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In the Sunday Des Moines Register, Kyle Munson filed a story on the loss of post offices in small towns across the state, including the Boone County town of Luther. The pictured photograph closed February 10, 2011, after a truck drove into the side of the building.
Photographs of seventeen of the other post offices set for review are in the below gallery:
Published February 27, 2011 |
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The previously-featured Kelley Post Office closed its doors yesterday, February 25, 2011, due to a temporary suspension after the building’s lease was not renewed. The Ames Tribune reported there’ a possibility operations could be restored to Kelley, but during a public meeting, WHO TV notes Sarah Lindauer of the US Postal Service said they did not foresee this happening due to budget cuts. Residents in the Story County community will now receive mail curbside or in “cluster boxes.”
Published February 26, 2011 |
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Located in Woodbury County in northwest Iowa, Pierson was one of over twenty communities across the state to debut new brick post offices in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In a Sioux City Journal article, postmaster Bonnie Saxen indicated she had been working with postal officials “for years” to get a new, larger facility. “Finally our dream came through.” The “dream” post office was roughly 1,600 square feet, almost three times larger than the previous facility. Postal service was established in Pierson in 1884.
Published February 25, 2011 |
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Woodbury County
In 2001, operations at the two-screen Orpheum Theater were discontinued as the owners shifted their focus to the growing multiplex at Marshalltown’s mall. When it looked like the Orpheum was destined to be demolished, local citizens formed a non-profit organization, The Orpheum Centre Inc., dedicated to purchasing and restoring the historic theatre, which was originally built as a single-screen movie house in 1948. The organization purchased the building from the Iowa-based Fridley Theatres chain in 2002 and began efforts to renovate and repair the dated facilities. In 2005, the organization partnered with the Iowa Valley Community College district to repurpose the theater as a multi-use facility. The $3.4 million renovation project was completed in July 2010, and the theater reopened with a 4-day celebration that brought more than 1,000 guests.
The revived theater began showing classic movies on the weekends, at a cost of just $3 per ticket. Theatre Director Pip Gordon told the Marshalltown Times-Republican his goal was to “have a family of four get admission, popcorn and a drink for under $20.” Attached to the theater is the Orpheum Coffee Shop, which is open Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch, serving coffee, smoothies, wraps, ice cream, and more. Community College courses began in the Orpheum in Fall 2010.
For more information, including showtimes, see the Orpheum Theater’s website. Read the rest of this entry »
Published February 24, 2011 |
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Marshall County
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The Indianola Public Library history can be traced to 1882, when a local Enterprise Club was formed to raise funds for a new town library. Voters approved giving tax dollars to the library organization in an 1884 election, and the Indianola Public Library officially opened June 27, 1884, in the second story of a hardware store on the town square. The pictured library building was dedicated in 1904, constructed from a $10,000 grant provided by the Carnegie Foundation. The building served the community until 1984, when $900,000 was raised by the community and a new library building was constructed. The Carnegie-funded building now serves as the offices for the Des Moines Metro Opera.
Published February 23, 2011 |
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Warren County
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