The Ladies of La Poste LLC have done it again, bringing honor to Perry with their landing of a prestigious Preservation Project of Merit Award from the State Historical Society of Iowa at last month’s 2017 Preserve Iowa Summit in Fort Dodge.
Our earlier report stated that a $12,000 monetary grant attached to the award. Sadly, that report was in error. There is no grant money, according to Jenny Eklund, lady of La Poste LLC.
“There was no grant money,” Eklund said. “It was just an award that we were given. There was no money involved at all. I don’t know nothing about money.”
According to the State Historical Society of Iowa, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), the Preservation Project of Merit Awards “recognize projects that exemplify the best of historic preservation practices, meet the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation of Historic Buildings and use the State Historic Preservation and Cultural and Entertainment District Tax Credit Program.”
The U.S. Post Office in Perry was built in 1913. The building is a beautiful example of Beaux-Arts classicism. It was used as a post office until the 1960s, when it was purchased by the Perry Community School District and served as administrative offices and classrooms.
By 2012 the building was vacant, dilapidated and in need of repurposing. That is when Perry native Ann Connors, Mary Rose Nichols of Adel and Jenny Eklund of Perry stepped up and bought the old building for $1, and they began the laborious process of restoring the building to its original appearance.
Connors, who lives in Iowa City, withdrew from the project in 2015 after contributing greatly to its initial success.
As La Poste LLC, the building now serves as an events space for weddings, workshops, receptions and Art on the Prairie. In 2016 the building was used for more than 120 events which drew out-of-town visitors to Perry, making this building an economic engine and a place of profit for the Ladies of La Poste.
Other 2017 recipients of DCA grants include: Cedar Falls, $8,000; Davenport, $12,000; Johnson County, $17,000; Muscatine County, $8,400; and Newton, $12,000.
The Seth Dayton House near Bouton, the only extant stagecoach stop in Dallas County, won a $12,000 DCA grant in 2016. The grant funds are being used on a phase 1 archaeological survey, and the information from this survey will be incorporated into a future National Register nomination for the Dayton House.
CORRECTION: Thank you to Mary Rose, Colleen Eckhoff, my mom and the many contractors in our community that brought this building back to life. Your hard work has shown, and it has drawn attention from people all over the United States. I’m so incredibly proud to watch this transformation and see all the success it has brought to our small community.
Such a great project. Congratulations to La Poste and the Perry community!