By Steve Gravelle, Cedar Rapids Gazette

Heidi Eiffert started coming to Cedar Rapids’ New Bohemia neighborhood about four years ago in search of eye-catching photographic backgrounds.

“We had photographed outside the CSPS hall for years,” said Eiffert. “It was just one of our favorite locations because of the old buildings, the textures.”

Eiffert and her husband Troy Eiffert now work there full-time: their StudioU Photography is one of three businesses moving into ground-floor space at CSPS Hall, 1103 Third St. SE. A formal announcement of the businesses’ agreement with Legion Arts, the non-profit owner of CSPS, will be made at a press conference this morning.

“The momentum’s building for the downtown district and the New Bo district,” said Richard Marsceau, co-owner of the Brewed Awakenings coffeehouse. “It just all fits together. There’s momentum everywhere along the river, I guess, and it’s good to be part of it.”

“It’s such an emerging art and entertainment district,” said Mary Ann Peters, owner of New Bo Books. “The things that are happening now and are in the plans give it a whole personality that’s unique.”

“This is another example of the New Bohemia neighborhood returning with a vengeance,” said F. John Herbert, Legion Arts’ executive director.

Revenue from the tenants’ rent will help cover operating costs at CSPS, the subject of a 16-month, $8 million renovation and expansion after the June 2008 flood.

“We’ve gone from being a pretty small arts organization and a tenants ourselves to a pretty small arts organization that owns the building, so we’ve gone to quite a bit more responsibility,” Herbert said. “The retail spaces on the ground floor will be pretty critical parts of the funding for the building. We’re pretty excited to have three such locally-grounded businesses.”

Professional photographers since 2000, Eifferts and her husband moved to Iowa City from Omaha in 2008. They’ve worked strictly on location since, but decided it’s time to open a studio. Eiffert said they’ve already begun shooting in their new digs, but hope to have a public opening around March 1.

Peters said the entertainment district anchored by CSPS Hall is a natural for her new business, which will carry a broad range of titles from children’s books to the latest best sellers.

“I just saw that neighborhood as ideal for a small independent book store,” she said. “There has been a void here. Except for used book stores, there hasn’t been small bookstores (in Cedar Rapids) since Barnes and Noble opened.”

Peters said her store will  have access to the inventory of Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City. Orders will be placed with Prairie Lights, and New Bo Books will be tied into its sales and records system.

“It’s maybe a model that hasn’t ever been tried before,” said Peters, who expects to hire up to two employees. “That way, there’s not going to be the high learning curve for me. My experience is in libraries and as a consumer of books, but I’ve never sold them before.”

Both Peters and Marsceau expect the bookstore and Brewed Awakenings will be natural neighbors.

“It’s a great complement to our business,” said Marsceau. “We look forward to that – we need to have that growing-village feel down there.”

Brewed Awakenings already serves coffee, beer, wine, and light snacks in CSPS’ second-floor performance space. Downstairs, “we’re going to have more of a traditional coffee bar,” Marsceau said. “We’ll take some of our best sandwich sellers from here, but we’re going to add some things.”

Marsceau said Brewed Awakenings will remain in operation at its original location at 1271 First Ave. SE. The new location will employ up to a dozen.

It’s been a remarkable year.

Following the flood of 2008, and a successful capital campaign, Legion Arts had the great honor of repairing and reopening a landmark building that’s served Eastern Iowa for more than a century.

The renovation of CSPS Hall succeeded thanks to the generosity of people like you. Now we’re asking for your support as we move forward.

Built by immigrants 120 years ago, CSPS has always been a center, multidisciplinary and multicultural long before those terms were invented.

Today, we’re thrilled to maintain that tradition, in a completely updated facility.

Since Labor Day, a refurbished CSPS has hosted painters, sculptors and songwriters from throughout Eastern Iowa — ceramicists and potters from across the Midwest — and accomplished artists from such far-flung locales as Texas and Brooklyn, Italy and Poland, Ireland, Nepal, the Czech Republic and the Ivory Coast.

Performers coming through in the next few months include well-known names like Peter
Yarrow, Guy Davis, Peggy Seeger and Jonathan Edwards — as well as talented young creators just beginning their careers.

Bringing such artists to town is central to our mission. And yet, as proud as we are of our programming, we’re equally excited by our engagement with the community.

This fall, with additional space available in the redesigned building, we’ve been able to accommodate conferences and training sessions, parties and film screenings, nonprofit board meetings, a memorial service and at least one baby shower.

In December, we even hosted a live broadcast of CNN’s John King, USA.And that’s not all.

Legion Arts has emerged as a leader in connecting cultural activity to economic development. The renovation of CSPS brought with it an $8 million investment in the community, creating scores of jobs in the process.

