(Radio Iowa) – The State of Iowa has recently distributed 770-million dollars in grants and tax credits for housing developments that will yield an estimated 10-thousand homes and apartment units in the state. Governor Kim Reynolds says there’s never before been that many publicly-funded housing units under development in Iowa.

“Housing is so much more than just four walls and a roof. It’s the foundation of a growing workforce and an unmatched quality of life and a thriving local economy,” Reynolds says. “Housing is the start of stronger communities and a more prosperous future for our entire state.” State officials say the bulk of the investment is 632 million dollars worth of federal tax credits awarded for Iowa housing projects over a ten-year period.

Debi Durham is director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and the Iowa Finance Authority, which provides low income Iowans assistance on homes and rentals. “We often say, ‘Housing is the start,’ because a safe, stable home is where so many stories begin,” Durham said. “Our work helps to craft these diverse stories whether it’s a family finding stability, a young couple moving into their very first rental or a life-long renter purchasing their first home.”

Governor Kim Reynolds speaks at Housing Iowa Conference on Sept. 4, 2024. (RI photo)

About 80 million in state tax credits have been awarded for new construction or rehabbed housing in communities where there’s a shortage of homes and apartments for people who work in the community. Another 16 million is supporting the creation of new housing options in the downtown areas of Iowa cities with a population under 30-thousand. The National Housing Trust Fund also has awarded 11 million dollars in Iowa to produce or preserve rental units for low income residents.

(Radio Iowa) – Students and faculty are watching, taking pictures and video today (Thursday) on the northwest corner of the campus in Ames as LeBaron Hall is coming down to make way for a new building. The Dean of the College of Human Sciences, Laura Jolly, says the pending demolition of the structure built in 1958 has drawn a lot of attention. “Not an implosion. But I’ll tell you that has been one of the most frequent questions is, how are they going to do this?,” she says. “So they did a lot of preliminary work. July one forward, you know, internal taking materials out, took the windows out, and trucked away lots of debris.” Jolly spoke with Radio Iowa at mid- morning and says large excavator is pulling the walls down.

“Grabbing chunks of the building and putting them in the construction site and sorting out the metal from the concrete, which that’s been fascinating,” Jolly says. “Right now, I would says the east wall, middle portion is completely gone, and then they’ve moved further towards Central Campus. So the I guess a good chunk of the east wall of LeBaron Hall is down.” LeBaron Hall house the home economics department and Jolly says they took time to reminisce with a final tour of every floor in June. “So it really was that walk down memory lane for many of you know, faculty and former leaders in the college and students so so we did take that memory lap of sorts,” she says.

Excavator tearing down LeBaron Hall on the ISU campus. (ISU photo)

Jolly says there is a lot of anticipation about what the new LeBaron Hall will offer. “The excitement of what’s to come is really, I think, the main story. You know, there’s a lot of excitement about the future of this building and its focus on completely on student learning and the spaces that will be in the building. So people are very, very excited about that opportunity,” Jolly says.

The new building will expand on the area of the old building and add three floors above ground. It will l include a 100-seat university classroom, teaching, production and design studios for the college’s nationally ranked apparel program; experiential learning space for the event management program, and a historic textiles and clothing lab. Construction on the new building is expected to be completed in 2026.

(Radio Iowa) – Officials in a northwest Iowa community hit by flooding in June are having a historic pedestrian bridge examined. The suspension bridge in Estherville was built in 1937 over the West Fork of the Des Moines River. Penny Clayton is Estherville’s City Manager. “The company that does our roadway bridge inspections will be coming to do an inspection of the swinging bridge,” she says, “because we did have water that was going over the swinging bridge during this flood.” An inspection is required when water flows over the deck of a bridge that carries vehicle traffic and Clayton says it seems prudent to do an inspection of a bridge that carries foot traffic.

“We don’t anticipate that there are any problems, but I’m not an engineer,” Clayton says. “I can’t make that determination.” The Estherville City Council has approved spending about four-thousand dollars for the inspection of the bridge. “It is currently open,” Clayton says. “We have been or will be replacing some deck boards because we have some damage — ends curled up on those treated 2x6s, 2x8s, but I just want someone to look at the structural integrity to make sure everything is fine.”

The bridge is visible from Highway 9. A historical marker at the site notes it was built by the federal Works Progress Administration, one of the Great Depression’s “New Deal” programs. At one point 37-thousand jobless Americans were in Iowa, building public facilities like roads, schools, post offices and even swimming pools.