more habitable by the presence of gable attic
dormers. Fenestration generally included multi-light double-hung windows, and the center entrance was usually detailed in
simple Colonial Revival ornamentation. Chimneys were placed on interior or end walls. Frequently Cape Cod cottages
would have one-story sunrooms attached at the gable end or room for attaching a garage sometimes via a connecting
breezeway.
The examples of Cape Cod cottages in the Melrose Historic District follow the general principles in use for this form in the
late 1930s. Both the Gretchen and C. Merton Spicer, Jr., House built in 1939 at 624 Brookland Park Drive (contributing,
Photo #18) and the Ostdiek Rental House at 424 Melrose Court (contributing, Photo #19) have retained their basic form
with any small additions invisible from the public right-of-way. In the case of the Spicer House, the formerly freestanding
porch has been attached to the house. The garage for the Ostdiek Rental House is similar to those of several other Cape
Cod cottages in the District that were originally attached to the main house. Other Cape Cod cottages in the District
include the Albert and Dorothy Erbe House at 409 Melrose Court (contributing) built in 1939 and the George and Leona
Rebal House at 614 Brookland Park Drive (contributing) built in 1942.
About the same time that Cape Cod houses were being introduced in the 1930s, the small house movement spreading
across the U.S. was introducing plans for even smaller, one-story houses that were well suited to the remaining lots
available in the Melrose Historic District, mostly along the east side of Melrose Court. Some of these basic one-story, side
gable houses have come to be known as Minimal Traditional houses. Their asymmetrical façade frequently included a
front facing gable that might project slightly from the main block. These houses also frequently included an oversized fixed
sash flanked by operable double-hung windows that came to be described as a ·picture window." To avoid the extra cost,
garages were usually left for later construction. The building of Minimal Traditional houses continued sporadically in the
Melrose Historic District from the 1940s into the 1950s and 19608.
The last major residential style to be introduced in the Melrose Historic District was the Ranch. The first houses to adopt
this design form were built along Brookland Park Drive in 1949, with several more to follow on Lucon Drive between 1950
and 1953. like the Minimal Traditional fonn, the Ranch included a one-story configuration generally horizontal in nature
with either a low-pitched side gable or hipped roof. The garage was nearly always attached at one end. In some cases in
the DiStrict, narrow lots required that the floor plan be configured as an Lor U. Ideally suited lots provided wide-open
spaces for the house to be viewed at a distance: The Thelma and Donald Lewis House at 300 lucon Drive built in 1951
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(contributing, Photo #20) is a good example of the Ranch form. Its long side-gable roof had a porch recessed along the
front and a front facing gable wing to break the monotony that sometimes prevailed in Ranch designs. Other intact Ranch
houses in the District include the F. Neal and Ruth Miller House at 603-603112 Brookland Park Dr. (contributing) built ca.
1949 by Neal Miller's construction company and the Davis-Walker House at 335 Lucon Drive (contributing) built in 1953.
like the single-family houses in the Melrose neighbOrhood, the four duplexes and one apartment building are
representative of multi-family buildings being constructed elsewhere in Iowa City during the late 19205-19405. The side-
by-side brick duplex at 216-218 Melrose Court (contributing, Photo # 21) was completed ca. 1928. Although the building
does not have a strong sense of style; however, individual features such as the arched entrance porches, brick water table
and beltcourse detailing, and the 6/1 double-hung windows in singles and groups, suggest a Colonial Revival Style
influence, The Colonial Revival Style was employed for two other duplexes along Melrose Court - the building next door at
220-222 Melrose Court (contributing) built in 1928 and the Nelson Duplex at 402-404 Melrose Court (contributing) built ca.
1939. The Howard Duplex at 401-403 Melrose Court discussed previously used the Bungalow form of the Craftsman Style
when it was completed in 1924.
The Melrose Apartment Building at 741 Melrose Avenue (contributing, Photo #22) was the largest building in the District
when it was completed in 1929. Its 12 units are laid out on three floors with large single, paired and triple 6/1 double-hung
windows providing ample light for each unit The rectangular floor plan has seven bays across the front facing Melrose
Avenue, brick quoined corners, front gable roofs over each end, and a mansard roof extending over the five center bays
between the gabled roof sections. An arched entrance bay is set between corbeled brick pilasters. The straightforward
exterior design is mildly Craftsman in style. The Melrose Apartments building was originally owned and perhaps designed
by Thomas Caywood, an engineer and professor at SUI.
Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources:
The Melrose Historic District contains a total of 137 resources including one site. one structure, and 135 buildings of which
115 are contributing primary and secondary buildings (112 currently nominated and 3 previously NRHP listed). Of these
buildings, 31 are key or individually significant primary buildings, and 38 are contributing secondary buildings. The balance
of the District includes one contributing site (Brookland Park), one non-contributing site (Brookland Park shelter), 9 non-
contributing primary buildings, and 12 non-contribut¡ng secondary buildings. Two properties containing three key
contributing resources were previously listed on the NRHP: the A.W. Pratt House at 503 Melrose Avenue and the
Billingsley-Hills House and garage at 629 Melrose Avenue.
IntegritY requirements used to determine contributing and non-contributing designation for both primary and secondary
buildings in the Melrose Historic District were developed using National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National
Register Criteria for Evaluation. Individual building evaluations were consistent with local standards further refined in the
multiple property documentation form completed in 1992 for "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa MPS" and listed in the
National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1994.
By definition, historic districts are collections of buildings that, when considered as a group rather than individually,
possess a sense of time and place. They may have a shared building type, style, form. or material. They have a common
period of significance that may extend over a few years or decades. They consist of contiguous properties or multi-block
areas with relatively few intrusions. Integrity for Individual buildings as well as the setting as a whole should be high. The
Melrose Historic District meets these requirements.
Individual buildings were evaluated and ranked according to one of three designations: 1) key contributing, 2) contributing
or 3) non-contributing. For single or multi-family buildings to be designated as "key contributing," they had to be
substantially unaltered and retain their original appearance in shape, proportions, and roofline. Principal façades had to
remain intact and largely unchanged. If synthetic siding has been installed it was considered acceptable if the cladding
width matched that of the original surfaces and few architectural features had been compromised by its installation.
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Name of Properly County and State
Original porches were required to be substantially intact, windows had to remain unchanged except for the installation of
metal storm sash, and primary entrances had to remain consistent with the original design.
Single-family or multi-family buildings designated as "contributing" retain their original form and massing. Examples of
acceptable alterations are as follows. Porches may be enclosed but the original columns remain visible or the enclosure is
easily reversible with little or no damage to the massing and proportions of the original porch. The majority of windows
remain unchanged, but if altered the sizes of window openings conform to those of original openings. Any wings or
additions made to a house are subordinate to the original structure and do not cover significant architectural detailing. For
secondary structures such as garages, changes considered acceptable for contributing status include the replacement of
garage doors.
