Iowa City’s Pagliai’s Pizza building designated as historic landmark

An iconic Iowa City building with ties to Czech immigrants was recently designated a historic landmark by the Iowa City Council at its May 21 meeting. The Slezak-Holub-Skarda building at 302 E. Bloomington St., known colloquially as the Pagliai's Pizza building, has been the subject of a months-long debate pivoting historic preservation against owners' rights. Owner Gary Skarda listed the building for sale in October for $5 million, prompting a visit from Iowa City’s Historic Preservation Commission to discuss the possibility of designating it a historic landmark. Some Iowa City residents worried potential buyers might seek to demolish it to make way for larger, multi-unit buildings.

The building, along with the adjacent laundromat at 316 E. Bloomington St., has been in Mr. Skarda's family for over 100 years, and was a significant place of business and social gatherings for Bohemian immigrants. Mr. Skarda’s declining health has prevented him from maintaining the building at the level it requires, he said. He expressed concern that the historic designation would reduce the building’s marketability, given the limited type of remodeling the potential new owner could accomplish. At the Feb. 8 Historic Preservation Commission meeting, he mentioned speaking to a couple developers who said developing the block was “doable.” “It’s privately owned, and I don’t think it’s fair for the City to tell me (what to do),” he said, but mentioned he’d like to see the building preserved by whoever purchased it. Subsequent council meetings saw an influx of residents speaking in favor of preserving the building to maintain Iowa City’s architectural heritage, with several bemoaning the recent developments of “sterile” high-rise buildings cropping up in the city. Ahead of the April 2 council meeting, over 30 Iowa City business owners signed a letter of support for the historic designation, saying buildings like 302 E. Bloomington make Iowa City’s Northside Marketplace “a commercial success” and “add to the special vibrancy of Iowa City that can’t be found elsewhere.”

Council debates pros, cons of historic preservation

At the May 21 council meeting, council member Andrew Dunn proposed a motion to defer a decision until June 18., which failed. Following the failed motion, several residents of Iowa City addressed their concerns to the council. “You are not providing enough help to the owners. Twenty-five percent from state tax revenue to restore a property building is not sufficient enough,” said Iowa City resident Jay Honohan, referencing the state and federal tax credit incentives for historic buildings. “It may be time for a new owner and new ideas for the next life of this building, new investment, but there is never a right time for demolition and more luxury condos in Iowa City. Nobody sends postcards of five-over-ones,” said Iowa City resident Thomas Agran. Mr. Skarda did not speak at the meeting. During the council discussion, mayor pro tem Mazahir Salih discussed the difficulty of maintaining historic buildings in Iowa City due to stringent standards and the need for full-time staff on the Historic Commission. “I want to see flexibility from the Historic Preservation Commission and staff,” she said. “This is a moment where we can actually preserve this building and if we vote no, there would have to be a change in circumstances before it would come back for reconsideration for that protection. I really think this is kind of the core of preservation, when we have an instance where the rezoning could mean such a significant destruction on the property,” said council member Laura Bergus. Mayor Bruce Teague expressed caution in regards to rezoning surrounding the fact that the main building and laundromat – what used to be a carriage house – cannot be separated, but also stated that he believes the building to be historic. “This is where I pivot. 302 absolutely is historic,” he told the council, referencing the main building. “Given the likelihood of this property possibly never being bisected, I am going to vote in favor of this, only because I really do believe it is historic and having it totally lost – I don’t think I’m willing to gamble that at this moment,” adding that he would like to see more discussion on supporting historic landmark building owners. The motion to rezone the building from central business service (CB-2) zone to CB-2 with a historic district overlay zone passed unanimously, to the applause of audience members.