Beancounter owner: Let’s get regular updates on Historic Tama Complex

Suann Wells, center, is the owner of the Beancounter Coffeehouse and Drinkery at 212 Jefferson St. in downtown Burlington, Iowa.

Good news for downtown Burlington.  Iowa. Some state agencies have given approval for the demolition of the fire-ravaged Historic Tama Complex, but how to bring down the building safely remains a concern. This article in The Hawk Eye gives the details so I won’t repeat those here.

The bad news for downtown merchants, however, is that the fencing around the area has to expand, limiting parking on Jefferson and Third again. (Third Street had re-opened in mid-December but part of Jefferson was still blocked.) I guess the best way to view it is that there has to be pain in order to get some gain. Let’s just hope the building can be brought down safely.

In the meantime, after publishing a blog in which Chris Murphy, owner of Burlington By The Book, had expressed his frustration with the effect the fire aftermath had on his business and others, I reached out to Suann Wells, owner of The Beancounter Coffeehouse and Drinkery at 212 Jefferson St.  for her perspective.

Although the 200 block of  Jefferson Street has not been blocked off, the Beancounter has felt the effects of fewer people coming downtown due to parking issues.

Here’s what Suann wrote to me:

“Similar to Burlington By The Book, we had experienced a great summer of business prior to the Tama fire. We felt like we were starting to gain some great traction, and we were finding ourselves more and more excited and blessed to be a part of downtown Burlington.

“My husband, Gary, and I love the history Burlington has to offer (we live in a home built in 1868 and moved here to purchase a business which had been in business since 1866). Burlington, especially downtown Burlington, is full of magnificent architecture and history.

“When the fire happened, it changed things for us instantly. We obviously weren’t as effected as those businesses on the 300 block of Jefferson but basically we were cut off and still continue to be cut off from the rest of Jefferson Street. We have rallied with those businesses and other businesses downtown and have felt a great support. Downtown is full of small business owners, building owners, long-time residents, etc., who want to see the entire downtown succeed and we’ve felt this support daily. For this we are very appreciative.

“This fire has pushed me to get active in our city council meetings. I’m embarrassed to say I hadn’t previously been involved in anyway and really didn’t know how things worked. It’s been an educational experience for me to say the least and has taught me the importance of local government and having a connection to the people involved. I’ve met the members of the current city council and the mayor of Burlington and have appreciated their time spent hearing my voice.

“If I had to express my disappointment in one aspect, it would be in what I consider a lack of proactive communication with the effected parties and the public in general. When I reach out to the city council, I always receive a response. Always. And usually by more than one member. However, I feel if this communication came in a more regular update, be it from the city or from Mr. Doug Wells, people (myself included) would be much more positive about how things are progressing.

This December 2018 photo shows the pallets of bricks in front of the Tama Complex.

“For example, recently, several pallets of bricks being preserved were removed from the Tama property. It appears it took an entire week to move a few pallets. That appears disappointing and ridiculous to have taken that long for that task.

“But, I also know sometimes more is going on behind the scenes which isn’t always known to the people watching. If the city or Mr. Wells would put out regular or weekly updates as to the progress and what is happening, I feel like more positive and supportive responses would take place.

“When we don’t know what is happening, when it appears things are at a standstill, people many times assume the worst. Whereas, if we knew what obstacles are happening or what direction progress is heading, I believe human nature would allow for more support.

“We all know this is a HUGE undertaking and trying to preserve part of the rubble cannot be easy, but talk to us about that, keep us interested in what is happening, and we will all cheer the progress on to its fruition.

“I mourn the loss of a beautiful piece of the Burlington skyline and the exciting changes it would have brought but my hope is for something great to be placed in this spot for future generations to live, shop, work, and love. I have hope!”

I agree with Suann; weekly updates from the city (council or manager) and/or architect/owner Doug Wells would be a terrific way to keep merchants and citizens informed, and give hope that things are progressing.