Buildings designated as "non-contributing" include all resources built outside of the period of significance - 1870 to 1955.
Buildings altered to such a degree that the original structure is no longer readily identifiable are also considered non-
contributing. Examples of significant changes include a change in roofline, porch enclosures of a non-reversible nature,
and major additions or modifications of primary façades. Changes involving the addition of synthetic siding, installation of
storm windows and doors, and the construction of breezeway connections between houses and garages are not sufficient
to make a building non-contributing.
A list of resources in the Melrose Historic District appears below, Primary buildings include single-family dwellings, duplex,
or multi-family apartment building. Secondary buildings include barns or garages. If no box is marked under the
secondary building columns for a particular address, no building is present.
Melrose Historic District - Contributing and Non-Contributing Resources
# STREET ORIGINAU LONG-TERM DATE PRIMARY BLDG. STATUS SECONDARY BlDG. ARCH. STYLE·
OWNER(II' STATUS VERNACULAR FORM
Contributing Key Non- Contributing Non-
. . Contributina Contributing
505 Brookland Park Dr. Nelson Richard & Marian ca. 1926 X X Minimal Traditional
506 Brookland Park Dr. Fry, Frederick & Nellie ca. 1926 X X CraftsmanlBun!:lalow
513 Brookland Park Dr. Jones, Kenneth & Marga- 1932 X X Tudor RevivaV Period
retta! Bradv. John & Rose Cotta!:IØ
516 Brookland Park Dr. Frv. Eldon & Marie 1953 X Ranch
517 Brookland Park Dr. Kennett Charies & Louise ca. 1927 X X En!:llish Period CotúKle
520- Brookland Park Dr. Means, EIza & Mary 1927 X X CraftsmanIBungalow
520Y.
603- Brookland Park Dr. Miller, F. Neal & Rulh 1949 X Ranch
603Y. (first house)
605 Brookland Park Dr. Anthonv. Emest & MvrtIe ca. 1927 X X English Period CotIaoe
611 Brookland Park Dr. Miller, F. Neal & Ruth 1962 X Ranch
(second house)
614 Brookland Park Dr. Rebal Georae & Leona 1942 X X Cape Cod Cottage
618 Brookland Park Dr. Nickols, Irvine & Moyna! 1937 X X English Period Cottage
Boiler Wm. & Bertha
622 Brookland Park Dr. Gross. ElWin & Eva 1931 X X Enalish Period Cottage
624 Brookland Park Dr. Spicer, C. Merton, Jr. & 1939 X X Cape Cod Cottage
Gretchen
625 Brookland Park Dr. Michener R. Bvran & Edith 1950 X CaDe Cod CotúKle
626 Brookland Park Dr. Hun Marion & Jane 1942 X X CaDe Cod Cotta!:IØ
400 Brookland Place Kresensky, Tressal ca. 1927 X X Gable-Front
Beebee Frederic
402 Brookland Place Meier Nonnan & Clea ca. 1927 X X Gable-Front Craftsman
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Name of Property County and State
# STREET ORIGINAU LONG-TERM DATE PRIMARY BLDß. STATUS SECONDARY BLDG. ARCH. STYlE-
OWNER(s. STATUS VERNACULAR FORM
COntributing Key Non- Contributing NOn-
Contributina Contributina
408 Brookland Place Huffman, Clarence & ceo 1925 X Gable-Fronl & Wing
Frances
412 Brookland Place Vandenbul!:I, Jack & Anna 1960 X Ranch
223 Lucan Dr. Huston Paul & Mamara! 1950 X ShedIContemoorarv
300 Lucan Dr. Lewis Thelma & Don 1950 X Ranch
320 Lucan Dr. Parsons CarlYle & Joan 1951 X ShedIContemoorarv
331 Lucan Dr. Brechler Paul 1950 X ShedIContamoorarv
335 Lucan Dr. Davis Wallace & Helen 1953 X Ranch
303 Melrose Ave. Manley, Ralph & Dorothy! ca. 1909 X Am. Four-Square
Mahan Bruce & Edna
309 Melrose Ave. Shuck Wm. & Viroinla ca. 1905 X Queen Anne
315 Melrose Ave. Miller John & Marv ca. 1925 X X Gable-Front Craftsman
407 Melrose Ave. Wales, Robert & Luveme ca. 1910 X X Am. Four-Square
(Inct.
401)
421 Melrose Ave. Richey, Dolorosa 1919 X Colonial RevlvaV
Gambrel COttage
503 Melrose Ave. Prall, A. W. 1885 X ltalianate
NRHP
511 Melrose Ave. Connell, James & Mary! ca. 1917 X Gable-Front, Craftsman
Hartsock Jake & Marv
521 Melrose Ave. Munger, Don & Margaret ca. 1909 X Am. Four-Square/Dutch
COlonial Revival
601 Melrose Ave. Paden James & Auausta ca. 1914 X Craftsman
605 Melrose Ave. Nagy, Chrtstian & Eva! ca. 1918 X Gambrel Cottage
Lewis Frank & Elsie
607 Melrose Ave. Smith Rental House ca. 1925 X X COlonial Revival
609 Melrose Ave. Manley, Ralph & Dorothy! ca. 1910 X X Gable-Front
Eggenberg, Fred &
JoseDhine
629 Melrose Ave. Billingsley-Hills House 1870 X X Greek Revivallltalianate
NRHP
701 Melrose Ave. Randan Georoe S. & Anna ca. 1915 X X Craftsman Bunaalow
707 Melrose Ave. Miller Fred & Anna 1918 X Craftsman
711 Melrose Ave. Wiese Albert & Auausta ca. 1910 X X Gable-Front
727 Melrose Ave. Rohret Wm. & Jane 1905 X X HiDoed Collaae
741 Melrose Ave. Melrose Apartments! 1929 X X Craftsman
CaYWOOd ÀDartments
1 Melrose Circle Montaomerv, Joseoh & Irene 1975 X Neo-Colonial
2 Melrose Circle Hicks, Frank & Romola! 1923 X Georgian Revival
Andrews Geome & Ella
3 Melrose Circle Jones, Howard & Leah! ca. 1922 X X Eclectic Cottage
Cretzmeyer, Francis Jr. &
Marian
4 Melrose Circle Lambert Byron & Helen ca. 1922 X X Colonial Revival
5 Melrose Circle Kuever, Rudolph & Ruth! 1925 X X Colonial Revival
Mason Edward & Dordana
6 Melrose CirCle Naaler Floyd & Marian 1926 X X Dutch Colonial Revival
215 Melrose Court Paden, Jarræs & Augusta ca. 1938 X X Cape Cod Cottage
(second house)
216- Melrose Court Unnamed Duplex 1930 X Colonial Revival
218
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. STREET ORIGINAl) LONG-TERM DATE PRlIIo1ARY BLDG. STATUS SECONDAAY~BLDG. ARCH. STYLE-
OWNeR(e) STATUS VERNACULAR FORM
Contnbuting Key Non- ContribUting Non-
. Contributing Contributlng
219 Melrose Court HOD09i. Richard & Mariorie ca. 1952 X Minimal Traditional
220- Melrose Court Unnamed Duplex ca. 1928 X Colonial Revival
222
223 Melrose Court Mclaughlin, Jeremiah & 1925 X X Craftsman, Slde-Gable
Laura
224 Melrose Court Livezev. Penv & Marae 1938 X Period Cottaoe
228 Melrose Court Swensen Wm. & Elaine 1940 X Gambrel Cottage
229 Melrose Court HiD Theron & Lela 1931 X X Am. Four-8quare
233 Melrose Court Foulkes Charles & Miriam 1949 X . X Ranch
