Page 1 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 3-30-2016
P. 1
Arts & Entertainment pg. 7
Weather More weather on page 5.
Mostly sunny for the weekend. Look for a high of
50 degrees on Saturday.
USPS 117-120 VOL. 146 Issue 13 March 30, 2016 Serving Clear Lake and Ventura since 1869 • Hometown newspaper of Phil & Barb Betz $1.50
Clear Lake (Above left) the Knaack and Buss building, circa 1908. (Above right) The building as it looked before restoration began in December 2014. County plans
Mirror-Reporter informational
CALENDAR Restoration breathes new meeting about
B35 project
Wednesday life into downtown building
The Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors will
Sidewalk discussion by Michelle Watson tural finds not seen in years were have a public informational meeting at their regularly
Clear Lake has a rich history found. Sukup and her crew, led scheduled Board Meeting on Tuesday, April 5, at 10
Business owners along and the community takes great by contractor Dave Marreel and a.m. to discuss the upcoming County Road B35 Road-
Main Avenue and other in- pride in its past and its progress architects Bergland and Cram, way Improvement Project. The Board meeting will take
terested persons are invited to into the future. Vicki Sukup is unearthed tin ceilings, beautiful, place at the Courthouse, 220 North Washington Av-
a discussion about proposed taking an old Clear Lake build- maple hardwood floors, gorgeous enue, Mason City.
sidewalk improvements in the ing and renovating it into a repur- pocket doors and an assortment of The meeting will be held to inform affected persons
downtown at an open house posed architectural gem to be used fixtures and other peculiar finds. along the project of the scope of work to be complet-
meeting Thursday, March 31, by generations to come. “In one corner of the upstairs ed during the project and the intended sequence and
from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at City “We can’t keep tearing down we found a lot of pennies when we schedule to complete the work.
Hall. Several concepts are be- these old, beautiful buildings,” removed the flooring. There was The project will include removal of the existing
ing developed to facilitate cost said Sukup. “There is so much also a covered peek hole in one of pavement, grading and widening for new pavement,
estimates. However, no spe- character in these buildings and so the pocket doors,” said Sukup. construction of turn lanes and relocation of the trail
cific plan for the work has been much architectural beauty to pre- “Possibly the upstairs could have near the intersections to accommodate the new turn
identified. This will be the first serve.” been used for gaming.” lanes. The roadway will be closed for the duration of
of a handful of meetings to be Sukup, who bought the According to local historian the project keeping access for local residents only. The
scheduled with business owners building located at 8 N. 4th St. in H Duesenberg the main floor once trail will also be closed intermittently to allow for the
and the public to receive input December 2014, didn’t know the housed a post office and COD Va- relocation.
about the sidewalk reconstruc- extent of the undertaking that was riety Store in 1908. During war Those who cannot attend, but have questions,
tion. ahead of her. time, the Legion Club met in the should contact the County Engineer’s Office at 641-
The former Houck Drug upstairs. A cap and gown busi- 424-9037.
Saturday Store, and later the 1 2 3 Dollar ness was another occupant of the
Bird watching Store, needed a lot of work and building. Is that you, Easter Bunny?
many aspects of the building were The history of the building is
An Iowa Young Birders not up to required codes for new intriguing, but what the commu- Eleven-month-old Brantley Pate, son of Nicki and Nick
(IYB) field trip will be held on use. nity wants to know now is, what is Pate, of Clear Lake, got his first look at the Easter Bun-
Saturday, April 2, from 9 a.m. “We had to put in all new this grand, old building going to ny at Saturday’s Easter Egg Hunt held in City Park by
– noon at Clear Lake. IYB is plumbing and electrical. We had be when it re-opens later this year? the Jaycees. Hundreds of children hunted for eggs and
for young birders ages eight to asbestos tiles to remove. We had “Once the restoration proj- had their picture taken with the Easter Bunny.-Report-
18-years-old and parents are to put in new stairways and we ect is complete, we’ll start looking er photo by Chris Barragy.
encouraged to attend. The goal needed to add an elevator to make more into the business side, but
of the field trip is to observe the upstairs handicap accessible,” we do have a few ideas of what we
migratory water birds on Clear said Sukup. would like to do with it,” said Su-
Lake with the possibility of As the building was stripped kup.
finding other early migrants at to its bare bones, deterioration The building consists of three
nearby Ventura Marsh and Mc- was discovered; but hidden fea- floors, which will house three sep-
Intosh Woods State Park. The tures and beautiful architec- arate businesses. The main floor
trip is free, but advanced reg- See RESTORATION on page 6
istration is required. Register
online at: www.iowayoungbird-
ers.org/event-2102165, or call
641-423-5309 for more infor-
mation. All youth participants
will receive a bird field guide
(funded by Clear Lake Jaycees).