In the meantime, if you’re in Burlington or when you are, be sure to head downtown for your shopping and dining! The Beancounter is a wonderful spot in downtown, with plenty of drink options and good food, too.  Say hello to Suann as I know she’d love to meet you!

Tama Complex fire aftermath harming Burlington downtown businesses

 

Burlington By the Book owner Chris Murphy keeps a sense of humor about the Jefferson Street blockage by decorating the chain-link fence opposite his storefront.

Who could have foreseen that major casualties of the massive Tama fire would be other businesses in downtown Burlington, Iowa?

I didn’t. Yes, when I woke up on Sunday morning, Aug. 5, 2018 and saw the text messages and photos of the fire, I felt shock and sadness. Because my family owned Sutter Drug, which had occupied various storefronts in that building from 1903 to 1981, I feel a special bond with the Tama Building.

But five months later, it’s clear that the fire has not only set back the future of that corner of Jefferson and Third, but also it’s been a huge setback for some of the nearby businesses.

Take one of my favorites, Burlington By The Book. For months now, the street in front of Chris Murphy’s store at 301 Jefferson, next to the Art Center of Burlington, has been blocked off. A large portion of Third Street also was blocked off until about two weeks before Christmas, Chris told me.

“The year was going fairly well up until the fire,” Chris told me via Facebook Messenger. “Everyone was looking forward to the additional businesses in the downtown area. Sales were very optimistic leading into summer and then it happened. Not only the loss of a historical building, but the entire corner was blocked off to traffic and our visibility just tanked.

“Business dropped drastically due to the slow pace of the official investigations and the time for decision-making was taking. It is almost soul-crushing.”

Those words, “soul-crushing,” just broke my heart. I met Chris when I was writing Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy. He agreed to sell my book in his store, and I was excited when he invited me to have a book signing there. He did a great job promoting the book and the signing, resulting in a sell-out that day. Since then, he’s continued to sell the book and many other books by authors with ties to Burlington or the region.

Chris Murphy, owner of Burlington By The Book, and me after my book signing. Chris’s business is very important to authors and readers.

So you see, Chris’s store is important to authors and readers, especially in an age when too many readers are buying their books online. Opening up Third Street did help a little with business, Chris told me, but he still looks out on a closed Jefferson Street.  As of last week, Chris said he’d seen a truck cart off a lot of the piles of bricks that were on Jefferson and also fixtures, apparently in the hopes they can be salvaged.

This December 2018 photo shows the pallets of bricks in front of the Tama Complex.

Post-Christmas is typically a slow time for retail businesses, of course.

“I think I can survive the next year, as long as I don’t over extend,” Chris told me, “but I am worried about a couple of the other businesses. If they close, that means even less draws for folks to come downtown.”

In the meantime, Chris tells me that he and his staff try to stay in good spirits. “Have to keep a sense of humor about it.” And if you know Chris and you follow him and the store on Facebook, you know he has a great sense of humor. He even decorated the chain link fence for Christmas (that’s the view he has from his store’s window), and for the Living Windows, Cody Flietner dressed up as the notorious Cousin Eddie from the movie National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

Cody Flietner recreates a scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation next to the fence blocking off the Tama Complex. This was part of the Living Windows display for Burlington By the Book.

I know Chris’s store is not the only business hurting, and if I hear from others, I will blog about those, too.  I know that civic dollars are tight, but I can’t help but wonder why the City of Burlington isn’t trying to help these businesses monetarily.

In November, the Tama Complex’s owner and architect Doug Wells announced that he had decided to tear down the entire structure, which was supposed to house apartments on upper floors with retail and a restaurant on the first floor.

Some other updates, from a year-in-review Hawk Eye article:

• There’s been no announcement of what caused the fire, even with a $10,000 reward offered for information. The fire began on the third floor of the Chittenden and Eastman building, part of the Tama Complex.
• Wells told the Burlington City Council that in order for him to preserve a $3.2 million historic preservation grant that he received, he has to delay demolition. I’m really glad that Wells does want to incorporate some remnants of the complex  into the new construction but let’s get going at a faster pace!