300 Melrose Court Lavton Jack & Lois 1957 X . Ranch
302- Melrose Court WIese, Wm. & Susan ca. 1928 X X Craflsman/Bungalow
302Yz
303 Melrose Court Simons, Theodore & CeciV ca. 1924 X X Am. Four-Square
E9genberg, Fred &
Joseohine (second house)
304 Melrose Court Comfort Frank & Marv 1949 X X Ranch
306 Melrose Court Baldridae Ada 1949 X X Minimal Traditional
308 Melrose Court Claussen, Gene & ca. 1954 X X Ranch
Maraaret
310 Melrose Court Wheeler, Robert & Norinel 1928 X CraftsmanIClipped Side-
Schone Frank & Sarah Gable
311 Melrose Court Miller Chester & Lois ca. 1929 X X Tudor Cottaoe
313 Melrose Court Unnamed 1993 X Conlemll!lrary
318 Melrose Court Drver Robert & Caroline 1955 X Ranch
321 Melrose Court Records Edwin & Kathrvn ca. 1923 OX X Am. Four-5auare
325 Melrose Court Holland Wm. & Bettv ca. 1932 X Tudor Cottage
326 Melrose Court Swank J. Miller & Mary 1942 X English Period CottaGe
331 Melrose Court Armbruster David & Edna 1932 X X Gambrel Cottaoe
401- Melrose Court Howard Duplex 1924 X X Craftsman Bungalow
403
402- Melrose Court Nelson Duplex ca. 1939 X X Colonial Revival
404
409 Melrose Court Elba Albert & Dorothy 1939 X X CaDe Cod Cotteoe
410 Melrose Court Bradv. James & Virginia ca. 1932 X X . EnllrlSh Period Cottaoe
421 Melrose Court Roben, WAJ ca. 1929 X X English Period Cottage
Weber, Irving & Martha
422 Melrose Court Switzer Leslie & Wilma ca. 1924 X X CraflsmanlSide-Gable
423 Melrose Court Miller Vem & Marie ca. 1927 X Craftsman Bungalow
424 Melrose Court Ostdiek Rental House 1940 X CaDe Cod Cottage
508 Melrose Court Miller, Jacob & Augusta! ca. 1915 X X Craftsman, Side-Gable
Johnson Wendell & Edna
521 Melrose Court Walker Katherine ca. 1927 X X Hipped Bungalow
316 Myrtle Ave. Hunter Robert & Ethel ca. 1915 X X Craftsman Bunllalow
402 MYrtle AYe. Elliolt L.E. ca. 1890 X X I-House
408 MYrtle Ave. Huffman James & Florence ca. 1906 X X Gable-Front & Wing
412 Myrtle Ave. Huffman, Clarence & ca. 1890 X X I-House
Frances
South end of Brookland Park 1924 X Municipal park
District, bet. 500 (Site)
block of Melrose
Court and Railroad
Brookland Park Brookland Park Picnic ca. 1980 X Picnic shelter
Shetter I (Structure)
UnIted States Department of the Interior
National Park ServIce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 8 Page 51
Melrose Historic District Johnson Counlv. IA
Name of Property County and Stal(l
Summary:
In summary, the Melrose Historic District is locally significant under Criteria A and C. Under Criterion B the District has
both local and state level significance. Under Criterion A it derives significance from its association with an important era
of residential development along and south of Melrose Avenue in Iowa City adjacent to the State University of Iowa West
Side Campus. The Melrose Historic District developed in several stages beginning in the late 1911\ century and extending
through the post-World War 11 period. Its greatest growth was associated with the establishment of the State University of
Iowa General Hospital and the creation of facilities for the University's athletic programs during the late 1920s. The mixture
of small and large lots available in Custer's Addition, Lambert's (Melrose Circle) Subdivision, Paden's Addition, Melrose
Court Addition, Brookland Park Addition, and Lucon Subdivision were all located south of Melrose Avenue and north of
Brookland Park. These lots provided ideal home sites in the Melrose Historic District for the staff and faculty of the SUI
hospitals and athletic programs who needed housing.
Under Criterion B the Melrose Historic District derives significance from its association with important Iowa City residents
and a number of prominent SUI faculty members whose contributions were on the state and national level. These
individuals included outstanding SUI professors and pioneering researchers and coaches, Iowa City's second female
mayor, and a prominent Iowa City businessman, newspaper columnist, and local historian. Each of these individuals
resided in the Melrose Historic District during the times that they made their main contributions to their respective fields.
Under Criterion C the Melrose Historic District is significant as a representative collection of the architectural styles and
vernacular house forms that primarily appeared in Iowa City neighborhoodS beginning in the period before World Wars I
and continued through the post-Worid War II era. The juxtaposition of at least a dozen different architectural styles and
house forms for single-family dwellings, duplexes, and a large apartment building testifies to the architectural diversity of
the District. The District demonstrates both the organic development practices seen when a rural neighborhood becomes
absorbed into an urban area and the developer-homebuilder practices seen in an early automobile suburb developed
between Worid War I and II.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number 9 Page 52
Melrose Historic DistJ1ct Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
9. Maior Blblioaraøhlcal References:
"100 Years of Caring: A Century of Healing and Hope." Pacemaker, Vol. 24, Number 2, March/April 1998.
117 Hoose Designs of the Twenties, Gordon-Van Tine Co. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. and Philadelphia:
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 1992. (Reprint of Gordon-Van Tine Homes, originally published by the Gordon-
Van Tine Co., Davenport, Iowa, 1923).
Ames, David L., and Linda Flint McClelland. National Register Bulletin: Historic Residential Suburbs, Guidelines for
Evaluation and Documentation for the National Register of Historic Places. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of
the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, September 2002.
"Amos B. Emery Obituary: Des Moines Register, February 3,1973.
Annual construction summaries in Iowa City Press-Citizen:
"$1,049,450 in Improvements, January 1,1921, p. 9.