That refrain will continue in 2012. In January we’ll launch the Arts Incubator at CSPS Hall, providing space and professional training for area artists and arts organizations. On the ground floor of the building, three retail businesses will soon open their doors. And as the historic anchor of New Bohemia, we’re eager to begin working with our newest neighbors, including New Bo City Market, KNBO neighborhood radio, Bata’s Restaurant, and others.

We’ve come this far thanks to people like you — people who had the vision and foresight to believe that a small arts organization in Iowa could combine (a) world-class programming, (b) a commitment to historic preservation, and (c) a distinctive approach to community development, in order to create (d) a cultural center unique in the region.

Of course, as you’d expect, the new building brings with it not only increased overhead, but some pretty extraordinary opportunities.

• A larger operation requires a larger staff.
• We need new tables and chairs.
• We really need to finish that parking lot next spring.
• We’d like to build a courtyard.

We can only do these things with your help. So as one year (marked by achievement) draws to a close, and another (full of promise) begins, I really hope you’ll consider making a generous, tax-deductible gift to Legion Arts.

You can donate online by clicking here; you can write a check to Legion Arts and send it to 1103 Third St SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401; or you can donate over the phone by calling 319.364.1580.

If you’re interested in underwriting a few dozen chairs, a parking lot or courtyard, please feel free to phone me at CSPS or write  john@legionarts.org.

In any case, please accept our best wishes for a happy new year. We’re looking forward to a stupendous 2012, and we hope that you’ll be a part of it.

                                                                                                                          —  F. John Herbert
                                                                                                                              Executive Director

Photos: Still from Marina Zurkow’s Slurb; Ivory Coast singer Dobet Gnahore; view of the renovated stage; songwriter Kenny White; Carlo, the bar.

By Dave DeWitte / SourceMedia Group News

Carl Van Vechten, a famous photographer, critic and novelist from Cedar Rapids, has gained a whimsical immortality with the naming of CSPS’ renovated bar.

At ribbon cutting ceremonies Friday, Oct. 7, leaders of Legion Arts, which operates the performing and visual arts center, announced that the renovated bar area – little used in the past quarter century – will be named Carlo in Van Vechten’s honor.

The ribbon cutting was the culmination of a $7-million-plus renovation funded with public and private funds of the flood-damaged Czech social hall that CSPS had been leasing until the flood. Former governor Chet Culver and Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett were among the dignitaries attending the Friday morning event.

Carlo is decorated with photographs by Van Vechten of well-known artists and cultural leaders of his time.

The bar area is managed by Brewed Awakenings, which is in negotiations to lease space for a wine and coffee bar on the facility’s ground floor.

Also check out the River to River ceramics show featuring 84 pieces by 64 artists from Iowa and surrounding states. Cedar Rapids artist Vaclav O. Hasek is featured in the new first-floor gallery and New York’s Marina Zurkow christens the new project room with her flood-themed animation “Slurb” (pictured).

(Aug. 2011) Workers are painting walls and refinishing floors as work continues apace for a late August grand re-opening. Purchase tickets to the Aug. 26 grand re-opening event here. Only 200 spots available!

A new Arts Incubator will be located on the first floor with office space for up to six non-profits.

Over 90 of the 118 original windows, filled in with brick or glass block over the years, have been restored.

First-floor lobby area looking into the new gallery and the former home of the Bohemian-American Hose Company.

The restored 1916 firehouse will provide living and working space for visiting artists.

The new studio theatre will be a space for small performances, film screenings, rehearsals, workshops and poetry readings.

After the rip saw, the reclaimed CSPS wood is fed by Spur Millwork's Noah Douglas through the custom molder. Photo by David Van Allen

(July 2011) It’s true that a historic restoration on the scale of the CSPS project doesn’t allow for a LEED “green” building rating (more windows, bigger windows, anyone?). But Legion Arts and Solum Lang Architects have taken the opportunity to build “green” elements into the project wherever possible.

Some of these include:

* White roof surfaces to deflect sunlight and conserve on energy costs

* An energy-efficient zone controlled heating and air conditioning system in parts of the building

* Energy-efficient argon-filled windows for the new storefronts

Reuse and reclamation are another important part of the project.

“Old” roof joists have been refashioned by a local millwright into “new” finish trim for the renovated building. And local artist/furniture-maker John Schwartzkopf has created some exciting “new” art work from the same old-growth fir.

Part of the 1890s pressed tin ceiling over the auditorium was re-purposed for a newly constructed beer garden at Parlor City down the block.

And one more example…bricks from one of the old CSPS chimneys have been used to replace damaged brick on the exterior of the building.

Spur Millwork's Jen Hughes shows the final product: finish trim for the renovated CSPS created from the rafters of the demolished roof. Photo by David Van Allen

A worker installs the "new" finish trim around second floor windows. The old-growth fir was reclaimed from CSPS rafters.