The Tama Building has been unoccupied since a 2010 fire.  Let’s hope it won’t be another nine years before we see a grand opening for something, anything, on that site!

 

Tama Building architect reveals post-fire plans

Prior to moving to the corner of Jefferson and Third, Sutter Drug was located at 307 N. Third, then 309-311. That portion of the Tama Building has collapsed now after a devastating fire in August 2018.  This photo shows the Third Street view. 

 

Doug Wells, the Des Moines architect who owns the Tama Building in Burlington, Iowa, estimates the rebuild from the fire in the Historic Tama Complex will be completed in spring 2020.

I won’t hold my breath that it can be done that quickly, as the project, up until the horrible fire in August, had been undergoing renovation for several years. Still, I’m excited that Wells says he is going to rebuild as this building has so much of my family and Sutter Drug Company history tied up in it.

In this recent story in The Hawk Eye, Wells said he was still waiting for the insurance investigators to release the building to him. Grinnell Mutual Insurance Co. and at least one other insurer are involved, and Grinnell has offered a $10,000 reward for information to assist in identifying the cause.

Other highlights from that story:

• Wells doesn’t plan to tear down what remains standing and will rebuild according to his original plans.
• Many people wondered why the sprinkler system hadn’t been activated, but Wells said that they typically aren’t until work is mostly complete. He may do that it differently the next time around, he said. Seems to me that would make a lot of sense!
• The support he’s getting from the community, Burlington city government and Burlington Downtown Partners is spurring Wells on. “They’re all maintaining contact with me on the project, and they’re wanting to offer me any support or help any way they can, and that’s a lot of what makes us want to rebuild,” he told The Hawk Eye.

In the meantime, life goes on, and the downtown merchants of Burlington need support. If you live in Burlington or are back visiting (as I will be doing in November), please take time to go downtown. Shop, eat, drink and check out things to do by clicking here. The merchants will be happy to see you and you’ll have a great time.

Related posts: Architect plan to rebuild on Tama Building fire site

Tama Building fire update with photos 

Tama Building owner Doug Wells thanks Burlington fire fighters, police

Inside Tama Building renovation before big fire

 

I’m committed to sharing the latest news about the Tama Building to keep readers up to date. If you don’t want to miss a post, you can receive posts quickly via email. Please scroll to the bottom of this web page and fill in your email address and submit it. I will not share your email address with others.

 

Inside Tama Building renovation before big fire in Burlington, Iowa

I’m committed to sharing the latest news about the Tama Building to keep readers up to date. If you don’t want to miss a post, you can receive posts quickly via email. Please scroll to the bottom of this web page and fill in your email address and submit it. I will not share your email address with others.

The shock of seeing the Tama Building in Burlington, Iowa, being consumed by massive flames has worn off, and now I just feel a sadness that I suspect won’t go away.

From 1903 to 1981, there was a Sutter Drug Store somewhere in that building, first at 311 N. Third, then 307-309 N. Third, then in the prime corner spot at Jefferson and Third from 1930 to 1981.

The Joseph R. Sutter Drug Store opened in 1903 at 311 N. Third St. in the Tama Building. My great-grandfather is at the far right.

I’d been watching with great interest the renovations of the Tama Building the last few years. And I was fortunate enough to get inside to see what was happening, first in April 2017 and then most recently this past May. I’m sure a good amount of progress had been made since May, given that some local businesses were close to relocating into storefronts.

In May, some of the apartments had kitchen cabinets installed, when I did a tour one Sunday afternoon with my childhood friends Bruce and Dave Baker, and Dave’s wife, Maureen. Bruce was able to get us into the building as he knows Doug Wells, the Des Moines architect and developer of the $12.5 million renovation of the Tama Building and the Chittenden and Eastman Commercial Building. Those buildings made up what was being called the Tama Complex.

