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New lease on life
Wahkonsa undergoing a major renovationBy BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer
POSTED: June 14, 2008
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Fact Box
Important dates in Wahkonsa Manor history• 1910 – Wahkonsa Hotel opens. It’s owned by the local Wahkonsa Hotel Co. and managed by R.W. Johnston & Co. of Waterloo.
• 1930 – The hotel’s annex becomes a separate entity called Hotel Warden.
• 1949 – Property is bought by Boss Hotels Co. of Des Moines.
• 1964 – Eight apartments are created in the hotel.
• 1972 – Building is sold to Wahkonsa Manor Inc., which is owned by Joe Brown, Glenn Machovec and William Sergeant.
• 1972 – All of building is converted to apartments.
• 1983 – Five people are injured in a Dec. 5 fire. A total of 435 people are evacuated from the Wahkonsa Manor and adjacent Warden Plaza.
• 1988 – Real Property Service Inc., then located in Carlsbad, Calif., buys the building.
• 1990 – A major renovation is completed.
• 2007 – Dominium Development & Acquisition, Plymouth, Minn., buys the building and announces remodeling plans.
The inside of the historic downtown Fort Dodge edifice is being remodeled in a major effort by the new owner, Dominium Development and Acquisition, of Plymouth, Minn.
Already, the first 12 modernized apartments are finished.
‘‘We’re still on track for a Thanksgiving completion,’’ said Owen Metz, a development associate with Dominium.
The building at 927 Central Ave. has 76 government-subsidized apartments that are home to low-income senior citizens and disabled people. None of them are being forced to leave the building, but some will probably be moved to other apartments as the work continues.
Metz said workers are approaching the job as a series of apartment ‘‘stacks’’ to be renovated. Each stack consists of apartments that are all gutted and renovated at the same time. For example, he said when crews go to work on Apt. 218, they’ll also do apartments 318, 418 and 518.
Other parts of the building are getting a facelift also. Metz said the basement exercise and laundry rooms are being remodeled. The first floor lobby will be restored to its 1950s appearance. A drop ceiling will be removed to allow more sunlight into that area.
Central air conditioning and a new elevator will be installed.
By the end of the month, progress will be visible to people passing by the structure. Metz said tuckpointing will start on the masonry and window frames now covered with wood will be filled with glass. Eventually, the building’s exterior will be restored to its 1950s look with the addition of small balconies and a sign mounted on its corner at Central Avenue and 10th Street.
The renovation is a roughly $4 million job.
BKV Group of Minneapolis, Minn., is the architect. Benson-Orth Associates of Minnetonka, Minn., is the general contractor.
Dominium announced the renovation plans last summer when it revealed it was buying the building from Wahkonsa Manor Ltd./Real Property Services Inc., of Las Vegas, Nev.
The structure is named after a Native American who was friendly to early Fort Dodge settlers.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
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View Comments: | 1-1 | Post a comment
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bystander
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06-14-08 9:47 AM
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Great for the people that live there but sad for good old Fort Dodge as another project getting done and all the dollars going to out of town businesses.
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