Moving right along
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, May 20, 2007
A new college facility is going up in Sioux City, although it's not part of Morningside College, Briar Cliff University, Western Iowa Tech Community College or St. Luke's College.
A satellite site of Iowa State University is being created on Historic Fourth Street, in a little-seen location bounded by three alleys, although the south alley will soon be deemed a street with the name Design Place. That name ties in with the school, which will be an arm of the ISU College of Design.
Nathan Kalaher, a designer with M+ Architects in Sioux City, is overseeing the project and gave the first public tour of the site on Tuesday. Going into the former boiler/steam generation building is a trip into Sioux City's past.
The building dates to 1890, Kalaher explained, and it "fed stream through tunnels" to all the buildings along Fourth Street, buildings that fell into disrepair until being resurrected beginning in the mid-1990s. A century-plus ago, the tunnels served a vital role in much of downtown, and are still present, unbeknownst to those traversing above on sidewalks.
The yet-to-be cosmetically tuckpointed stone walls still have discernible coal dust. An observer said the below ground passages were reminiscent of catacombs, while Kalaher said it has "a Rome feel." The construction work amounts to an excavation, of "a city of the past" being exposed, he added.
"It is like the further down you go, the further back in time you go," Kalaher said. And, he added, the Historic Fourth facility with 3-foot-4-inch-thick walls is proof of the old phrase, "They don't build it like this any more."
The old coal building, located south of Beth's Flowers, 1014 Fourth St., and adjacent to the outdoor garden of Buffalo Alice, was used for storage until about 15 years ago. But it hadn't "had any real productive use for probably 80 or 90 years," Kalaher said. "Because it is sandwiched between three alleys, it has sort of been forgotten in time."
Kalaher declined to say how much the site was acquired for, but said it was at a pittance of the value, that "it was almost given" away. Ownership of the building will be by the nonprofit Siouxland Chamber Foundation and it will be leased by Iowa State University.
While Kalaher posited that "it could have been a bar or a cool used bookstore," he couldn't truly imagine anyone else following through with a productive new use for the building were it not for the design studio. The school, which should be completed by the end of June, will be of "minimalist style" and with "museum-finish" quality inside, Kalaher said.
Some names for the site have been kicked around, including, not Soho, but SOFO -- South of Fourth Street.
The facility is part of the Great Places initiative, in which many downtown Sioux City quality-of-life pieces will be added or improved. Sioux City was named one of three Iowa Great Places in a new program in October 20005. ISU officials in December 2006 announced the satellite college would be built and finished in 2007.
The College of Design offers degree programs in architecture, community and regional planning, graphic design, integrated studio arts, interior design and landscape architecture, and four of those six will be included in Sioux City, Kalaher explained. The courses offered in Sioux City will be worth from three to six credit hours.
ISU College of Design associate dean Tim Borich said there is some uncertainty on whether students will be able to take courses as the fall semester opens in August, although "we are hoping for that."
Borich said about 20 students from ISU will be taking classes in Sioux City at any given time, but it's not yet set whether they would "be in residence there" the whole semester or if Ames students would be rotated through for a few weeks at a time. However, the students will likely be living in studio apartments near Historic Fourth, Borich and Kalaher said.
Borich said there is a lot of enthusiasm for the satellite design studio in the college hierarchy in Ames, including with President Gregory Geoffroy, who toured the site a few weeks ago. "He loved it," recounted Borich.
Further, Borich said, College of Design Dean Mark Englebrecht "really takes this as a very high priority for the college."
Said Borich, "The trick will be getting students, I'll be honest. We have to market this to our students, and we are doing that... If they come back with warm fuzzies, the word gets out. We have a real interest in making this work."
There may also be a chance for Siouxland high school students or those from Morningside, BCU or WITCC to take some introductory design courses at the ISU satellite as well, Borich said. That would be a boon to Siouxland, "since nobody in the area offers those courses," Borich said.
He said it is great that an ISU grad like Kalaher pursued creation of what was at one point termed the Sioux City School of Architecture as part of Great Places. "We want this to be a really interactive program, where the students work with the local community," Borich said.
With that in mind, the spring semester will likely involve a senior design studio combining approximately 15 students of architecture, landscape architecture and planning with projects centered in the metro area. Kalaher said the many "small hidden jewels" in Sioux City that seem to annually be pursued for restoration will offer "architectural experiments" for the highly-creative ISU students.
On getting into the aged building, workers found some surprises that required modifications to the initial reconstruction plans. That's common in old buildings, Kalaher said, but he said with "a lot of creativity" the budget of $530,000 to craft the design school still should be enough to bring the project together.
The site will have 6,700 square feet on two levels, and "the building is actually bigger below ground than above ground," Kalaher said. Most of the course work will be done on the lower level.
There will be lots of touchstones, including a 32-foot-high atrium, concrete elevator shaft with a cantilever concrete staircase and an exhibit hall in a tunnel beneath the south alley, with glass manholes above for viewing. People walking by the school also will be able to look through the windows to see what the students are producing. The manholes and south windows will be very eye-catching for those sampling night life on Historic Fourth, Kalaher said.
Inside, there will be lots of natural light pouring in through large south windows, a facet that will help keep heating costs down, since the black slate on the north side will maintain the heat into the evening.
Kalaher is glad he's had a big role in the project.
"It is certainly intimidating to think that you are designing a place for designers. It certainly is a different level of criticism that you'll have at the end, so you definitely want to make sure it is top notch," he said.
Once the satellite college is completed, Kalaher said, more enthusiasm for the project will be seen. The goal, he said, has been "to create a space to learn in that is hopefully inspiring... It is a modern interpretation of this old building."
