KIRBY BUILDING

KIRBY BUILDING. The building at 750 White was once the home of the offices and production for the FARLEY AND LOETSCHER MANUFACTURING COMPANY. In later years it housed office space for the offices of the JOHN DEERE DUBUQUE WORKS until the company constructed its plant north of the city. (1)

In 1968 the Dubuque County Library's 40,000 books were moved to the building because expanding county departments needed more space in the courthouse. This was the fifth time the library had moved in its thirty-six years. Having started out in a private home, it moved to the south end of the fourth floor of the courthouse, then to the north end of the floor, and then to the east end of the same floor. Successive moves became increasingly difficult because they required the transfer of an ever-increasing number of volumes. (2)

With more space, older books that had been placed in boxes were put back on the shelves. Another advantage was that the library could set its own hours instead of complying with the hours of the courthouse. During a five-day week, hours were set at 8-12 and 1-5, in compliance with the state library board's recommendation to be open 40 hours per week. (3)

After the move, the library provided nearly the same services as it had done previously both at its headquarters and the bookmobile. Books could still be requested by a personal visit, mail or telephone. The library soon outgrew the Kirby Building and moved to 1862 Central Avenue, Dubuque, where three-year leases were signed until the building was sold in 1977. The library was later moved to Farley. (4)

In 1968 Louis PFOHL, owner of the building announced a renovation of the five-story building which would be renamed the Kirby Building. The plans called for about 12,500 square feet on the first floor for a new postal annex which would not be used by the public but instead would be a "work facility." Postmaster Murphy stated the annex was needed to handle the large volumes as the local post office processed mail fro 44 other post offices in northeast Iowa. The main post office occupied only the main floor of the Federal Building and part of the basement. At the rear of the Kirby Building, the postal workers would use a 2,030 square-foot enclosed platform with a 17,160 square-foot parking lot for postal trucks. Other new tenants of the Kirby Building were the Dubuque County Department of Social Work, County Nurse, and the County Library and County Soldiers' Relief. In 1970 a staff of 164 career employees manned the main office of Bluff Street and a "temporary" sectional annex in the Kirby Building. (5)

In 1975 the speed by which mail in Dubuque was sorted was increased up by six to eight hours beginning in February. While the main post office would not be staffed from 8:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and the postal annex in the Kirby Building would not be staffed from 6:00 a.m to noon, sorters were working in the annex. This had not been done previously except occasionally when the main office was closed. The sorting had previously waited until it was taken from the annex to the main office. (6)

In 1984 Dubuque found itself, despite great suffering during the recession, without a great amount number of empty industrial buildings. Despite vacant storefronts in some areas, a representative of the DUBUQUE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE identified only nine factories or warehouses that were for sale or had room for lease. The Kirby Building had 50,000 or its 125,000 square feet available for rent. (7)

In 1977 the Board of Supervisors approved a $125 monthly rent for 600 square feet on the fourth floor of the Kirby Building to store voting machines. (8) In 1988 the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors were then paying a cost of $270 per month and began a search for a new storage site. (9) Contributing to the problem for the supervisors was finding that moving the election machines to voting sites caused problems. One common issue was the machine locking up, preventing a voter from entering the machine. In that year, four mechanics were busy fixing machines in Dubuque, Cascade New Vienna and other sites. (10)

In 2018 the potential of relocating Dubuque County storage and juvenile court services to the fifth floor of the building would require a load capacity test to see if reinforcements would need to be installed. (11)

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Source:

1. "Renovated Farley-Loetscher Building to House Post Office Annex," Telegraph-Herald, August 2, 1968, p. 11

2. History of the Dubuque County Library. www.dubcolib.lib.ia.us/library-information/history2

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. "The Patient is Dying," Telegraph-Herald, January 2, 1970, p. 3

6. "Action Line," Telegraph-Herald, February 11, 1975, p. 4

7. Hendricks, Mike, "Dubuque Escapes Industrial Space Glut," Telegraph Herald, March 11, 1984, p. 18

8. "Supervisors Okay Ride Expansion," Telegraph Herald, January 31, 1977, p. 4

9. "Board of Supervisors," Telegraph Herald, October 2, 1988, p. 20

10. "Clogged Machines Frustrate Voters," Telegraph Herald, November 8, 1988, p. 3

11. "Minutes of the Board of Supervisors," Telegraph Herald, January 26, 2018, p. 26