KEOKUK, IOWA -- After consulting with a preservation expert, it looks like the Keokuk Main Street program will award a contract this week for rehabbing the windows at the old Eagles building.
The executive director of the Keokuk Main Street organization says the renovation project is right on schedule and the window project is the biggest part of the multi million dollar renovation.
The lead contractor on the project is Terry Twitchell and he has been building houses and doing remodelling work for the last 30 years.
He said when he was tapped to be the contractor on the Eagles building project he knew it was going to be somewhat of a challenge and he said he was ready for it.
"With a job like this you don't have a foundation so you don't have to go from ground zero on up. But yet I still have to maintain the integrity of the building the way it was originally. So keeping the windows the same and keeping the tuck pointing the same, that's a little bit different then what I'm use too," Twitchell said.
One of the big parts of the project is going to be restoring the windows. Because the project is utilizing state and federal tax credits, a lot of the old building must be used and saved during the renovation. A local preservation expert consulted with the group last month and made recommendations on how to restore the windows back to their original style and workings.
"The windows are the most significant part of this project. There are so many of them and they are such a big feature on both the exterior and the interior. Because they are going to be fully functional windows and you're going to be able to raise them with a finger. And these big huge historic windows that is going to say alot and it's going to take some talent to put them back into working condition they were, but they are our primary focus," Joyce Glascock the executive director of the Keokuk Main Street program said.
Glascock said the building will be ADA compliant and that even one of the second floor condo's will have a zero degree access to the shower. The back portion of the building was built back in the late 1920s, while the front portion of the building was constructed in the early 1950s. The property will also feature a covered parking garage for the tenants.
Glascock also said there are four condos that will be available for a lease option to buy.
She added all of the condos are on the second floor while the commercial space will occupy the first floor.
People have already been calling to inquire about the new condo units.
You can get more details by calling the Keokuk Main Street program at 319-524-5055.
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