News : IBSSS officially owned by the City of Vinton, for now

It's official! The IBSSS will now be under private ownership for the first time in its history.

After 3 years, the hard work of so many people has finally paid off. Until Thursday morning, (well officially midnight Thursday night) the Braille School Property had been owned by the State of Iowa Board of Regents. The city, until now has had no say in what happened with the property, which included Kiwanis Park. 

The almost 40-acre 11 building campus has been the focal point of several people over the last several years. Working together, a plan was put together to obtain, refurbish and repackage the property to bring income to the City of Vinton via the tax income. Teaming up with Hobart Historic Restoration of Cedar Rapids, the City of Vinton purchased the land back from the Board of Regents, for $1.00. The City of Vinton will now hold ownership for 1 month exactly and then the property will be turned over to Hobart Historic Restoration to work their magic on the campus.

Senator Joni Ernst, Rob Levis representing Americorp, Nancy Beckman of the IBSSS Mary Ingalls Society, BJ Hobart of Hobart Historic Restoration and the Director of Department of Economic Development, Debbie Durham all spoke.

Vinton Mayor Bud Maynard spoke first. "Our community has proven over and over that nothing is impossible and that anything can be done. It just takes the right attitude and lots of hard work, something our town has plenty of. Standing in the shadows of the building built on the premise of vision and sight, it's fitting that we are able to celebrate a new beginning and future for this historic structure." 

The old Main has been here for more than 150 years. "This will be the first time in the history of this campus that the city, county and school will be able to benefit from its value under private ownership. We also understand that there is going to be a lot of renovations to some of the buildings and the creation of jobs and the utilization of local contractors when possible and is very important. The jobs will come in the form of construction of affordable housing, to utilize some of the green space for commercial and retail to occupy a portion of the highway frontage."

The city also had a couple of ideas for a portion of the campus. Obtaining ownership of Kiwanis Park, was one of them. A portion of the campus will be reserved for a new public safety facility to house the police, fire, ambulance pulling them all out of the flood plain. There will be a four acre section on the corner of 13th St. and the highway reserved for this project.

The Mayor thanked the Board of Regents and staff, Director Debbie Durham who helped direct them to the funding, Gary Grant who lobbied for Vinton steering them through legislative changes during the process, Rob Levis, was a voice of reason. Senator Ernst and her staff helped and encouraged the city. He also thanked Jim and BJ Hobart, the Braille School Committee, Chris Ward, the City Council and Melissa Schwan for their various roles in making this happen.

Debbie Durham spoke about the way that Vinton has survived the 2008 flood, the 2011 windstorm and this year's Derecho. The project at the school will "breathe new life into this historic gem, the Braille Sight Savings School." she said. Vinton was the first to qualify for funds from the Vacant State Demolition Fund and Vacant State Rehabilitation Fund. "The Legislature created these two competitive funds last year to help revitalize underused state-owned buildings so they can once again exemplify community pride," Durham said. 

Rob Levis spoke to the crowd that had gathered telling of the persistence and creativity which brought about this accomplishment. As a representative of Americorp, he recapped that when the federal program arrived back in 2008, the town had begun to flood. While the team members arrived on campus they were immediately put to work, sandbagging or helping with a shelter that was set up in the gym as well as organizing food for the flood workers and victims. Levis said of Americorp that they are just thrilled to be able to remain here in Vinton.

Nancy Beckman of the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School Mary Ingalls Society, shared the history of the school which will be another article.

BJ Hobart spoke last and shared some of the plans for the property. Several areas of the property will be turned into different venues. Part of the renovation will be to turn the old hospital building into a brewpub and to add an event center that will be created in the barn located at the back of the property. Hobart will also be creating independent senior housing and market-rate rentals as well as retaining space for Americorp.

Click to view pictures of the ceremony