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
A satellite site of Iowa State University is being created on Historic Fourth Street, in a little-seen location bounded by three alleys, although the south alley will soon be deemed a street with the name Design Place. That name ties in with the school, which will be an arm of the ISU College of Design.
Nathan Kalaher, a designer with M+ Architects in Sioux City, is overseeing the project and gave the first public tour of the site on Tuesday. Going into the former boiler/steam generation building is a trip into Sioux City's past.
The building dates to 1890, Kalaher explained, and it "fed stream through tunnels" to all the buildings along Fourth Street, buildings that fell into disrepair until being resurrected beginning in the mid-1990s. A century-plus ago, the tunnels served a vital role in much of downtown, and are still present, unbeknownst to those traversing above on sidewalks.
The yet-to-be cosmetically tuckpointed stone walls still have discernible coal dust. An observer said the below ground passages were reminiscent of catacombs, while Kalaher said it has "a Rome feel." The construction work amounts to an excavation, of "a city of the past" being exposed, he added.
"It is like the further down you go, the further back in time you go," Kalaher said. And, he added, the Historic Fourth facility with 3-foot-4-inch-thick walls is proof of the old phrase, "They don't build it like this any more."
The old coal building, located south of Beth's Flowers, 1014 Fourth St., and adjacent to the outdoor garden of Buffalo Alice, was used for storage until about 15 years ago. But it hadn't "had any real productive use for probably 80 or 90 years," Kalaher said. "Because it is sandwiched between three alleys, it has sort of been forgotten in time."
Kalaher declined to say how much the site was acquired for, but said it was at a pittance of the value, that "it was almost given" away. Ownership of the building will be by the nonprofit Siouxland Chamber Foundation and it will be leased by Iowa State University.
While Kalaher posited that "it could have been a bar or a cool used bookstore," he couldn't truly imagine anyone else following through with a productive new use for the building were it not for the design studio. The school, which should be completed by the end of June, will be of "minimalist style" and with "museum-finish" quality inside, Kalaher said.
Some names for the site have been kicked around, including, not Soho, but SOFO -- South of Fourth Street.
The facility is part of the Great Places initiative, in which many downtown Sioux City quality-of-life pieces will be added or improved. Sioux City was named one of three Iowa Great Places in a new program in October 20005. ISU officials in December 2006 announced the satellite college would be built and finished in 2007.
The College of Design offers degree programs in architecture, community and regional planning, graphic design, integrated studio arts, interior design and landscape architecture, and four of those six will be included in Sioux City, Kalaher explained. The courses offered in Sioux City will be worth from three to six credit hours.
ISU College of Design associate dean Tim Borich said there is some uncertainty on whether students will be able to take courses as the fall semester opens in August, although "we are hoping for that."
Borich said about 20 students from ISU will be taking classes in Sioux City at any given time, but it's not yet set whether they would "be in residence there" the whole semester or if Ames students would be rotated through for a few weeks at a time. However, the students will likely be living in studio apartments near Historic Fourth, Borich and Kalaher said.
Borich said there is a lot of enthusiasm for the satellite design studio in the college hierarchy in Ames, including with President Gregory Geoffroy, who toured the site a few weeks ago. "He loved it," recounted Borich.
Further, Borich said, College of Design Dean Mark Englebrecht "really takes this as a very high priority for the college."
Said Borich, "The trick will be getting students, I'll be honest. We have to market this to our students, and we are doing that... If they come back with warm fuzzies, the word gets out. We have a real interest in making this work."
There may also be a chance for Siouxland high school students or those from Morningside, BCU or WITCC to take some introductory design courses at the ISU satellite as well, Borich said. That would be a boon to Siouxland, "since nobody in the area offers those courses," Borich said.
He said it is great that an ISU grad like Kalaher pursued creation of what was at one point termed the Sioux City School of Architecture as part of Great Places. "We want this to be a really interactive program, where the students work with the local community," Borich said.
With that in mind, the spring semester will likely involve a senior design studio combining approximately 15 students of architecture, landscape architecture and planning with projects centered in the metro area. Kalaher said the many "small hidden jewels" in Sioux City that seem to annually be pursued for restoration will offer "architectural experiments" for the highly-creative ISU students.
On getting into the aged building, workers found some surprises that required modifications to the initial reconstruction plans. That's common in old buildings, Kalaher said, but he said with "a lot of creativity" the budget of $530,000 to craft the design school still should be enough to bring the project together.
The site will have 6,700 square feet on two levels, and "the building is actually bigger below ground than above ground," Kalaher said. Most of the course work will be done on the lower level.
There will be lots of touchstones, including a 32-foot-high atrium, concrete elevator shaft with a cantilever concrete staircase and an exhibit hall in a tunnel beneath the south alley, with glass manholes above for viewing. People walking by the school also will be able to look through the windows to see what the students are producing. The manholes and south windows will be very eye-catching for those sampling night life on Historic Fourth, Kalaher said.
Inside, there will be lots of natural light pouring in through large south windows, a facet that will help keep heating costs down, since the black slate on the north side will maintain the heat into the evening.
Kalaher is glad he's had a big role in the project.
"It is certainly intimidating to think that you are designing a place for designers. It certainly is a different level of criticism that you'll have at the end, so you definitely want to make sure it is top notch," he said.
Once the satellite college is completed, Kalaher said, more enthusiasm for the project will be seen. The goal, he said, has been "to create a space to learn in that is hopefully inspiring... It is a modern interpretation of this old building."
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
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