Autism walk throughout
Residents
North Iowa are invited to join
radio personality J. Brooks of
98.7 KISS Country and the
continued
More CALENDAR Removal of old plaster and lathe revealed beautiful brick walls, which add
on page 2 to the character of the building. New windows provide a spacious view of
downtown Clear Lake. Pennies were found on the floor in this upstairs
Inside room, which faces west, suggesting it may have been used for some gaming.
Pocket doors, including one with a peep hole, separate the upstairs into
Opinion..................4-5 three spaces which can be rented for everything from small meetings to large
Weather.................... 5 gatherings. -Reporter photo.
Sports..................... 10
Legals..................... 11 Spring cleaning: Residents should plan for Large Item Pickup
Classifieds.........12-13
The lake level rose .48” to The 2016 Spring Large Item each area of the town and the items in alleys. Do not place items in garbage cost of $15 per item. Stickers, which heaters, florescent light fixtures, TV’s,
its new reading of +5.28” Pickup will take place April 11-14. that will and will not be picked up. cans, cardboard boxes, or plastic gar- need to be affixed to the disposed ap- computer monitors and printers. Ap-
above the weir. Last year at Residents are encouraged to use this To ensure an efficient Spring Large bage bags. Items not picked up must pliance, can be purchased at Clear Lake pliances should be intact for safe recov-
this time the lake measured opportunity to dispose of large items Item Pick-up, the City asks residents to be removed from the curb within 24 City Hall, 15 N. 6th St. Stickers are ery of contaminates, except that doors
that cannot be discarded through their follow these guidelines: hours. non-refundable. Appliances requiring should be removed from freezers and
+1.92” above the weir. weekly garbage service. The Large Item •All items must be at the curb by •Appliances are not collected free a sticker are: furnaces, air condition- refrigerators. The following items will
Pickup map will appear in the Clear 7 a.m. on the designated day in each during City-wide clean-up. City resi- ers, refrigerators, freezers, dehumidifi- not be picked up due to regulatory, en-
Lake Mirror Reporter on April 6, list- area and be from addresses within the dents can have old appliances picked ers, dishwashers, stoves, washers, dry- vironmental, or economic reasons:
ing the dates the City will pick up in City limits. The City will not pick up up during Large Item Pick-Up for a ers, microwaves, copy machines, water
See PICKUP on page 6
Mail: 12 N. 4th St., Clues still needed in 1986 case
Clear Lake, IA 50428 of missing Des Moines teen
Telephone: 641-357-2131
Fax: 641-357-2133 This is a weekly feature highlighting some of Iowa’s unsolved homi- Marc James Warren Allen Case Summary compiled by Jody Ewing Gosch, 12, of West Des Moines, disappeared Sept.
Email: office@clreporter.com cides in the hopes that it will lead to new tips and potentially help photo is shown age- On March 29, 1986 — the day before Eas- 5, 1982. Thirteen-year-old Eugene Martin van-
Website: www.clreporter.com solve cases. The project is a partnership between this newspaper and ter — 13-year-old Marc James Warren Allen told ished from Des Moines’ south side just two years
other members of the Iowa Newspaper Association. progressed to 43 years. his mother he planned to walk to a friend’s house later on Aug. 12, 1984, under very similar circum-
@CLReporter down the street but never arrived at the neighbor’s stances.
home and hasn’t been seen since. An in-depth Des Moines Register article on
Based on previous media reports, Allen ini- Iowa’s missing persons published Aug. 18, 2013,
tially was thought to be the third Iowa paperboy
to vanish without a trace during the ’80s. Johnny See GONE COLD on page 2
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