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Council approves historic-preservation covenant trade to protect Sangse/Sangsay Gilmore House
Summary
The council approved a restrictive covenant transferring local protections from the Cannon-Gay House (Melrose Avenue) to the Sangse/Sangsay Gilmore House (109 E. Market St.), which the city and preservation advocates say is among Iowa City's oldest houses (c.1843).
The council considered a restrictive covenant agreement with the Iowa Board of Regents that would remove the Cannon-Gay House (Melrose Ave.) from the city’s local-historic-preservation code and attach those local protections to the Sangse (Sangsay) Gilmore House at 109 E. Market St.
City Manager Jeff Roan explained that the Cannon-Gay House has structural and foundation problems that the University evaluates as fiscally impractical to remediate, while preservation advocates and staff have prioritized protecting the Gilmore House, described in the packet as dating to about 1843 and listed as endangered in prior statewide preservation reviews.
Under the proposed covenant, the Cannon-Gay House would no longer be subject to local preservation regulation, and the Gilmore House would become subject to local protections; staff and the Historic Preservation Commission will continue outreach and proactive efforts to identify at-risk properties in the community.
Councilors discussed precedents, outreach to property owners and the limits of voluntary landmarking; council voted 7–0 to approve the covenant swap.
Next steps: staff will finalize the restrictive covenant with the Board of Regents and proceed with the recordation and implementation steps described in the council item.
