Prepare for an extreme downtown makeover

The downtown revitalization effort has been in the planning stages for months and is ready for the next step of implementation.

Throughout the fall, Pete Franks and Matt Miller of Franks Design Group have been meeting with the 16 building owners involved in this $1 million CDBG project in downtown Jefferson.

City Administrator Mike Palmer and building inspector Nick Sorensen have sat in on these meetings along with me. We have gained valuable knowledge about historic preservation from these gurus with experience in these types of projects.

Jefferson will be the sixth community that Franks has designed this type of building facade project.  

Each of the 16 building owners has committed to ¼ of the cost of their individual project, and the city has committed another ¼ in TIF funds for the match of the $500,000 CDBG grant received.

The Jefferson plans were submitted in late January to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) via Ann Schmid of IEDA for review and approval. Bids for construction will go out after the city council’s meeting in mid-February.

An overall contractor with historic preservation experience will be the type of contractor that will most likely bid on this project. It is more than a contractor would want to take on for the first time, but it may be possible for local sub-contractors to be involved.  

With the bid opening in late March, late April or early May will likely be when the actual construction will begin.

Taking down and seeing what is behind these facades will be the exciting part for people to watch.

Each building will have a variety of construction, such as restoring transom windows; removal of awnings; tuck-pointing; adding new doors or windows; repairing stucco; and painting. Each building will be as individual as the businesses inside.

Fifty years old is considered historic, so don’t expect the buildings to go back to horse and buggy days.

The building owners made the decisions with the architect as to the scope of work — light, moderate or intensive.

It will be an exciting transformation to watch through this summer.

The Design Committee of Main Street has offered mini-grants in the past for up to $250, but in January raised the amount to up to $500 for those buildings not involved in the CDBG grant for facade improvements.

These are for paint, tuck-pointing, replacement of windows and/doors, and removal of nonconforming elements such as an unsightly window air conditioner. We even have volunteers who have offered to do some painting to help out.

Applications for these Mini-Grants are available at the Main Street office or on our website, jeffersonmatters.org. This committee needs to approve of the application and will use the design guidelines approved by the city council last January.

There may be some times of inconvenience this summer, but our hope is there is an appreciation for what our building owners are trying to do to “remodel our downtown” with historic preservation in mind.  

It will make our downtown even lovelier to shop and play.  

Well worth it indeed.

Peg Raney is program director of Jefferson Matters: Main Street. Contact her at director@jeffersonmatters.org or 515-386-3585.

Contact Us

Jefferson Bee & Herald
Address: 200 N. Wilson St.
Jefferson, IA 50129

Phone:(515) 386-4161