To: Iowa City's Councilmen and women
Save Your Cottages – Protect Iowa City's Literary History
Dear Iowa City Council Members,
While I am not a citizen of your city, however, as a lover of knowledge and reading, I consider myself a global citizen of your community following your assignation of one of only nine UNESCO Cities of Literature, the only city in the United States to carry this designation. I am writing to thank you for setting a special meeting to discuss the historic cottages which reside on the 600 block of South Dubuque Street. I am strongly in support of your city holding an open public hearing for discussion to be held and action steps created for the purpose of turning these repositories of local history into ones which will be upheld and maintained for future generations by granting them official landmark status. While all three cottages show-case important parts of your city's history, the property of 610 S. Dubuque Street is of particular importance to the storied history of Iowa City, particularly its history as a literary community. It once served as the starting point for the only nationwide literary movement to start out of Iowa City, the Actualist Movement in the Arts. As a movement, this literary ideology spread across the nation, influencing writers and poets for decades. As an avid reader who holds a profound appreciation for the historical preservation of the places and institutions which host writers and those who turn their writings into books, I'm grateful that you as a council are willing to set aside discussion for the future preservation of these important pieces of your city's history, and I look forward to seeing you reach a resolution as a community that affords these historical properties the landmark status that they each so richly deserve.
Thank you,
While I am not a citizen of your city, however, as a lover of knowledge and reading, I consider myself a global citizen of your community following your assignation of one of only nine UNESCO Cities of Literature, the only city in the United States to carry this designation. I am writing to thank you for setting a special meeting to discuss the historic cottages which reside on the 600 block of South Dubuque Street. I am strongly in support of your city holding an open public hearing for discussion to be held and action steps created for the purpose of turning these repositories of local history into ones which will be upheld and maintained for future generations by granting them official landmark status. While all three cottages show-case important parts of your city's history, the property of 610 S. Dubuque Street is of particular importance to the storied history of Iowa City, particularly its history as a literary community. It once served as the starting point for the only nationwide literary movement to start out of Iowa City, the Actualist Movement in the Arts. As a movement, this literary ideology spread across the nation, influencing writers and poets for decades. As an avid reader who holds a profound appreciation for the historical preservation of the places and institutions which host writers and those who turn their writings into books, I'm grateful that you as a council are willing to set aside discussion for the future preservation of these important pieces of your city's history, and I look forward to seeing you reach a resolution as a community that affords these historical properties the landmark status that they each so richly deserve.
Thank you,
Why is this important?
The cottages on the 600 block of South Dubuque St. tell a unique and interesting story of Iowa City's history. They are currently scheduled for needless demolition. Rather than bulldozing these properties, I would like to see Iowa City and our City Council designate them as historical landmarks so that their owners and tennants can invest the care and love into these properties that they deserve rather than further adding to the senseless destruction of our city's past institutions and landmarks.