"Improvements Aggregating Large Amount,' January 1, 1921, p. 7.
"Other Builders of Homes in the Athens,' January 1, 1921, p. 11.
"All Records Broken in Building of New Homes in Iowa City: December 31,1921, p. 6.
"Business Improvements Are Many in Year 1921: December 31,1921, p. 9.
"Many Garages Built Here, Remodeling: December 31, 1921, p. 3.
"Builders of Iowa City Ust Names of Citizens Who Got Homes in '22: December 30, 1922, p. 12,16.
"235 New Homes Erected for Local Citizens During Year: December 31, 1923, p. 4.
"Home Building Reached High Level In Past Year: December 31, 1924, p. 4.
"1925 Record Year in City: December 31,1925, p. 10.
"Home Building Booms in 1926, December 31,1926, p. 4.
"Many Residences Built in Iowa City During the Last Year Show Records," December 31,1927, p. 15.
"Iowa Cityans Put Over $400,000 in Construction of New Homes During 1928: December 31,1928, p. 11.
"$311,000 Invested by Local Residents for New Homes During Last Year: December 31, 1929, p. 6.
"Home Builders of City Busy Last Year; Permits Show Value Over $384,000,' December 31, 1930, p. 4.
Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. [publisher unknown] 1917.
Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. Davenport, Iowa: The Huebinger Survey & Map Publishing Co., 1900.
Atlas of Johnson County, Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: J. J. Novak, 1889.
Aumer, Clarence Ray. Leading Events in Johnson County, Iowa History, Volumes 1 and 2. Cedar Rapids: Westem
Historical Press, 1912 and 1913.
"The Billingsley-Hills House." Undated manuscript provided by Michaelanne Widness, owner of 629 Melrose Avenue.
"Breaking Ground for the New Medical Plant (program)," State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, June 17, 1924.
Brenner, Vida. "University Hospitals Started Small." Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 26, 2004.
Brown, E. Richard. Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America. Berkley, CA: University of California
Press, 1979.
Carlson, Richard, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commissioner. Email interview re: study of Iowa City buildings as
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 9 Page 53
Melrose Historic District J~nson County. IA
Name of Property ounty and Slale
recorded in Iowa City newspapers, 1897-1908, and study of O.H. Carpenter buildings in The American
Contractor, 1897 - 1930, November, 2003.
Cartson, Richard, Iowa City Historic Preservation Commissioner. "Orville H. Carpenter (1865-1938), Iowa City Architect,"
November 18, 2003 draft.
Cartson, Richard. Email interview re: Iowa City city directory listings of John H. Hunzinger's contracting business, its
successor firms, and the firms' partners/officers, 1904-1940," compiled May 2004.
Cartson, Richard. Email interview re: J. H. Hunzlnger references in The American Contractor, 1898-1930, complied May
2004.
Census of Iowa for the years 1854, 1965, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1885, 1887, 1889, 1895, 1905, 1915, and 1925 as printed by
various State Printers.
Census of the United States for 1850 to 2000.
City Directories of Iowa City, Iowa. Multiple years.
City Directories of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Multiple years.
City Directories of Davenport, Iowa. Multiple years.
"Coach and Superintendent," Golf Course Management, Golf Course Superintendent Association of America, October,
1999 (from Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa).
"College of Medicine, State University of Iowa (dedication program for the General Hospital and Medical Laboratories
Building),' State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, November 1928.
"Council Proceedings and Index," City of Iowa City, Iowa City, Iowa, ca. 191o-ca. 1920.
"Dolphin Kick Makes Olympic Splash," The Iowa Alumni Review, MaylJune 1984, pp. 16-19.
Eggers, Lolly. "Introduction" to Iowa City's Irving Weber, unpublished July 2003 draft.
Ellis, Edwin Charles. "Certain Stylistic Trends in Architecture in Iowa City." Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Iowa,
1947.
"Establish B.J, Lambert Scholarship Fund," Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 26, 1944.
Farquhar, J,S, "Mark Anthony - Architect," Cedar Rapids Republican, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, September 12, 1926.
"Former Iowa SWimming Coach Dies." News Release, University of Iowa Sports Information Service, August 6, 1985.
Gebhard, David, and Gerald Mansheim. Buildings of Iowa. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, pp. 259-264.
Gerber, John C. A Pictorial History of the University of Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1988.
Gottfried, Herbert and Jan Jennings. American Vernacular Design, 1870 -1940. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
Company, 1985.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park ServIce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number 9 Page 54
Mefrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and Stale
Hibbs, Bob. Iowa City, A Sense of Place. Iowa City, IA: Iowa City Press-Citizen, 2001.
"Hospital to be Dedicated in November," University of Iowa News Bulletin, Volume III, Number 8, August, 1928.
"Hunter Rouse: John Fritz Medal booklet, 1991.
"Hunter Rouse, retired University of Iowa Carver Professor, dies," University of Iowa news release, October 24, 1996.
"Imposing Figures Marked City at Turn of Century," Iowa City Press-Citizen, February 28, 1979.
Insurance Maps of Iowa City, Iowa. (New York: The Sanbom Map Company and the Sanborn and Perris Map Company;
1920,1926, 1933, and 1933 updated to 1944, 1933 updated to 1970).
Interview via email with Jim Andrews (resident, 2 Melrose Circle, Iowa City, Iowa) by Annette Schlueter, April 23, 2004.
Interview via email and letter with Jeff Dodd, Assistant Engineering Librarian, Lichtenberger Engineering Library, University
of Iowa, Iowa City, May 20, 2004.
Interview via email with Lolly Eggers (Irving Weber's biographer) by Marlys Svendsen, April 4, 2004.
Interview with Jane Huit (resident, 626 Brookland Park Drive, Iowa City, Iowa) by Marlys Svendsen, April 1 , 2004.
Interview via email with Huston family descendants by Jean Walker, May 2004.
Interview with Nicholas Johnson (resident, 508 Melrose Court, Iowa City, Iowa) by Mariys Svendsen, April 2, 2004.
Interview via amail with Fletcher Miller and Edward Mason (resident, 5 Melrose Circle, Iowa City, Iowa) by Annette
Schlueter, April 22, 2004.
Interviews with Ruth Miller (widow of F. "Near Miller) by Jean Walker, May 2004.
Interview via email with Joan Frohwein Parsons by Jean Walker, May 2004.
Iowa City, Iowa, a City of Homes. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa City Commercial Club, 1914.
Iowa Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration. Johnson County History. Iowa City, Iowa: Johnson County
Superintendent of Schools, sponsor, 1941.
"Iowa City Zoning Map: City of Iowa City, 1935.
"J. Bradley Rust, Architectural Plans, 1932-1987" and oJ. Bradley Rust Collection, Residential Index." State Historical
Society of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
"James M. Harris, University of Iowa line Coach," University of Iowa Sports Information Service, undated.
