Historic buildings of Cedar Rapids must be saved, at any cost

Many people are found who fail to recognize or simply look down on the historic buildings in their regions. Nevertheless, this should not be done ever since the historical buildings not only speak of the past but also acquaint others with the distant history of the region. For that reason, whether it was the erstwhile seat of power of the royal oligarchy or was significant for noteworthy achievements, any historical building should be maintained. Remember that endangered historical buildings bring only disgrace to the nation.

Are you aware of the fact that Cedar Rapids is also dealing with the same problem? It is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) east of Des Moines, the state’s capital and largest city. On the word of a new record, a number of endangered historic buildings in Cedar Rapids that is one-third of the total are in the state. What’s more the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance designated nine sites for its 2008 list of Most Endangered Properties.

It should be noted that there is also the presence of hundreds of buildings in the flooded historic neighborhoods of Cedar Rapids. Is there any other area of the same manner? Why not? There are also the city’s oldest neighborhoods that had been the witness of the first settlements of European immigrants but were flooded by June flooding from the Cedar River.

On the other hand, as stated by professionals, there are at least 400 structures, if not more, that can be considered as in imminent danger of extinction. Some of them include Downtown Cedar Rapids and the Time Check, Edgewood/Ellis Park, Taylor, Czech Village, Oak Hill Jackson and Cedar Valley/Rompot neighborhoods.

Well, it should also be mentioned, that the childhood home of artist Grant Wood, the famous American painter, who is best known for his paintings depicting the rural American Midwest, is also in danger and at this time the intentions of the nearby Coe College, the private, four-year, liberal arts college is being regarded as the greatest adversary.

It’s therefore the time for everyone to come forward instead of relying on the governmental agencies only or else valuable sources of history may be lost forever.