Restoration continues on the historic Citizens State Bank building at 1126 Second St. and the Dillenbeck Building at 1124 Second St. in downtown Perry, with Friday’s mild temperatures giving workers an ideal time to pour a new concrete front step at the century-old property.
Emily and Dan Leslie of rural Perry bought the 8,000-square-foot landmark in October and have been steadily restoring it. Built in 1903, the building was bought in 2013 by the noted Des Moines architect Kirk Blunck, whose sudden death in January 2016 stalled work on the property.
The corner commercial lot has a storied history. S. S. Dillenbeck bought the Citizens State Bank in Perry in 1898, according to the Rand McNally Bankers’ Monthly of that year, but the Dillenbeck building, as it is sometimes called and which today stands at Second and Warford streets, was not built until 1903, according to county records.
More recently, Haaland Financial Services operated out of the Citizens State Bank building until 2015, when the pace of Blunck’s renovations slowed and then stopped, and Haaland moved its offices to 902 First Ave. in Perry.
The Dillenbeck building was the subject of an Iowa State University art class in 2013 and served as a venue for Art on the Prairie exhibitors in 2013 and 2014 and again in 2016.
Boone native Emily Leslie said she is eager to put the building back into circulation and is thankful for the help they have gotten from the Perry locals, including master woodworker Joe Warnock.
“We have been so supported by the community and the great people in Perry,” she said, “and I can’t say enough kind words to express how great of a job Joe Warnock has done for our building and family. So many people have encouraged us along this journey and pointed us to their personal contacts, which has been such a blessing.”
It hasn’t been that long ago that the sidewalk on the north side was worked on, and they sealed off the stairs to the basement. I recall a pet store being downstairs way back in ’87. I’m so glad they fixed that sidewalk. It was absolutely dangerous with even the most minuscule amount of ice on it.