Kent Collection (photographs), Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.
Keyes, Margaret N. Nineteenth Century Home Architecture in Iowa City. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1966.
Kuever, RA "The Aspirin Story at the State University of Iowa,' Unpublished manuscript, June 5, 1958.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContinuatIon Sheet
Section Number 9 Page 55
Melrose Historic District Johnson CounIY. IA
Name of Property County and State
Kuever, R.A. "History of the College Of Pharmacy," Unpublished manuscript, provided by Denise L. Merriss, Director,
External Relations, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, May 2004.
Lafore, Laurence Davis. American Classic. Iowa City, Iowa: State Historical Society of Iowa, 1975.
"Lambert, Professor of Engineering, Dies; Funeral Services to be Held Saturday," Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 30,
1953.
"Late SUI F$culty Member Applied Structure Theory," Daily Iowan, May 11, 1960.
Leamer, Laurence. "The Sunset Ride of a TV Reformer," Harper's Magazine, December 1973, pp. 22-32.
Letter to Dean Raymond, SUI, Department of Engineering from B.J. Lambert, April 5, 1924.
Levey, Samuel, Derek Maurer, Lee Anderson, and Matthew Schaefer. The Rise of a University Teaching Hospital, A
Leadership Perspective. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Chicago: Health Administration Press, 1996.
Lewis, Thelma B. "Iowa City, Observations on 1961 City Election." Unpublished paper, May 16,1962.
McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.
Magnuson, Linda Westcott. "Sheets and Company, an Iowa City Builder/Architect Firm, 1870-1905." Masters thesis,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 1980.
Mansheim, Gerald. Iowa City: An Illustrated History. Norfolk, Virginia: The Downing Company, 1989.
"Max S. Hawkins, 1987 Distinguished Alumni Service Award." Provided by David Huston to Jean Walker, May 3, 2004.
McKay, Joyce. "Civilian Conservation Corps Properties in Iowa State Parks: 1933-1942". National Register of Historic
Places Multiple Property Listing Form prepared for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 1989.
Mozer, Mindy. "Irving Weber Rings in 90th Birthday," Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 18,1990.
Muller, Lyle. "No Place Like a Moffitt." Iowa City Press-Citizen, December 30, 1992.
Mutel, Comelia F. Flowing Through Time: A History of the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa
Institute of Hydraulic Research, 1998.
Mutel, Cornelia F. "Floyd Nagler's Passion for Water Power," Iowa Heritage Illustrated. Volume 77 (Winter 1996), pp. 152-
156.
Obituary, Wallace Davis, Iowa City Press-Citizen, ca. January 27, 1999.
Obituary, Margaret Ann Huston, Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 14, 1965.
Obituary, Paul E. Huston and "Memories of Huston Fond," Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 23, 1988.
Obituary, Thelma Lewis, Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 15, 1988.
Obituary, F. Neal Miller, Iowa City Press-Citizen, ca. October 19,1999.
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number 9 Page 56
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property Counly and State
Obituary, Robert Richardson, Iowa City Press-Citizen, September 19, 2001.
Obituary, Suzanne Rickerson, Cedar Rapids Gazette, April 19, 1996.
Obituary, William Swenson, Iowa City Press-Citizen, October 31,1995.
Obituary, Maurice Van Allen, Iowa City Press-Citizen, May 2, 1986.
Obituary, Donald Hodges Walker, Jr., Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 12, 1997.
Obituary, Irving B. Weber, Iowa City Press-Citizen, March 17, 1997.
Pattem book collection of Martys A. Svendsen (author):
America's Best Planned Small Homes. Washington, D.C.: Standard Homes Company, 1946.
The Book of Brick Homes, 36 Designs. St. Paul, MN: Home Plan Book Company, 1941.
The Book of Economical Homes. St. Paul, MN: Home Plan Book Company, 1941.
The Book of New Homes, 32 Designs. St. Paul, MN: Home Plan Book Company, undated, ca. 1941.
The Book of Small Homes, 33 Designs. St. Paul, MN: Home Plan Book Company, undated, ca. 1941.
Cape Cod Cottages. Washington, D.C.: Federal Housing Administration, Plan Service Department, undated, ca.
1935.
New Homes of Beauty and Character. Davenport, Iowa: The Packard Service Bureau, 1938.
New Spanish Homes. Topeka, Kansas: l.F. Garlinghouse Co., undated, ca. 1940.
Petite Homes of Budget Appeal. National Plan Service, Inc., undated, ca. 1940.
Small Practical Homes. Topeka, Kansas: Modem Homeways, 1945.
Perl, Larry. Calm and Secure on the Hill: A Retrospective of the University of Iowa. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa
Alumni Association, 1978.
Persons, Stow. The University of Iowa in the Twentieth Century: An Institutional History. Iowa City, Iowa: University of
Iowa Press, 1990.
Petersen, William John. "Iowa City - Then and Now.· The Palimpsest, Vol. 48, NO.2 (February 1967).
Portrait and Biographical Record of Johnson, Poweshiek and Iowa Counties, Iowa. Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1893.
Richardson, Jim. The University of Iowa. Louisville, Kentucky: Harmony House Publishers, 1989.
Rohner, Mark F. "Even Huit Needs 'Dean Huit' to Straighten This Out,· Iowa City Press-Citizen, November 17, 1977.
Ruger, A. "Bird's Eye VieW of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa." Chicago: Chicago Lithographing
Company, 1868.
Shank, Wesley I. lowa's Historic Architects: A Biographical Dictionary. Nevada, Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1999.
Stevenson, Katherine Cole and H. Ward Jandl. Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Washington, D.C.: The Preservation Press, 1986.
Svendsen, Martys. "Historic Resources of Iowa City, Iowa". National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property
UnIted States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
SectIon Number 9 Page 57
Melrose Historic Dislrict Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and Slale
Documentation Form prepared for the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission, 1992.
University of Iowa Football Programs Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City,
Iowa.
University of Iowa Directory Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.
University of Iowa Yearbook Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Iowa Libraries, Iowa City, Iowa.
Weber, Irving. Selected articles from Irving Weber's Iowa City- Volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Iowa City, Iowa: Iowa
City Lions Club, 1976, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1990.
Weber, Irving. "How's Your Building la? (University of Iowa General Hospital)," Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 9, 1973.
Weber, Irving. "They Moved University Hospital to West Side of the River in 1928,· Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 2 and
July 5, 1984.
Weber, Irving. "West Side Story (Part I and Part II),· Iowa City Press-Citizen, July 5 and July 6, 1993.
Wilcox, Carol. "100 Years of Iowa Football," Iowa Alumni Review, September 1989.
Wine, George. Black & Gold Memories: The Hawkeyes of the 2r1' Century. Iowa City, Iowa: University of Iowa
Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, 2003.
