A group of Iolans seeking to prevent the possible demolition of a 92-year-old house next to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center made their voices heard Saturday evening. THE HOUSE was one of two built in 1922 by Del and Docia Northrup for their children.
A group of about 15 supporters of the house — known locally as the Warren home — stood in front of the house along Madison Avenue to hand out flyers stating their cause.
The demonstration coincided with Saturday’s annual meeting of the Friends of the Bowlus, the non-profit organization that owns the house in question at 217 E. Madison.
As its owner, the Friends of the Bowlus will decide the home’s fate. They’ve not yet done so. Among considerations is to have the house moved in order to make a park-like space to enhance the east entrace to the massive facility. The east side is the main entrance unless the auditorium is open for events. Other amenities considered is an elevator, a drop-off area for the handicapped, and a loading dock.
The group purchased the home from Phyllis Warren in 2011, as part of their long-standing mission: to acquire property adjoining the Bowlus Center.
The committee has studied potential uses for the Tudor-style home, including using it as an art gallery, administrative offices or classroom area, but all have been deemed cost-prohibitive.
That has done little to persuade supporters of the home from seeking its preservation.
“It’s a mistake to get rid of this home,” said Iolan Kathy Ronay, “We’re losing a part of our town’s history.” Ronay is a niece to Warren, who now lives in a nursing home in Wright, to be near her son, Stephen Warren.
The tone of Saturday’s demonstration was congenial — the group even handed out cookies and drinks — although police still were called.
The call wasn’t for unruly behavior. Rather, it was because three of the demonstrators, Iolans Val and Carolyn McLean and Carolyn McLean’s 80-year-old mother, were asked to move their lawn chairs from next to the house’s front porch to the sidewalk.
The house and its land are private property.
“We were sitting there because it was the best shade,” Carolyn McLean said. “It’s sad because this issue seems to be splitting the Bowlus supporters right down the middle.”
The house remained in the Northrup family until 1970, when it was sold to Warren, and then in 2011 to the Friends of the Bowlus.
Once the Friends acquired the home, it sat empty for two years until last fall, when it was briefly rented. All went well until shortly thereafter, the Friends received a notice from their insurance carrier that the policy for the home was going to be dropped because of aging knob and tube electrical wiring. Replacing it would cost about $30,000, according to one estimate.
Other necessities for public use — adding a fire alarm and emergency lighting system — would tack on another $10,000.
Expanding doorways to make the home accessible to those with disabilities also would be necessary.
And a broken upstairs water line has caused water damage elsewhere. The basement is frequently filled with water, causing most of its walls to be littered with mold.
Protestors rally to preserve house
