Last summer, the building at 2951 E. Walnut St. was declared a public nuisance by the city of Des Moines. In early March, the Des Moines City Council authorized city staff to take the necessary legal steps to either get the building repaired or have it demolished. Fairground Hardware was located in the building for 75 years.Business Record file photo

In the coming weeks, Des Moines city officials will decide whether steps will be taken to try to preserve a 134-year-old building on the city’s east side or allow the structure’s owners to demolish it.

Fairground Hardware was located in the two-story building at 2951 E. Walnut St. for 75 years. After the store closed in 2017, the property was sold to an investment group. Three years later, Rueter Farms Inc. and C&D’s Holdings LLC bought the property.

“It has been made known to the city that it is the current owners’ intent that they want to demolish the building,” said Michael Ludwig, Des Moines’ deputy director of development services. Property owners have asked permission to disconnect utilities to the building, a step that must be taken before a structure is razed.

However, before the building can be demolished, city regulations require a review to be conducted to determine the historic, cultural or architectural significance of the structure. The city ordinance requires reviews on demolition requests for commercial buildings that are 50 years old or older, and for residences that are 80 years old or older.

Members of the city’s Landmark Review Board and Urban Design Review Board have until Friday to make comments about the property, Ludwig said. The comments will be reviewed next week by Erin Olson-Douglas, the city’s development services director, he said. 

“The development services director will make a decision on whether we should initiate proceedings to designate [the property] as a local landmark or, if it’s not significant enough to designate as a local landmark, whether there are other alternative preservation measures that could be taken,” Ludwig said.

Those alternative steps could include finding another buyer for the property who would either preserve the structure on the site or move it to a new location, he said. The ordinance allows 30 days for those steps to be completed.

“It could be that if we allow demolition we save some items from the building,” Ludwig said. “Based on some of the comments [received] so far, I think that there’s probably enough basis to say [the building has] some degree of historical, architectural merit.”

The 9,592-square-foot building was constructed around 1888 for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization that held its meetings in a hall on the second floor, according to a biography of the building. During the first part of the 1900s, Corning’s grocery and general merchandise store was located on the first floor of the building, according to a Des Moines Register article published in 2017. A hardware store opened in the building in the 1940s.

Michael and Debra Robinson bought the hardware business in 1995. In 1998, the Robinsons bought the building from the Odd Fellows for $150,000, according to the Polk County Assessor’s Office. An investment group purchased the property in 2017 and intended to redevelop it. Instead, in 2020 the group sold the property to Rueter Farms Inc. and C&D’s Holdings LLC for $390,000, records show.

Todd Rueter, CEO and president of Rueter’s, could not be reached for comment. Rueter’s is an agricultural and construction equipment dealer. 

The property in 2021 was valued at $108,000, records show.

The building, which has been unused since the hardware store closed in 2017, has fallen into disrepair.

The city of Des Moines designated the property as a nuisance in July 2021, and this month the City Council authorized city staff to take the necessary legal steps to either get the building repaired or demolished.

“If there are parties interested in saving the building, they need to approach the city about their interest in saving the building,” Ludwig said. Anyone interested in trying to preserve the building needs to share their plans with the city as well as how they plan on paying for repairs, he said. 

The city’s historical preservation ordinance was put in place about 10 years ago, Ludwig said. “We’re trying to preserve our historic fabric. … Our intent when this ordinance was adopted was to give pause in the processing of applications for demolition of older structures.”

Top photo: Most of the windows on the second floor of the building at 2951 E. Walnut St. in Des Moines have been covered. Cracks can be seen on the masonry exterior walls. Bottom photo: Only a small portion remains of a fire escape. Photos courtesy of city of Des Moines

UPDATE: Council will decide fate of 134-year-old Des Moines building