Like a dowager from another time, this 96 year old former hotel known as the Dodge House, is getting a second chance at life. The old girl is getting a first class make over by an expert in the art of rehabilitation. If they offered courses in restoration, this man would have a PhD in the field of sheet rock, plumbing and wiring, cement and roofing. (Op-ed from Peter Children of Mason City)|
(Op-ed from Peter Children of Mason City)
Like a dowager from another time, this 96 year old former hotel known as the Dodge House, is getting a second chance at life. The old girl is getting a first class make over by an expert in the art of rehabilitation. If they offered courses in restoration, this man would have a PhD in the field of sheet rock, plumbing and wiring, cement and roofing. As the owner of either two hundred homes or more if you count apartments, Russ Hardy could teach a college course on this subject.
In 1915 Meir Wolf built the Dodge House on Second Street Northwest. It boasted some 36 sleeping rooms, a lobby, a bar and grocery store along with a barber shop. Its main clientele were railroad workers. I was born in this city in 1934, and not until yesterday, the 10th of June, did I ever step foot in the old hotel.
I was in Menards’s on that day when Russ and I ran into each other; we stopped to visit briefly when he asked me to stop at his office when I finished my business in the store. He said he had something he wanted to show me. I did as he asked and from his office I followed him to the Dodge House . I parked by the front of the building, he got out of his car and together we walked up the alley on the West side towards the North. I couldn’t help but wonder just what I was going to see. The front look like it was in Kandahar, Afghanistan and was hit by a missile.
As I approached the rear of the building the first thing I saw were the landscape blocks that were expertly applied to create an effect that looked like a high end complex found elsewhere in much wealthier enclaves. Lets face it, most everyone knows I suffer from good taste, so immediately I began to feel at ease. I sensed I was about to see something I hadn’t expected…and I wasn’t disappointed.
When I stepped into the first apartment my eyes fell on inlaid clay tile floors, beautifully coordinated warm color combinations complemented by high end major brand appliances along with solid oak cabinetry In other words….I thought I was out of town, I certainly did not believe I was behind the Dodge House. The bedrooms were carpeted, media outlets were installed throughout the apartment…pre-wired. The bathroom was fitted with the latest fixtures in addition to heat lamps in the ceiling to warm you as you step from the shower.
I asked Russ how he could risk this sort of expenditure ; wasn’t he worried it could be quickly trashed by the tenants? His answer was simple; it’s the price that separates a good tenant from a bad tenant, for the most part, but then he quickly offered a disclaimer to that statement. This advice coming from a man who collects close to 200 rent payments each month has to carry some serious weight. “I have tenants,” he said “whose monthly rent payment is quite low and they keep their premises immaculate, and I have others who pay three times as much rent and it looks like livestock lives there,” he said. That statement did not entirely surprise me.
I like to think I have learned something from everyone I speak to, each person you meet in life you can learn from if you listen and open your mind. I have to be honest, I had not heard the best things about Russ Hardy; Slum-lord was one of the first labels to come to mind. But… here I was face to face with this man and the evidence did not point in that direction. This was not a businessman who was cutting corners, using the cheapest materials on the market and off brand appliances, unless Whirlpool is considered off brand. He was installing sheet rock with special qualities for sound reduction between apartment walls; this stuff goes for $70.00 a sheet as opposed to the $8.00 a sheet he could have installed. I saw heat and air systems installed in those apartments that were ranked as 200% efficient that cost for $1,600.00 each. No cutting corners there.
I should go on to say the unit I toured was rented with the tenants expected to move in later that afternoon. The property in its entirety is scheduled to contain four high end units, another of which is being build to specification for a medical doctor and his family. It will have three bedrooms. Another unit, nearly finished is being built to accommodate someone who might be handicapped, or possibility confined to a wheelchair. Although not finished this unit was being built with the same attention to detail as the other. Wider doorways, side by side washer and dryer instead of stacked, sky lights and an enclosed garages that accommodates a van. This space is strategically designed to facilitate the apartment in every way possible.
Just what does all of this say? ”You can not judge a book by its cover”, comes to mind to mind. Once you collect the first months rent and you turn over the keys, you cannot tell someone how to live or monitor their living habits….there are strict housing laws covering those aspects of domicile.
I recently wrote about filth in this city, and in my writing I was critical of the local city department that held sway over most of that area….filth. I then scheduled an appointment with the principles in charge and after frank discussions, found out they were terribly underbudgeted…hobbled in their efforts to preform. The intent was there but lack of manpower and adequate funding by the city proved detrimental to their intent. What does that mean? It means this; we all lose, and filth continues to spread infecting one neighborhood after another. It destroys pride of ownership and the will to clean up. When your neighbor wallows in filth and finds comfort in it, and the city will get around to addressing it once they get more funding…there are no winners.
Once more we must turn our attention to a dysfunctional city administration. Do you think the City Administrator drives to work blindfolded, that he does not see the problem that confronts us? Of course he sees it, does he really care, is he making moves to correct it by maybe taking fifty thousand from the Museum crowd and using it to clean up this city at a faster pace. I am in no way against the Museum, I am against favoritism and indifference to blatant needs. This mayor wanted to cut fifty thousand from Human rights and shut it down, now he won’t touch another entity that has up to three quarters of a million in their account….this is the guy you voted for?
Peter J. Children
Some pictures:
Back of Dodge House:
Inside:
Inside:
