IOWA INN

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

IOWA INN. Despite the location in the Odd Fellows Hall, the interest of the YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION (Y.M.C.A.) in having its own building remained. On November 11, 1893 it was announced that the organization had paid $8,500 for a lot and house near the corner of 9th and Iowa. Among the contributions was a deed to half of a double store on Clay in the will of Leo Ziepprecht upon the death of his grandmother. (14)

On March 30, 1894, Henry L. STOUT gave a check drawn on the SECOND NATIONAL BANK to C. H. Fiegenbaum representing the Y.M.C.A. for his home, valued at $20,000, at the corner of Ninth and Iowa STREETS. Stout had been interested in the work of the Y.M.C.A. by Fred B. SMITH who had served as the local head of the organization since 1892. Stout's home was used as the organization's headquarters. There was one stipulation to the gift. This was that the organization raise $7,000 with which to build a gymnasium. (15) In the first day of asking for donations, a committee received $3,000. (16) By April 1, 1894 the money had been collected.

Construction of the Stout Auditorium began in June 1894. When finished the 51' by 81' building contained a 51' by 67' gymnasium that began in the basement and took up the first floor. The remainder of the basement was used for a locker room. The part of the first floor, equal in size to the locker room below was planned for toilets; bath rooms including nine baths, two tubs and seven showers; closets and the director's office. A running track was planned around the gymnasium which was to be supplied with various types of training equipment. The entire second floor was devoted to an auditorium with a seating capacity of 931. For light and ventilation, the building had twenty-three large windows on the southern side and and fifteen more on both the alley and northern side. Remodeling on the Stout home was expected to cost $10,000. This would include both gas and electric lighting fixtures, hardwood floors on the first level, and carpeting on the second. The first floor would include a parlor, reading rooms, and game rooms. The second floor was devoted entirely for educational classes. (18) In 2010 the building constructed in 1894 had been converted into the Henry Stout Senior Apartments.

In 1916 the Stout home was demolished and replaced by a five-story building costing $175,000. This structure housed administrative offices, two meeting rooms, sixty-two residence rooms, lockers, club room, handball court, swimming pool, weightlifting room, and health center which in 1951 was advertised as providing baths. This building was later named the Iowa Inn.

In 1980 the Telegraph Herald described the Iowa Inn's residents as:

       Most people live there because they have no place else to go--the old ones stay bcause
       they can't afford anything better; the mentally handicapped ones stay because they have
       been sent there by the county. The squalid rooms are their homes.

In May, 1997 the City Council voted to loan the Iowa Housing Corporation, a Des Moines non-profit, $245,00 to purchase the Iowa Inn. At the time, the plan was to renovate it and convert it into permanent low and moderate income housing. Because federal money was to be used, the thirteen residents each received relocation assistance: (1)

       1. $250 to cover moving expenses
       2. the difference between the current monthly rent at the Inn, $140, 
          and the rent for the new room including utilities for 42 months
       3. money to cover all costs associated with moving such as down
          payment and utilities

On November 17, 1997 the Dubuque City Council passed two resolutions designed to assist Stout Place Apartments, a partnership of the Iowa Housing Corporation and engineer John Hart. The plan was to demolish the Iowa Inn, renovate the 102-year-old YMCA building and create twenty-four one-bedroom apartments for low and moderate-income tenants. The partnership also planned a three-story addition with two one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments to the north side of the YMCA building. The project was estimated to cost $3.9 million. (2)

By including the project in the Downtown Urban Renewal District, the council made the work eligible for a $300,000 loan from the city's downtown rehabilitation program. Work was to begin in the spring of 1998. (3)

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Source:

1. McDermott, Brad. "Iowa Inn Residents Receive Eviction Notices," Telegraph Herald, December 23, 1997, p. 1A

2. McDermott, Brad. "City Clears Way for Low-Income Housing," Telegraph Herald, November 18, 1997, p. 1A

3. Ibid.

The 1972 through 1993 Dubuque City Directory listed 125 W. 9th St.