If you haven’t seen the work, here are some photos that Bruce, Maureen and I took that day.

Facing the corner of Third and Jefferson inside the Tama Building in the former drug store space.

I was most interested in the renovation of the corner at Third and Jefferson, where the Sutter store was located for 51 years.

Looking down into the basement below the drug store space.

Bruce, Dave and I had some animated conversations about the store. Their family owned Witte Drug for years, and my great-grandfather, Joseph R. Sutter, got his start at Witte’s and learned about pharmacy working there.

Bruce (in green) and Dave Baker and I in the drug store space near the Jefferson Street windows. The soda fountain was against the wall on the right.

After the drug store closed in 1981, the space was home to various restaurants and bars. I always felt happy seeing the space occupied, until the fire of 2010 gutted the interior.

Despite all the different occupants over the years, the tin ceiling in the Sutter Drug Store space has remained intact.

 

We also climbed several flights of stairs to check out other parts of the building.

Looking down between the Tama and Chittenden and Eastman buildings. Tama is the building to the right.

Looking out an upper story window at the Tama Building, you can see the Schramm’s building with the awning. The upper stories are now condos.

We talked that day about how the Tama Building got its name and that the new owners wanted to get the Tama Indian sign back from Des Moines County.

The word Tama was on the doorway on the Third Street side of the building.

After we finished walking around and said our goodbyes, I drove by the Des Moines County Courthouse to see if Chief Tama was still on the front lawn. He is.

The image of Chief Tama, which used to grace the Tama Building many years ago, now sits in front of the Des Moines County Courthouse.

To read how Chief Tama came to reside in front of the courthouse, click here.  I’m thankful that it hadn’t been moved back to the Tama Building yet, because it likely would have been destroyed in the fire.

If you want to read about and see photos of the devastating 1915 fire that started in the basement of Sutter-Ludman in the Tama Building, click here.  A 1939 fire wasn’t nearly as bad; click here for my blog on that.

I’m hopeful that someday there will be another iconic and beautiful structure at the corner of Jefferson and Third, to replace the amazing building that had stood there since 1897.

I’m committed to sharing the latest news about the Tama Building to keep readers up to date. If you don’t want to miss a post, you can receive posts quickly via email. Please scroll to the bottom of this web page and fill in your email address and submit it. I will not share your email address with others.

Want to buy the Sutter’s sign?

This sign hung on the Third Street side of the Tama Building. 

On my recent trips to Burlington,  Iowa, it’s been so great to see the steady progress being made on renovating the Tama Building, where my great-grandfather founded his first store at 311 N. Third St., before moving it in 1929 to the prime spot at the corner of Jefferson and Third.

Now you might be able to own a piece of that history. Steve Frevert, executive director of Downtown Partners, Inc., has obtained the Sutter’s sign that hung on the Jefferson side of the street. The sign was covered by other signs for years after the store closed in 1981, but in recent years it was visible again.

With the new owners of what’s called the Historic Tama Complex making great progress on the building, it was time for the Sutter signs (one on Jefferson, the other facing Third) to come down. In an email, Steve told me, “The sign they removed was on eleven porcelain enamel panels on the Jefferson St. side. Much of it has brown paint on it, but I think we can figure out a way to strip it off. I took the panels to Preservation Station, and hopefully sometime this summer we can get them stripped.”

This photo shows Sutter Drug Store in 1976. (Photo courtesy of Downtown Burlington Partners.)

When I asked what might happen with the sign after the stripping, Steve wrote, “I imagine we will sell it, either in the shop or online.”

So there you have it! I do hope the sign gets a good home in Burlington. As the Tama building renovations began, I did think about the future of the signs, but where the heck would I put them?

I understand the sign on the Third Street side of the building went to someone named Sutter in Wisconsin, who contacted the building’s owners about it after seeing it while visiting Burlington. As far as I know, this person is not related to my family but I would love to find out his/her plans for it.