Museum volunteer urges board to preserve 1916 armory and horse stable near Brady Street Stadium

Susan Berger, a volunteer with the school museum and a former 32-year district employee, used the open-forum public comment period to recount the history of three buildings by Brady Street Stadium (an armory, administration building and horse stable) and to urge preservation efforts.

Berger provided archival context: she said the buildings date to 1916 and were locally funded, that the horse stable has been relatively well preserved (later used as a furniture warehouse by the district), and that a 2008 preservation report for the Iowa Army National Guard described the horse stable as "the best preserved example" of its kind in the state and likely eligible for the National Register. She asked the district to allow museum volunteers to document artifacts and photographs and to recover items such as horse rings before demolition or further site work.

Board procedure and response

The board clerk reminded the speaker that the board cannot take questions or act on topics brought during open forum that are not published on the agenda (Iowa open-meetings law). No board action was taken during the meeting; the comment was entered into the public record for consideration.

Representative quote

"This armory is national register eligible, at least on a state level, due to its being the only known multi building artillery armory prototype in the state and quite possibly the nation," Berger said, quoting a preservation firm's report.

What comes next

Berger requested access to photographs, architectural drawings (which she said are held by the Davenport Public Library's Richardson Sloan Special Collections), and artifacts before any demolition proceeds. The board did not take action during the meeting and noted the constraint that open-forum items not on the published agenda cannot be acted on immediately.