Elkader Shelter House repair gets renewed attention with GoFundMe effort

By Willis Patenaude | Times-Register

Much ink has been spilled on the shelter house in Elkader City Park over the years, and why not? It’s been standing for over 125 years, serving as an exhibit hall, floral hall and shelter house. It was at one time a centerpiece of the Elkader Fair, when horses still raced around the track and the doors were the “grand entrance” to the midway.

While the building is still standing, it has also been slowly falling into disrepair for the last 30 years, with calls to tear it down competing against local volunteer efforts to rescue one of the oldest remaining buildings in Elkader from years of neglect. The majority of efforts began in the 1990s, when donations and grants paid for new siding, window repairs and painting, among other things. But if there is one certainty about old buildings, the maintenance never ends.

Fast-forward to last year, when another group of volunteers decided to continue preservation efforts—to save what volunteer Frank Phippin referred to then as “part of the fabric of the community.” A historic building isn’t just a building if you’re a small community that promotes the importance of history, and if you’re not tearing down other structures, why tear down the shelter house?

Why not try to fix it and give it a new look? That was the impetus behind last year’s efforts, when an ad hoc committee consisting of Phippin, Roger Thomas, Bob Garms, David Beck, Christopher Schoen and the late Jim Walch formed. They came together to start work on a building that needed a litany of items fixed, like new gutters, tuck-pointing in the chimney, updated lighting, repaired windows, new siding, new doors, a coat of paint and extensive roof repairs.

At the time, the group had applied for the Keep Iowa Beautiful Grant to secure 30 gallons of paint, and were approved for eight gallons, which saved an estimated $500. Receiving less than they requested, the decision was made to use the eight gallons for trim paint on the front of the porch and the doors. Wielding the paint brushes were Thomas and his wife, Rosemary

Thomas is a frequent flyer in articles, so much so he actively worried about people growing tired of seeing his name. But Thomas is a dedicated volunteer in a community that desperately needs and heavily relies on them, so the continued recognition is well-deserved. He is also the most vocal member of the committee, and by all accounts and responses, he is largely responsible for the bulk of the labor that has gone into the building. Maybe that’s why Phippin approached him over a year ago.

“He felt someone just needed to step up and lead the effort to preserve the floral hall,” Thomas said.

Thomas was drawn to the effort for obvious reasons, like saving history, but he also shared a memory about his mom when she was in 4-H in the 1920s and displayed a project in the building. One time, the 4-H girls stayed overnight on the second floor. 

You’re not just saving wood, brick and concrete. You’re saving memories and images that would slowly be lost if the shelter house was torn down. Instead of being used for family reunions, graduations and other community events, it would end up in a future photographic history of Elkader.

Thomas noted several projects have been started or completed in the past year, including installing 10 eight-foot LED lights inside the building and repairing the 28 windows. According to Thomas, work on the window panes, many of which were cracked and needed to be re-glazed, involved replacing broken glass panes or old putty in a window without removing the entire window. Only two windows were beyond repair, and replacement windows were ordered from the lumberyard and installed. Additionally, two Central students, Logan Scherf and Max Fettkether, built 18 new window screen frames that will be installed in the lower windows for better ventilation in the summer.

Perhaps the largest project was started and completed in early December, when Meuser Lumber installed the new metal shingle roof. The $28,000 cost was funded through a grant from the Upper Mississippi Gaming Corporation. The metal shingles are designed to look like cedar shakes, which the Iowa Preservation Office determined would be appropriate for the era of the building. The decision to use metal shingles as opposed to actual cedar shakes is because that would’ve been “way too expensive,” Thomas said.

The remainder of the roof, namely the rolled rubber roof on the top of the hall or around the widow’s walk, will be done when it’s warmer. “You need to have hot weather and no rain for the adhesive to stick to the wood and rubber,” Thomas said.

Among projects still on the list, because preservation takes time, are installing additional outlets, most likely four more on the left side of the building as you enter. Thomas and Elkader Public Works Director Jason Scherf have surveyed the building to determine how to divide the electricity load, so as not to overload any circuits, but there is no timeline for completion. However, Thomas said it wouldn’t be a big job or cost that much; it’s just a matter of getting started.

Next on the list is installing six-inch rain gutters around the hall to help preserve the lap siding and paint. Thomas believes this project will be done this spring. 

Also on the agenda to be finished by spring is having the two main entrance doors swing outward, improving safety and allowing for screens to be installed for air movement and fly control. Thomas and Beck have also submitted preliminary documentation to the State Preservation Office to place the hall on the National Registry of Historic Places, which typically makes securing grants and funding easier.

Still, though, there are projects that remain unfunded, like tuck-pointing on the chimney, replacing the lap siding, finishing the painting and landscaping. This is why the city of Elkader recently shared a post for a GoFundMe campaign. Organized by city administrator Jennifer Cowsert to raise “match money for grants,” the committee looks to raise $10,000, which Thomas said will be “enough funding to complete all the projects this year.”

“This is one of the last remaining buildings specially built to start the Elkader Fair. The people that rent the building appreciate the historic value of the building. Now that we are bringing more attention to the building, they will only appreciate it more,” Thomas said.