Iconic Tipton, Nevada Building Receives $ 100,000 Revitalization Grant

A beloved building in downtown Nevada will receive a major second-floor renovation after receiving a $ 100,000 grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The funding is for an area officially called the SE Briggs Block, but it is known to many locals as the old Tipton building.

“It is the corner building with the large turret and the spire”, Henry Corbin, executive director of Main street of Nevada, mentionned.

Building owners Jon Augustus and Al and Kathy Kockler are renovating the second floor of the building to have four apartments. The provisional configuration is for three two-bedroom and one one-bedroom residences.

“What’s really cool about this project is that the space has been vacant for decades,” Corbin said. “This project is really bringing back a space that has been underutilized in the past, and it’s a kick-start to the downtown effort to live upstairs. It’s pretty exciting.

Augustus and the Kocklers were excited to help start a movement to develop more downtown residences. Having residents is an essential part of the atmosphere on Main Street, Corbin said.

“When these city centers were created, that was an integral part of them – the people who shop here but also the people who live here,” Corbin said. “It was always a mix.

“It’s so important to downtown life to have people living here. It adds that element of a different kind of life that takes place here.

There are already a few apartments in downtown Nevada, he said. The $ 533,000 project will return the second floor to its past use.

“There are still people here in the community who remember visiting family there, looking out the windows, seeing the cars and the people below,” said Corbin.

He said the project was important in revitalizing downtown Nevada as a place to live.

“We want our downtown to be a place where people want to hang out, where people want to live,” Corbin said. “This is the first step in showing in a tangible way that these underused spaces can be appreciated and appreciated by others. “

More story county news:Ames COVID-19 test site closed, but host CIT and other travel companies still feeling the impact of the pandemic

Tipton’s Drug Store Has Iconic Architecture, Promotes Special Souvenirs

The fact that this project involves such an iconic Nevada building is sure to generate interest and energy, he said.

“The building is kind of the identity of the downtown area,” Corbin said. “When people think of downtown Nevada, this arrow comes to mind. People have told us: Growing up, this was the place where you met your friends, just below that arrow.

“It’s cool that this community center is also at the center of this effort. This is just the start of what we hope to do.

Tipton’s pharmacy had been in space for over 50 years, Corbin said, and was also a pharmacy before that.

“The building has spent most of its life – over 100 years – as a pharmacy. People remember going to the soda fountain.

The Lunar Parlor tattoo parlor is downstairs and Augustus and Kockler have an office in the other half of the first floor.

“The first floor has always been occupied, but the floor has been vacant and dormant for a very long time,” Corbin said. “It’s fun to think about how it’s going to have a life and people will appreciate it and use it for what it was built to do.”

Objective to make downtown Nevada a vibrant place to live

“Our goal is a downtown on the first level with all the businesses, but also a downtown on the second level with all the upper floors,” said Augustus.

The project schedule is still provisional.

This was the second year that building owners applied for the Community Catalyst grant from the IEDA, and they were turned down the first time around, Augustus said.

“We really took our feedback into account and put our best efforts into the second app,” he said. “We were extremely happy to have received it a second time. “

Nevada is one of the 26 communities of Iowa who each receive a $ 100,000 Community Catalyst Grant, which aims to help revitalize downtown neighborhoods and was awarded as part of IEDA’s Community Catalyst Building Remediation program.

“Downtown neighborhoods are the heart and soul of our communities, and their strength is essential to the overall well-being of the state,” said Debi Durham, executive director of IEDA and Iowa Finance Authority, in a press release. “The Community Catalyst program not only helps strengthen our inner cities at a critical time of economic recovery, but it also inspires growth and development for years to come. “

With a population of 6,754, Nevada was one of the most populous cities on the price list, as at least 40% of grants went to cities of less than 1,500, according to program rules, according to the press release.

The impact of projects, funding and partnerships in place, as well as the use of sustainable and smart growth principles were factors taken into account by the IEDA when scoring projects.

Cities are required to provide financial or in-kind matching to complete the project, and in the case of Nevada, the local matching is $ 433,000.