220-222 Fifth Street

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Evaluation:

This is a contributing Fifth Street building within the historic district. This Renaissance Revival style block is a key building in the district.

District Characteristic	Yes	No	Findings/Recommendations
Two-story brick with narrow mass		X
Larger, broader massing	X
Other key façade features	X
Architectural style			Renaissance Revival style
Prominent location	X		One of a group of more substantial and monumental buildings.
Original façade materials	X
Upper fenestration pattern	X		Notable infilled upper window arches, otherwise blank upper wall.
Sympathetic Storefront Infill	X
Brick corbelled parapet		X	Distinctive upper parapet/cornice.
Cornice/coping (not metal)	X

Physical Description:

This is the district's other former three-story edifice, being reduced to its present form due to 1946 fire. The style is a simplified Italian Renaissance Revival based the recurring arch pattern and the insertion of carved stone ornament. The plan is tri-partite. The triple storefront is centered and has brick book-end walls the separation being distinguished by a stack bond/soldier course framing. This is no transom component. A broad stone belt course caps the lower floor and is set just beneath the upper sill level. There are five upper windows, two narrow flanking ones and three broader centered ones and these are each framed by a row of infilled arched decorative panels set flush. These have distinctive angled brick infilling within the arches. Keystone inserts cap each arch. A carved stone cornice and a bolder and more elaborate stone cornice define a parapet base that includes a substantial nameplate that is flanked by square stone inserts. Originally the facade had a recessed plane attic level and this was lost to the fire. The 1968 storefronts survive intact, save for the addition of a fixed shingled awning. A partial south end bay contains a shared upstairs entrance with 216-18 Fifth to the south. There is a Colonial Revival fan arch transom, a segmental arch cap with key stone an elaborately carved secondary "lintel" and a continuation of the main upper facade fenestration and wall treatments above that. The building retains its glass fraternal sign. There are no rear additions although there is a substantial concrete block second floor exit base and a very substantial "T"-shaped chimney.

Documented Alterations:

An aluminum and glass modern storefront was installed in mid-1945 (Express, July 19, 1945). The 1946 fire gutted the building, twisted the steel beams and destroyed the entire roof. New dressing rooms in the department store were destroyed and it lost $11,000 in goods, likely due to water damage. The Register, July 22, 1945 noted “A new front is also being put on the Masonic Association building…The front will be modern glass with aluminum trimmings. It will be completed in two weeks.” The building was damaged in the July 1986 tornado.

Commercial History:

Masonic and General Use

Business	Owner	Start	Stop	Notes of Interest

The Cracker		1970		219 1/2
St. Timothy’s Chapel/Mission		1956	1958	Episcopal Church founded under St. Paul’s Church, Des Moines in January 1956, meets in temple pending building of new church on 86^th Street (Tribune, September 8, 1956).
		1946		Ted Lovejoy was announced as the contractor for an all-new two-story building in late April but insurance payments delayed reconstruction (Express, April 25, 1946).
Masonic		1946		February 1946 fire gutted the upper interior resulting in $75,000 in damage. Storefront tenants were the department store, a doctor’s office and the barber shop.
	Charles and James Ashworth	1925		Charles and James Ashworth acquired this lot in 1908 and donated it for this building transferring ownership to the Gweneth Masonic Lodge on July 2, 1924. Architects were Dougher, Rich and Woodburn of Des Moines.

220 Fifth Street

Business	Owner	Start	Stop	Notes of Interest
Blind Pig Cocktail Bodega		2017	current
Judy K’s Now and Then			current
Fun on Fifth Boutique		2013	2015
Quilt Junction		1991	2015	Moves November 2015, jewelry and clothing
Fun on Fifth Boutique		2013	2015
Back Alley Bargains	Kirk Sloan		2014	234 Digs relocates to this form from 234 Fifth June 2011, BAB closes August 2014, discount furniture
Dolls, Toys & Quilts		1999
Donna’s Country Quilts	Donna Martin	1999
Donna’s Holiday Collection	Donna Martin	1991	1995	She also had Donna’s Dolls & Country Collection at 234 Fifth, both flooded with huge loss of stock in 1993
Cosgriff Construction		1987
Walker Draperies	Evelyn Walker	1970	1990	Replaces all store windows after July 1986 windstorm.
Pots & Plants		1974	1976
The Spinning Wheel	Bill and Mary Jane Thompson, sold to Lavon Angstead	1968	1970
Campbell's (aka Peter L. Riley's) Department Store		1925	1965	Always only addressed as 220. Riley was VJ mayor for 13 years, did the first community chest and had government debt free when it changed its name.
		1946		A Store tenants were left relatively unscathed the north half of the ground level.

222 Fifth Street

Business	Owner	Start	Stop	Notes of Interest
Penrod's Barbershop & Beauty Parlor	Walter Penrod, Glen Wylie, Kevin Gallagher (1973)	1925	current	Oldest VJ business by far, always occupied the northernmost small storefront-Joe Feori was a barber till mid-1936. Founded in 1925.
Petal Perfect Custom Flowers & Gifts		1996	2009
Accents & Roses		1986	1995
The Funky Zebras		2013	2016	222 ½ Fifth, became Mica’s Boutique
Potpouri Painters		1984	1985
Granny’s Attic		1978	1981
The Cracker Box		1974	1976
Local Color		1974
Interstate Flying Club		1971
		1960		12 feet by 26 feet office for lease, $25/month. Air conditioned.
Harvey Florer Real Estate		1958	1959
WDM Y.M.C.A.		1953	1955	In back of building, to 513 Maple December 1955.
Strandberg Insurance	L. C. Strandberg	1947	1949	Standberg had worked with Clardy and would serve in a great many public positions.
Clardy Insurance & Real Estate	Clifford C. Clardy, Bernard W. Krull	1934		New firm.
Dr. George E. Turner			1946	Post-fire moves to Ashworth Bldg. and returns (Register, September 15, 1946)
Clardy Real Estate	Clifford C. Clardy	1945	1946	Clardy was on the 1940 draft board
Ely Beauty Salon		1929	1940
Valley Tailors		1927