Melrose NeIghborhood Researchers, April-June 2004:
· Richard Carlson
· Dedra Diehl
· Mark Linder
· Annette Schlueter
· Ann Stromquist
· Mary Vasey
· Jean Walker
· Tim Weitzel
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park ServIce
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number 10 Page 58
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
10. Geoaraohical Data
UTMs Continued:
Zone Easting Northing
ill..§] ~ ~
Verbal BoundalV DescrlDtion:
Within the City of Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa:
Beginning at the northwest comer of Lot 6 of Custer's Subdivision of the west 18 acres of Govemrnent Lot 1, Sec.16-79-6;
thence east along the south side of Melrose Avenue to the east property line of 303 Melrose Avenue (west edge of Lot M
in Crowley's Riverview Addition); thence south along said line approximately 267 feet; thence west to the east property line
of Lot 1 of Lucon Subdivision; thence south along the eastern line of Lots 2 and 3 of Lucon Subdivision; thence east
approximately 30 feet to the east property line of 400 Brookland Place extended; thence south along the east property line
of 400, 402, and 408 Brookland Place to the southwest comer of Lot 1 in Oak Park Court Addition; thence east along the
south property line of Lot 1 across Oak Park Court and continuing along the north property line of Lot 7 in Oak Park Court
Addition to the east property line of said lot; thence south along the east line of Lot 7 to the north side of Myrtle Avenue;
thence west along the north side of Myrtle Avenue to the east property line extended of Lot 20 in Brookland Park Addition;
thence south along said line to the north side of Greenwood Avenue; thence southwest along the north side of Greenwood
Avenue to the southeast comer of Brookland Park where it joins the right of way of the Iowa Interstate Railroad; thence
northwest following the southwest edge of Brookland Park and northeast edge of the railroad right of way to the south line
of Lot 6 in Melrose Place Addition; thence east along said line to the east line of Lot 5 in Melrose Place Addition; thence
north along said line along the east line of Lots 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Melrose Place Addition to the north line of Lot 1; thence
west along said line to the west side of Melrose Place; thence north approximately 25 feet to the north line of 15 Melrose
Place; thence west along said line approximately 107 feet to the west line of Lot 6 in Custer's Subdivision; thence north
approximately 130 feet along said line to the point of beginning.
BoundalV Justification:
The boundary for the Melrose Historic District relates to the surviving group of historic resources located in the residential
neighborhood located south of the West Side Campus of the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics between Melrose
Avenue on the north and the right of way of the Iowa Interstate Railroad (former Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific
Railroad) along the south, and including Melrose Circle,. Melrose Court (except 501, 503, and 505), Brookland Park Drive,
Brookland Place, Lucon Drive, and a section of Myrtle Avenue (316, 402, 408, and 412). Melrose Avenue is a major
arterial street that marks the south edge of the University of Iowa's West Side Campus. This area south of Melrose
Avenue includes a mix of single family and multi-family residential building stock that was developed from ca. 1870
through the 1950s with the majority of buildings constructed between 1910 and 1950. The house at 321 Melrose Avenue
located at the rear of 315 Melrose Avenue on a separate parcel is not included in the District. The west boundary of the
District was drawn to include the largest apartment building in the neighborhood built across Melrose Avenue from the
University of Iowa's athletic facilities in the 1920s. It was built to provide housing for junior staff at the new University of
Iowa General Hospital. The east boundary of the District is at the point where Melrose Avenue ends at Byington Road.
The meandering eastem boundary follows the eastern edges of the Lucon Subdivision, the Brookland Park Addition, and
part of the historic Myrtle Grove area. The Oak Park Court Addition was excluded because of its more recent
development The south boundary is inclusive of Brookland Park established in 1924 following the historic route of Myrtle
Avenue and the former Rock Island Railroad.
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
SectIon Number PhotCMj raDhs Page 59
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
Photopraøh Kev for Melrose Historic District: (See Photo Map, page 64)
Mar1ys A. Svendsen, photographer
1. Billingsley-Hills House, 629 Melrose Ave., looking south
2. Pratt, A.W. House, 503 Melrose Ave" looking southwest
3. Huffman, Clarence & Frances House, 412 Myrtle Ave., looking northwest
4. Wales, Robert & Luveme House, 401-407 Melrose Avenue, looking southeast
5. Smith Rental House, 607 Melrose Avenue, looking south
6. Kuever, Rudolph & Ruth House, 5 Melrose Circle, looking southeast
7. Nagler, Floyd & Marian House; 6 Melrose Circle, looking northwest
8. Munger, Don & Margaret House, 521 Melrose Avenue, looking south
9. Hill, Theron & Lela House, 229 Melrose Court, looking west
10. Miller, Fred & Anna House, 707 Melrose Avenue, looking south
11. Switzer, LéSlie & Wilma House, 422 Melrose Court, looking east
12. Fry, Frederick & Nellie House, 506 Brookland Park Dr., looking west northwest
13. Howard Duplex, 401-403 Melrose Court, looking west
14, Miller, Chester & Lois House, 311 Melrose Court, looking west
15. Holland, William & Betty House, 325 Melrose Court, looking west
16. Weber, Irving & Martha House, 421 Melrose Court, looking west
17. Gross, Erwin & Eva House, 622 Brookland Park Drive, looking northeast
18. Spicer, Gretchen & C. Merton, Jr. House, 624 Brookland Park Drive, looking north
19. Ostdiek Rental House, 424 Melrose Court, looking east
20. Lewis, Thelma & Donald, House, 300 Lucon Drive, looking east
21. Unnamed Duplex, 216-218 Melrose Court, looking northeast
22. Melrose Apartments/Caywood Apartments, 741 Melrose Avenue, looking southwest
23. Billingsley-Hills House, garage, 629 Melrose Ave., looking west
24. Ani1bruster, David & Edna Garage, 331 Melrose Court, looking northeast
25. Miller-Johnson Garage, 508 Melrose Court, looking north
26. Brookland Park and Brookland Park Shelter, looking northwest
United States Deparbnent of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number Prooertv Owners Page 60
Melrose Historic District Johnson County. IA
Name of Property County and State
Property Owners within the Melrose Historic District
II STREET TITLEHOLDER TITLEHOLDER CITY STATE ZlpCODE
ADDRESS .
Brookland Park City of Iowa City 220 S. Gilbert Sl Iowa City IA 52240
c/o Parks & Recreation Deoi.
. . .