In the end, architect Jeff Portman put it best: “By far the greenest thing we did was not tearing the building down. The entire building is in itself being recycled.”

Local artist/furniture-maker John Schwartzkopf created sculptures from the rafters of the old CSPS roof

With fifty workers on the site every day, construction continues, literally, all over the place: From the installation of the elevator and HVAC; to the new pressed tin ceilings over the galleries, theatre and bar; to the ongoing repair and replacement of exterior brick; to the restoration of some 100 windows; to the completion of firehouse next door.

A mini-story within this week’s presentation focuses on the recycling of the old roof beams, transformed by our friends at Spur Millwork into new window frames and other woodwork.

As we move toward the September reopening CSPS, this is the latest update, prepared by Ryan Companies. Click on the attachment and it should open automatically.

If you’d like to see additional photos as the work progresses, find and “like” the CSPS page on Facebook.

With fifty workers on the site every day, construction continues throughout the structure — from the new stamped tin ceiling over the theatre, to refinished walls in the retail spaces below. Next door at the firehouse, construction is nearly complete. And on the streets around CSPS, city-driven streetscaping is full steam ahead.

An 1895 shot of the Bohemian-American Hose Company, for example, in front of their original CSPS digs, shows doors, sunburst pediments and brickwork, which remain to this day, and are currently being restored.

Solum Lang Architects of Cedar Rapids are consulting historic images to restore the Third Street storefronts, entryway arch and triangular pediment to their original glory. The mystery of whether the original firehouse doors opened vertically (like a garage) or folded open sideways was solved with photographs unearthed at the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa City. The doors opened sideways and will be restored as such.

We turned up a collection of photos by Iowa City photographer Joan Liffring-Zug Bourret giving an intimate view into a 1953 Czech wedding reception at CSPS.  Dave Rasdal’s Feb. 18 Ramblin’ column in the Cedar Rapids Gazette garnered some great memories and photos, including a set by Cedar Rapids photographer George Henry. These were taken at Anton and Katherine Netolicky’s 50th wedding anniversary dance in January 1954. They include a photo of dancers doing the “bunny hop,” a practice that was eventually outlawed at both CSPS and ZCBJ halls because of the concern raised by few hundred people hopping at once.

A turn-of-the-century postcard found in the files of the Carl and Mary Koehler History Center reveal a pharmacy and a wholesale flour business on the first floor. If you look closely, you can see a half-pint tricyclist haunting the archway entrance.
A History Center shot of a 1906 parade stopped in front of CSPS shows former mayor Isaac Wittam alongside a giant bass drum and a boy of the same height dressed all in white. This was a “progressive parade,” paused long enough to add CSPS lodge members to the fray.

Our oldest photograph (courtesy of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library) takes us back to October 30, 1890, when a large crowd gathered for the auspicious laying of the CSPS cornerstone. The scene is sober, contrasting with the divadlo (theatre) and parties that would later grace the spot.

We plan to incorporate many of these images into a program or display at the re-opening of CSPS this summer.

If you have images taken at CSPS over the years, please contact Todd Kimm at 319-364-1580 or todd@legionarts.org, and we will make arrangements to have them scanned and returned quickly to your care.

The ‘Wreck’ Room: Postdiluvian Art by Mel Andringa featured work Mel has completed in the wake of a natural disaster that claimed a good portion of his 40-year artistic output. Mel’s studio in the old firehouse adjoining CSPS was inundated with 10-and-a-half feet of water. He lost recently completed artwork and work in progress. More than 40 years of his drawings and sketchbooks were damaged.

Recognizing the futility of either restoring his pre-flood situation or carrying on post-flood as if the event never happened, Mel set out to wrestle new material from the flood experience. He restored some of his damaged art, recreated lost work, and made new work. His Cornell installation features dozens of new jigsaw collages, a giant floor puzzle for gallery goers to assemble, and a “blown up” paint by numbers creation.

Mel is primarily known for his performance art. For more than 30 years, the consistent theme of his performance work has been “the unfinished.” At the same time, Mel created a body of visual work as research and development for his performance work. Many of these visual works were collages made from jigsaw puzzles. It was his puzzle studio that was devoured by the flood, and two years later puzzle pieces can still be found in the grass that has sprouted up around his old workplace.

Andringa’s flood-related projects have included a collaborative performance called Moving Home at the Brucemore Mansion; an artist’s residency in Venice, Italy, studying floods and mosaics; and more than a dozen YouTube video essays featuring a new persona, Captain Noah of the Mosaic Deluge. The “Wreck Room” is the working model for the passenger lounge aboard Captain Noah’s refitted ship.

Mel’s ongoing and new projects include public art mosaics in New Bohemia and, of course, helping supervise the restoration of CSPS.

Mel Andringa’s exhibition was funded through the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation.