By summer, the northeast corner of the Iola square will be anchored by the red, white and blue of Crown Realty.
The Paola-based real estate company has purchased the once-stately building that began in 1901 as Iola Laundry and has since witnessed many iterations, including a pest control business.
“It will really help bring some life to this quiet corner of the square,” said Jennifer Chester, who will oversee the Iola office.
Crews with Complete Construction Service began renovating the building the first of the week. Contractor Lynn Baker drives to Iola each day from his home in Spring Hill to oversee the work. The company oversees the construction projects for Crown Realty, which also has offices in Gardner, Paola, Mound City, Ottawa, Olathe, Spring Hill and Harrisonville, Mo.
Chester, an associate broker with Crown who will graduate to becoming a full broker once she is in charge of the Iola office, envisions a sales staff of 15 to 20 agents. Area agents also associated with Crown are Chester’s son, Blake Boone, Laura May, who works from Mound City, Sarah Newland, who’s based in Le Roy and Ottawa, Bryson Meats of Le Roy and Pam Tressler lives in Yates Center and works in Iola as a stylist.
Chester said she pictures the crew selling residential, commercial, commercial agriculture like hunting grounds, and agricultural properties “from Kansas City to Oklahoma, Wichita to Missouri.”
“I’m going to have agents all over this region and beyond.”
It takes only a 10-minute conversation with the Iola native to fall under her spell. 
(Unrelated to her work with Crown Realty, Chester and her son are developing 16 homes in the Cedarbrook Addition north of town.)
Chester earned her real estate license in 2006 and has been Crown Realty the past 10-plus years.
“I have an office in Olathe, but I pretty much work out of my truck,” she said Wednesday afternoon after meeting with clients in Chanute.
Only the shell of the old building at 102 E. Jackson remains.
Step inside, and the floors are being reduced to rubble, as neighbors can likely attest to the incessant sound of jackhammers.
Interior walls have been removed.
Chester said that Gary Hosack, president of Crown Realty, “loved the building at first sight.