505 BrookJand Park Dr. Enna Joan Thomas 505 Brookland Park Dr. Iowa Ci IA 52246
506 Brookland Park Dr. Paul A. & Cristina L Leonan:l 506 Brookland Park Dr. lowaC' IA 52246
513 Brookland Park Dr. Paul B. & Dedra O. DIehl 513 Brookland Park Dr. lowaCi IA 52246
516 Brookland Park Dr. AIIv Real Estate LC 516 Brookland Park Dr. lowaCi IA 52246
517 Brookland Park Dr. Dean H. & Elizabeth Riedesel 2148 State Ave. Ames IA 50014
520-520% Brookland Park Dr. David L. & Jonl L. CaDlan 520 BrookIand Park Dr. Iowa Citv IA 52246
603 Brookland Park Dr. Patrick & CYnthia Elbert 143 Ravencrest Dr. Iowa Citv IA 52245
605 Brookland Park Dr. Jatin G. Vaidva & Ro0P8 M. Goswami 605 Brookland Park Dr. lowaCit IA 52246
611 Brookland Park Dr. Charles F. Grose 611 Brookland Park Dr. lowaCIt IA 52246
614 Brookland Park Dr. Kenneth Rav & Barbara Gail Brown 614 Brookland Park Dr. lowaCi IA 52248
618 Brookland Park Dr. Kellv L. Cobb & Mohamad A. Allam 618 Brookland Park Dr. lowaC' IA 52246
622 Brookland Park Dr. Michael K. & Marv Kinoan 622 Brookland Park Dr. lowaC' IA 52248
624 Brookland Park Dr. Beniamin F. Clark /II & Eve D. Clark 624 Brookland Park Dr. lowaC' IA 52246
625 Brookland Park Dr. Patricia G. Buroker Trust 111 Foster Dr. Des Moines IA 50312
626 Brookland Park Dr. Jane C. Huit 626 Brookland Park Dr. Iowa Citv IA 52246
400 Brookland PI. Matthew M. & Laurel L Hibban:l 400 Brookland PI. Iowa City IA 52248
402 Brookland PI. Frederick Stem 402 Brookland PI. Iowa Citv IA 52248
408 Brookland PI. Hartan W. Slffon:l 408 Brookland PI. Iowa City IA 52248
412 Brookland PI. SteDhen D. Thaver 412 Brookland PI. Iowa City IA 52248
223 Lucon Dr. Universitv of Iowa 4 JessUD Hall Iowa C· IA 52242
300 Lucon Dr. Marc Linder 300 Lucon Dr. lowaC' IA 52248
320 Lucon Dr. Steven C. Bruell & Sandra L. Whelan 320 Lucon Dr. Iowa Ci IA 52246
331 Lucon Dr. Hal B. Richerson 331 Lucon Dr. lowaC' IA 52246
335 Lucon Dr. Jean M. Walker 335 Lucon Dr. Iowa Citv IA 52248
. . ..
303 Melrose Ave University of Iowa 4 JeSSUD Hall Iowa City IA 52242
309 Melrose Ave Unlversitv of Iowa 4 JessuD Hall Iowa City IA 52242
315 Melrose Ave University of Iowa 4 JessuD Hall Iowa Citv IA 52242
407 (incl. Melrose Ave University of Iowa 4 Jessup Hall Iowa City IA 52242
4011
421 Melrose Ave University of Iowa 4 JeSSUD Hall lowaCiI IA 52242
503 Melrose Ave. Church of Jesus Chrisl of Lalter-Dav Saints 503 Melrose Ave lowaCiI IA 52246
511 Melrose Ave. Our Redeemer Lutheran Church 2301 Court St. lowaCiI IA 52245
521 Melrose Ave. Rodnev G. & Heidi Christianson 521 Melrose Ave. Iowa City IA 52246
601 . Melrose Ave. Unlversitv of Iowa 4 JessUD Hall Iowa Citv IA 52242
605 Melrose Ave. Universitv of Iowa 4 JeSSUD Hall Iowa Citv IA 52242
607 Melrose Ave. Sandersfeld Prooerties LLC 715 38th Ave. Amana IA 52203
609 Melrose Ave. University of Iowa 4 JessuD Hall Iowa City IA 52242
629 Melrose Ave. Michaelanne B. Wldness 629 Melrose Ave. Iowa Citv IA 52248
701 Melrose Ave. University of Iowa 4 JessuD Hall Iowa Citv IA 52242
707 Melrose Ave. Universitv of Iowa 4 JeSSUD Hall Iowa City IA 52242
711 Melrose Ave. Geome A. & Patricia S. Turecek 711 Melrose Ave. Iowa City IA 52248
727 Melrose Ave. MCF Investment ComDanv 4050 Weatmark Dr. DubuQue IA 52002
741 Melrose Ave. Unlversitv of Iowa 4 JeSSUD Hall Iowa City IA 52242
...
1 Melrose Circle Carole J. Moore 1 Melrose Gir. lowaCi IA 52246
2 Melrose Circle Barbara J. Andrews 2 Melrose Cir. lowaCi IA 52246
3 Melrose Circle Annelte J. Schlueter 3 Melrose Cir. towaCi IA 52246
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuatIon Sheet
SectIon Number Prooertv Owners Page 61
Melrose Historic Districl Johnson Counlv. IA
Name of Property County and State
# STREET TITLEHOLDER TITLEHOLDER CITY STATE ZlPCODE
ADDRESS
4 Melrose Circle Rhonda Kav Juhlin 517 S. Shore Dr. Clear Lake IA 50428
5 Melrose Circle The Dordana Fainnan Mason Livino Trusl 5 Melrose Circle Iowa CiiV IA 52246
6 Melrose Circle Colleen M. Kennedv 6 Melrose Circle 10waCTtV IA 52246
215 Melrose Ct. Mvrnen D. Billett 3228 Shasta Ct. NE Cedar Raoids IA 52402
216-218 Melrose CI. Duane E. Means 120 Fairchild SI. Iowa CiIv IA 52245
219 Melrose CI. Sallv A. Beckman 219 Melrose Ct. Iowa City IA 52246
220-222 Melrose CI. Lotta Mav Lewis 1404 Lakeview Dr. Mendota IL 61342
223 Melrose CI. Mark R. & Carole L. Ramsev 223 Melrose Ct. Iowa CiIv IA 52246
224 Melrose CI. Harlan E. & Je8nne B. Wlllkoof 216 Robinson Dr. Aloona IA 50511
228 Melrose Ct. Brittanv Lvnn & Donna Lee Donnellv 228 Melrose Ct. 10waC' IA 52246
229 Melrose Ct. Universllv of Iowa 4 JessUD Hall lowaC IA 52242
233 Melrose CI. Bradlev L. & Deborah B. Smllh 233 Melrose CI. 10waC' IA 52246
300 Melrose CI. Bill C. F. & Maris E. Snider 300 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
302-302% Melrose Ct. South Libertv Inc. 3294 480th SI. lowaC' IA 52240
303 Melrose Ct. Daniel D. & Kathleen W. Anderson 303 Melrose Ct. Iowa City IA 52246
304 Melrose CI. Joseoh V. & Donna M. Morreale 412 Craie CI. Mount ProsoecI IL 60056
306 Melrose Ct. Brent R. Brown & Mark R. & Julie L. Brown 1435 Phoenix Dr. lowaCiil'- IA 52246
308 Melrose CI. Jacquelyn R. Scorza clo Crane & 916 Maiden Lane Iowa City IA 52240
Associates
310 Melrose CI. Thaddeus A. Hacknev 310 Melrose CI. Iowa City IA 52246
311 Melrose Ct. James H. & Joan A. Godwin 311 Melrose Ct. Iowa CiiV IA 52246
313 Melrose Ct. GMPO Corooration 2571 Suoar Bottom Solon IA 52333
318 Melrose CI. Brent R. Brown & Mark R. & Julie L. Brown 1435 Phoenix Dr. lowaC IA 52246
321 Melrose CI. Jo G. Richardson 321 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
325 Melrose Ct. Robert S. BacuR 325 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
326 Melrose Ct. Amv C. Buller 326 Melrose CI. lowaC IA 52246
331 Melrose Ct. Marv K. Rauscher 331 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
401-403 Melrose Ct. Don Breese 1020 Kirkwood Ave. lowaC' IA 52240
402-404 Melrose Ct. Joan & Kellh Beddow 823 Weldon Rd. Santa Barbara CA 93109
409 Melrose Ct. Helen Brom 409 Melrose CI. Iowa CiIV IA 52246
