Newton Main Street nets $75K grant

DES MOINES — Newton representatives were elated on Monday following the announcement of a $75,000 Main Street challenge grant for the Hotel Maytag renovation, and were also hopeful the project will spur more development.

“The challenge grant is so competitive,” said Andrew Bassman, executive director of Newton Main Street. “Award of the grant confirms what we have known from the start — that this is a very good project that could have a huge impact on the Main Street District.”

The Iowa Economic Development Authority awarded 14 Main Street Iowa communities a total of $924,000 in grants during a ceremony at the Botanical Center. Newton’s grant will fund part of the historic rehabilitation of the Hotel Maytag ballroom and also marks the first Main Street grant obtained by Newton. The city became a Main Street Iowa community in February 2014.

Bassman was joined by Newton Mayor Mike Hansen; Sen. Chaz Allen (D-Newton); Newton Main Street board members Lin Chapé and Rita Reinheimer;Frank Liebl, executive director of Newton Development Corporation; Bryan Friendman, the city’s director of finance and development and Erin Chambers, the city’s director of planning and zoning. Also on hand were Andy Frantz and Carol Bower of Frantz Community Investors.

“We’re extremely excited and pleased to receive the $75,000 grant. It will go a long way toward putting the final pieces to the financing of the project,” Hansen said. “What it means is the Hotel Maytag will anchor the Main Street rehabilitation project throughout the downtown area.”

Cedar Rapids-based Frantz Community Investors announced in March plans to renovate the former Hotel Maytag in Newton. The $10 million project is expected not only to restore the ballroom, but also add 35 market-rate apartments, commercial space and an upscale restaurant to the current Midtown building.

Andy Frantz, vice president of operations for FCI, said the grant is one of many positive steps happening with the project. Frantz said on Tuesday that FCI has secured state and federal tax credits toward the project. While the building sale has been delayed, mostly due to a delay with an appraisal, he expects the renovation to begin moving quickly after financing is complete.

“You don’t make historic restoration projects happen without grants like this,” Frantz said. “It really is a collaborative effort and the support from everyone involved and the City of Newton has been amazing.”

Carol Bower, a historic preservation specialist with Frantz Community Investors, said the ballroom is a very important room for the public.

“Because the city really has no space for large events this helps meet a need with a ballroom with a capacity of 400 that divides into three sections for weddings and other events,” Bower said. “We wanted to be sure to restore it back to the way it was. It will be a lot of work, but it’s a wonderful space that will be important to the community.”

The Hotel Maytag opened for business in December 1926. The ballroom, in its early years, was a center of activity for most social events. It has been well documented that numerous weddings and social events took place in the Maytag ballroom.

Over the years, the hotel was converted into apartments and the ballroom was converted into office space. The terrazzo floors and ballroom features are still visible in some areas of the offices. Developers plan to remove the offices so the ballroom can be restored, with about $450,000 dedicated to the ballroom restoration itself. With a capacity to hold 400 people, the ballroom is expected to fulfill a need for an events center to serve the public and surrounding areas. Meanwhile, it will bring more people to the downtown historic district.

The unique features of the ballroom such as the terrazzo floors, cornices, lightwell and skylight will all be restored so the ballroom can serve its original purpose following state and federal guidelines for historic restoration.

The matching challenge grants are administered through the IEDA’s Downtown Resource Center and Main Street Iowa programs. The funds are made available through an appropriation from the Iowa Legislature.

Since the first appropriation in 2002 through 2014, nearly $6 million in state and federal funds have leveraged more than $37 million of private reinvestment into 110 projects in 43 Main Street Iowa commercial districts across the state.

“It’s really a great thing for us. It’s a really a welcome to Newton to the Frantz Community and a way for us to build bridges with them,” said Rita Reinheimer, Newton Main Street board member and chair of the design committee. “I’m really hoping this is the catalyst that starts some more development around town.”

Contact Abigail Pelzer at 641-792-3121 ext. 6530 or apelzer@newtondailynews.com