Pella CDC approves exterior design, siding and paint colors for 215 Main St. City Hall Annex

The City of Pella Community Development Committee on May 5 approved exterior design changes and specific paint selections for 215 Main St., the former Pella Daycare that the Community Betterment Organization gifted to the City and that is planned to be remodeled into a City Hall Annex. The committee met at the City Hall Annex at 12:00 p.m. with architects from Klingner and Associates, P.C., and city planning staff present.

Chairperson Caryn Van Hemert opened the meeting and staff described findings from an on-site visit and interior demolition that revealed water damage to dormers and interior walls and prompted additional destructive testing to assess the extent of damage and potential mold. Klingner representatives Michael Fries (Senior Architect and Pella regional office manager) and Tyler Baumgarten (Architect) and city staff answered members’ questions about repair options and costs.

Committee members discussed three design options and approved a design permit that sets the building’s exterior treatments and colors. The west side will retain existing brick supplemented with an affordable replacement red brick and the committee specified a painted pattern for three sections: green, mustard and green to match the east side pattern. The south side will be painted green, with salvaged brick repurposed to infill a door being removed. The east side will be all siding with added trim per Change Order #1 and painted in the same green-mustard-green pattern. The north side will be painted green and the existing gray dormers will be painted a yellow/mustard to match the south side. The motion to approve the design permit was made by committee member Allissa Grandia and seconded by Christi Vander Voort and carried 10-0.

The committee then addressed trim and specific paint colors. After Vander Voort left the meeting, committee member Jerry Brummel moved and Wayne Stienstra seconded a motion to approve white for the building’s trim. The roll-call vote was 8 ayes (Brummel, Stienstra, Patsy Cody, Allissa Grandia, Mike Kiser, Chris Meyers, Caryn Van Hemert, and Bob Zylstra) and 1 nay (Dennis Vander Beek); the motion carried 8-1. Shortly afterward, after Brummel left the meeting, Vander Beek moved and Stienstra seconded approval of the paint colors Benjamin Moore Bryant Gold HC-8 and Sherwin-Williams SW 2847 Roycroft Bottle Green Motion; that motion carried 8-0.

The CDC also discussed the existing white canopy over the building’s west entrance, agreeing it did not fit the building’s style. Fries and Baumgarten will develop a proposed canopy replacement design for committee review. Staff reported no applications had been received for the next scheduled meeting on May 13, 2026, and said that meeting would be canceled. The CDC adjourned at 1:44 p.m.

Key procedural details: the committee approved the tentative agenda at the start of the meeting (motion by Allissa Grandia, second by Wayne Stienstra; carried 10-0) and deferred approval of the April 8, 2026 minutes until a future meeting.