410 Melrose Ct. William C. & Jacalvn L. TholTlDson 410 Melrose Ct. Iowa Citv~ IA 52246
421 Melrose Ct. Martha Weber clo US Bank Real Eslate Tax Desk SI. Paul MN 55164
422 Melrose CI. Sue Marie Swearinaen 422 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
423 Melrose Ct. Charle$ J. & Julie M. Arlen 523 Melrose Ct. lowaC' IA 52246
424 Melrose Ct. Julia M. Anderson 424 Melrose CI. lowaC' IA 52246
508 Melrose (:1. Nick Johnson 508 Melrose Ct. lowaC IA 52246
521 Melrose Ct. Rov L. Yelder 521 Melrose CI. lowaCitv IA 52246
316 MYrtle Ave. H. Shellon & Ann M. Slromouist 316M\1rtle Ave. Iowa CIIv IA 52246
402 Myrtle Ave. Eileen Jaivouno Shin 402 MYrtle Ave. Iowa CIIv IA 52246
408 Mvrtle Ave. Sieven KaV Richardson 408 Myrtle Ave. lowaCitv IA 52246
412 Myrtle Ave. Michael Klevav & Christine Schwab 412MVrtleAve. 10waCIIv IA 52246
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number Maps Page 62
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
Map Showing Location of Melrose Historic District
(Transporlation Map, Iowa Department of Transportation, 2002)
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Continuation Sheet
Section Number Maps Page 63
Melrose Historic District Johnson County IA
Name of Property County and State
Sketch Map of Melrose Historic District
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United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
ContInuation Sheet
Section Number Maps Page 64
Melrose Historic District Johnson Countv IA
Name of Property County and State
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CLG NATIONAL REGISTER REVIEW
CLG Name Iowa Citv Date of Public Meeting ~/,;23µf-
Property Name Melrose Historic District. Portions of Melrose Avenue. Melrose Court. Melrose Circle. Brookland
Park Drive. Brookland Place and Mvrtle Avenue. Iowa Citv. Johnson County
1. For Historic Preservation Commission:
~ Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendation of National Register ineligibility
Signature Date 9" It ;1 ,Ø 'I
Print Name
Title
Reason(s) for recommendation:
The Historic Preservation Commission concurs with the findings of the National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form for the Melrose Historic District prepared by Marlys Svendsen. The Commission finds that the
district is eligible for the National Registers under Criteria A and C.
2. For Chief Elected Local Official:
.}il. Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendatio of National Register ineligibility
Signature Date 10/6/04
Print Name Ernest W. Lehman
Title Mayor
Reason(s) for recommendation:
3. Professional Evaluation Name
o Recommendation of National Register eligibility
o Recommendation of National Register ineligibility
Signature Date
Print Name
Title
Reason(s) for recommendation:
RETURN TO: State Historical Society of Iowa, ATIN: National Register Coordinator, 600 E. Locust, Des Moines,
IA 50319
The presentation that our historic preservation consultant Marlys Svendsen gave about J1
the Melrose Historic District on September 14, 2004 was taped by the City and is
scheduled to play on The CITY Channel, cable channel 4, at the following times. It is
well worth watching!
Monday, October 4th @ 6PM
Tuesday, October 5th @ 10AM & 1 :30PM
Wednesday, October 6th @ 6AM
Thursday, October 7th @ 1 :30PM & 11 :30PM
Tuesday, October 12th @ 12 NOON & 3PM
Wednesday, October 13th @ 6:30AM
Thursday, October 14th @ 1PM
Thanks,
Jean Walker
Melrose Neighborhood Representative
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THE triñ
UNIVERSI1Y
OF IOWA I BUSINESS OFFICE
4 Jessup Hall
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1316
October 5, 2004
City Council
City of Iowa City
410 East Washington 5t
Iowa City, IA 52240
Re: Proposed Melrose Historic District 0
City Council Members:
On behalf of the University of Iowa, let me first indicate our respectful appreciation for the local, state and
national processes that help in identifying and preserving important historical buildings and houses. The
University's long standing history of support for historic preservation remains in place today. Just earlier this
year the University received a City Historic Preservation Award for our efforts in accurately restoring the Old
Capitol at considerable expense. Some of you are aware of our investment in moving the Shambaugh House
north on Clinton Street and restoring it in order to preserve it for future generations. We recognize that these
efforts, like those involving potentially historic neighborhoods, are important in preserving our heritage. We
also believe these efforts need to be undertaken patiently and thoroughly if they are to be accurate and
credible. It is for this reason that I am here tonight to seek additional time in which to determine what impact
the proposed historic neighborhood designation would have on the University's property located within that
district.
One week ago yesterday, Rod Lehnertz, Director Campus and Facilities Planning appeared before the Historic
Preservation Commission and shared with them the letter contained in your staff materials raising concerns
about the draft nomination for the Melrose Historic District and asking for additional time to consider the
merits of the nomination. That request for more time was denied.
The University again asks respectfully for some additional time to consider the merits of including its 13
parcels within the proposed historic district. The University is in the process of engaging a historical
consultant to consider, among other things, whether the proposed district boundaries have been appropriately
drawn and whether the properties included are appropriately designated on the draft.
We would hope that whatever fonn the final submission takes, that it be correct and accurate to the extent
reasonably possible when it goes forward. We want the best judgments to be made by you as well as the state
and we want those judgments made without unreasonable delay.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
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