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732 Gaines Street Davenport IA 52802

1. Significance of the historical resource as it relates to the proposed project. (Up to 250 words) Identify the historical resource in the proposed project. Why is the resource important to state, regional, or local history?

 The Jipp grocery is one of the last remaining examples in Davenport of a store and attached home from the 1860s. In the 1983 historical survey to put the Hamburg Historical District on the National Register of Historic Places it was described as contributing to the historic significance of the district and unique for its late 19^th century commercial wing. We now know the store is much earlier and was built before the house.

 The history of Davenport, and its success as a 19th century commercial center, is wedded to the history of its German-speaking immigrants. Christian Jipp, an immigrant from the Schleswig Holstein, worked as a clerk at various retail shops along the Mississippi riverfront from 1860 to 1867.  In 1868 he built the grocery and lived in the back of the store with his wife Henrietta and their 3 children, Ella, Rhoda and Meta for 10 years until he could afford to build the attached house.

 This was one of the first retail businesses to progress up the hill from the riverfront and a symbol of the growing Davenport of the 1860s (suburban sprawl??).

 The store was sold to Kroeger and Koch in 1898 and remained a grocery until 1958 when it became a laundromat. The laundromat closed sometime in the early 1980s and has been abandoned since then.

The house remained the home of Rhoda Jipp until she died in 1948. It then became a rental property and was abandoned along with the closing of the laundromat.

2. Significance or contribution of the project to enhance the preservation, conservation, or interpretation of Iowa’s historical resources. (Up to 250 words) Describe your proposed project and how it relates to the historical resource identified in question 1. Explain how the proposed project will enhance the preservation, conservation, and/or interpretation of your historical resource.

 We plan to restore the home and store to its original appearance and use it for a not for profit Architectural Rescue Shop.  This shop will be used to collect, display, restore and sell Architectural items acquired from old homes being rehabbed or demolished in the Quad Cities.

The money raised will be used in its restoration and maintenance and then to help restore other abandoned homes in our district.

The property located at the corner of 8^th St and Gaines St. is very high profile being on the main route connecting Davenport and Rock Island via the Centennial Bridge, just six blocks north of the German American Heritage Center. This building which has been abandoned and boarded up for 20 years will become a model for restoring other abandoned homes and a symbol of the revitalization of our neighborhood.

Phase 1 of the project entails stabilizing the structure and enclosing it so it will survive the winter.

 Phase 2 entails replacing the 20^th century corner door store front with the 1860s center door and side display windows front, rebuilding the 1878 loading dock, a new cedar shake roof as well as a complete interior restoration.  

3 . Knowledge and understanding of accepted professional standards as they relate to the proposed project. (Up to 250 words) Identify the professional standards or best practices you will follow. Explain how you will apply the professional standards or best practices in your project.

All phases of this project will be approved by the Davenport Preservation Commission and will abide by The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

We have been in contact with Doug Steinmetz of the TAN program and expect to have a visit with him as soon as possible.

Most finishing work will be done by volunteers with the love of historical preservation. This gives our group the luxury of researching how things were made, using hand tools and old materials when available. 

4. Degree of threat to the resource. (Up to 150 words) What will happened to your identified resource if this project is not funded?

  If we can not raise the funds to immediately mothball the structure, it will become another green space in our neighborhood and a major loss to the historical character of the Hamburg Historic District.

The home and store have been condemned by the City of Davenport and are on demolition list. The rear wall of the home has already collapsed and the front and center foundation is being washed out and will not last the winter. Once the home has collapsed there is little hope in saving the store.

5. Degree to which the goals and objectives of the project enhance the applicant’s long-range plan. (Up to 150 words) What are your long-range goals and objectives for the care and preservation of your historical resource? How will this project help you meet your goals and objectives?

  This first phase is a must in order to save this building. We believe by saving this landmark building from becoming another green space in our neighborhood, we will have a model to help save other abandoned homes. We foresee using the structure to collect, preserve and restore architectural items from other vintage houses being renovated or demolished in the Quad Cities. We can also recycle or sell these items and use the profits to help restore this and other houses in the neighborhood

6. Degree to which the project supports the economic, educational, and cultural health of the local area, region, or state. (Up to 150 words) How will your proposed project affect the economy in your area, attract tourism, and lead to more education and/or appreciation of history?

Downtown Davenport is going through a rebirth with Vision Iowa funding and the construction of the art museum. We, as part of an inner city neighborhood, have had to struggle on our own to rebuild while the city focuses on rebuilding downtown. It has been a slow process from the closing of the crack houses of the 1970s, being placed on the National Registry in 1983 to rezoning to Low Density Residential and returning homes that were converted into 6 or 8 apartments back to their previous glory. But it is happening, mostly privately funded one house at a time. This will become the shining star of what a group of neighbors collectively can do to help their neighborhood. The Architectural Rescue Shop will also give us a unique opportunity to educate people about the workmanship of the past, while the Home and Store will educate them about our history.

7. Degree of cooperation between organizations or individuals within a local area, region, or the state as evidenced by but not limited to the number of volunteers, cash match, and in-kind match. (Up to 150 words) Explain how other groups and individuals in your community or area will be involved in your project.

 We have the support of the neighbors of the Hamburg Historic District with pledges of over $6,000 plus hundreds of hours of labor already invested and hundreds of more pledged..

 The Riverboat Development Authority has given us a 3 to 1 emergency grant of $2500.

 The Alcoa Employees and Community Credit Union have pledged $500.

The Davenport Historic Preservation Commission has commended our efforts and given us its total support.

The City of Davenport has gone out of its way to make it possible for our volunteers to be able to do the work with minimum red tape and the required building permits.

United Neighbors is excited about the work we are doing and has already donated a huge dumpster for the removal of the rear addition.

Davenport One has given us its support but since we are a non profit group, no funding.

8. Degree to which the budget is reasonable, appropriate to the project, complete and mathematically correct. (Up to 250 words) Explain the work plan and budget for your project. Include each phase, the order of each phase, and the estimated cost involved.

Our goal is to restore these structures with minimal funds using maximum volunteer help.

  By using volunteer labor, the skills of our group, recycled and donated materials, these historic structures can be saved at a reasonable cost. The removal of the rear portion is a good example of this. An estimated $5,000 job, which we were told needed a large backhoe to remove, was done safely with a simple chain and hand crank come along, 2 very large dumpsters and about 400 man hours. By using our own labor we were able to save the 1878 loading dock on the back of the store which was mistakenly identified as being part of the early 1900 addition. We also were able to carefully remove the old bricks from the collapsed wall to save for its restoration.

 Our Phase 1 estimate to stabilize and enclose the building is being done on a shoe string budget with all volunteer labor, except the foundation work. We have 2 solid estimates for the foundation work of $9,400 -$2400(for our volunteer manual labor support) =$7,000 and $5,960.  We our very confident we can accomplish this phase if we get the grant.

 Phase 2 estimates are not in and will be much harder to estimate until we see what materials and skill labor we can get donated. We will contact the trade unions, building material suppliers, youth groups and anyone we feel can help us in reaching our goals.

Gateway Redevelopment Group, Davenport, Iowa