Prairie Lights

Franklin Printing House, also known as the Koza Building, is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It was built in 1856 expressly for the purposes of housing the Iowa Capitol Reporter, a local newspaper named for when this was Iowa's capital city. The newspaper's offices were located on the main floor, the composition room was on the second floor, and printing press was in the basement. The Iowa Capitol Reporter was sold by the 1860s and the Iowa City Republican took over the building. They moved out in the mid-1870s, and the building housed a series of saloons into the 1890s. After it was occupied by a variety of businesses, the building housed John V. Koza's meat shop for about 40 years. The three-story brick building is considered an excellent example of pre-Civil War commercial architecture in Iowa City. The metal cornice across the top of the main facade dates from some time prior to 1904. The present storefront dates to a 1984 renovation, at which time the two cast iron columns were discovered. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 2021, it was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.

The Iowa City Downtown Historic District is a nationally recognized historic district located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. At the time of its nomination it consisted of 102 resources, which included 73 contributing buildings, one contributing site, one contributing object, 21 non-contributing buildings, and seven non-contributing objects. Eight buildings that were previously listed on the National Register are also included in the district. Iowa City's central business district developed adjacent to the Iowa Old Capitol Building and the main campus of the University of Iowa. This juxtaposition gives the area its energy with the overlap of university staff and students and the local community. The district was significantly altered in the 1970s by the city's urban renewal effort that brought about the Ped Mall (City Plaza), which transformed two blocks of College Street from Clinton Street to Linn Street and Dubuque Street from Burlington Street to Washington Street. It is the contributing site and the large planters/retaining walls that are original to the project are counted together as the contributing object. There are also several freestanding, limestone planters, five contemporary sculptures, and a playground area are the non-contributing objects. The district mainly contains commercial buildings that were built in the Early Classical Revival, the revival styles of the Late Victorian era, the Chicago Commercial Style, Art Deco, and the Art Moderne styles. Modern architecture was introduced in the urban renewal years when new buildings were constructed and storefronts renovated. Architects of regional and local importance with buildings in the district include Chauncey Lovelace, Iowa City; Proudfoot & Bird and their successor firm of Proudfoot, Bird & Rawson, Des Moines; Dieman & Fiske, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Liebbe, Nourse & Rasmussen, Des Moines; Vorse, Kraetsch & Kraetsch, Des Moines; H.L. Stevens & Company, Chicago; Kruse and Klein of Davenport, Iowa; and J. Bradley Rust, Iowa City. The Franklin Printing House (1856), Trinity Episcopal Church (1871), College Block Building (1883), Boerner-Fry Company/Davis Hotel (1899), Old Post Office (1904, 1931), Paul–Helen Building (1910), Englert Theatre (1912), and Johnson County Savings Bank (1912) are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Paul–Helen Building is a historic building in downtown Iowa City, Iowa. The Chicago school building was the first part of a renewal of downtown Iowa City starting in the 1910s.

Congregational United Church of Christ is located in the downtown area of Iowa City, Iowa, United States near the campus of the University of Iowa. The congregation was organized in 1856 and the church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2004 it was included as a contributing property in the Jefferson Street Historic District.

Johnson County Savings Bank, also known as Iowa State Bank, is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1912, it is a six-story, brick structure that rises to a height of 72.45 feet (22.08 m). The design of the structure shows the influence of the Chicago Commercial style of architecture and that of architect Louis Sullivan. These influences are found in the building's arrangement with a base, shaft, and capital. The decorative elements executed in stone and terra cotta show the influence of Neoclassical architecture. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. In 2021, it was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.

The University of Iowa shooting was a mass shooting that occurred in Iowa City, Iowa, on November 1, 1991. Gang Lu, a 28-year-old former graduate student at the University of Iowa, killed three members of the Physics and Astronomy Department faculty, an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, and a fellow student, then seriously injured another student working at the university's campus, before committing suicide.

Englert Theatre in Iowa City, Iowa, is a renovated vaudeville-era playhouse now serving as a community arts center and 725-seat performance venue. It is owned and operated year around by Englert Civic Theatre, a non-profit art organization. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. In 2021, it was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District. The theater hosts a variety of events including live music, comedy, dance, plays, lectures, film screenings, civic events, public and private ceremonies such as awards and anniversary celebrations, and more.

The Park House Hotel, also known as St. Agatha's Seminary and Burkeley Apartments, is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. The building was built in 1852 for Ferdinand Haberstroh. As the Park House Hotel, it catered to those who did business when the city was the capitol of Iowa, and it is one of the few remaining commercial buildings from that era. After Haberstroh died in 1860, the Rev. William Emonds of near-by St. Mary's Catholic Church bought the property and its debt. Two years later the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary from Dubuque, Iowa opened St. Agatha's Female Seminary. The building acquired its mansard roof in 1875. Classrooms were located on the first two floors and residential space for the sisters and students who boarded here were on the upper two floors. The school closed in 1909 and Albert Burkeley converted the building into a women's boarding house called "Svendi". After 1918 it became an apartment building known as "Burkeley Place", and it has been an apartment building ever since.The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2004 it was included as a contributing property in the Jefferson Street Historic District.

The Iowa City Public Library (ICPL) was established in 1896 to serve the people of Iowa City, Iowa, USA. Currently located in a new facility at the intersection of College and Linn Streets on the downtown pedestrian mall, ICPL serves a population of 69,000 residents of Iowa City, and through contract, residents of unincorporated Johnson County, University Heights and Hills. ICPL has approximately 67,000 cardholders.

The Ped Mall, also known as the Pedestrian Mall, is a pedestrian mall located in downtown Iowa City, Iowa, near the University of Iowa campus. Officially named City Plaza it was completed in 1979 as the centerpiece of the city's urban renewal project. Landscaping was completed the following year. It was designed by Jack Leaman of Associated Engineers, Inc., in Mason City, Iowa. While pedestrian malls were a common feature of urban renewal projects in the United States, the Iowa City Ped Mall is one of the few that is still in existence. Spanning from Burlington Street to Washington Street and Clinton Street to Linn Street, the Ped Mall serves as a gathering place for students, locals, and transients. It draws large crowds for its summertime events such as the Friday Night Concert Series and the annual Iowa City Jazz Festival and Iowa City Arts Festival. The Ped Mall area also contains restaurants, bars, retail, hotels, a playground for children, and the Iowa City Public Library. The Coldren Opera House was located on the street which has now become the mall. In 2021, it was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.

The Old Post Office is a Beaux Arts-style building in downtown Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Built of Indiana Limestone in 1904, the post office was expanded in 1931. The addition was designed and built in such a way that it is indistinguishable from the original structure. It remained the city's central post office until 1975, when a new facility was built. After two years of vacancy, it was bought by the Iowa City/Johnson County Senior Center; it was selected over other sites due to its central location. Four years of renovations, concluded in September 1981, resulted in its opening as a senior center. On April 17, 1979, midway through the renovation, the building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the center serves thousands of area residents monthly; nearly 90,000 visits were made to the center in 2003, of whom approximately 2/3 were lower-income. In 2021, the building was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.

The College Block Building is a historic building located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Completed in 1883, this is the first known architect-designed commercial building in Iowa City. It was designed by local architect Chauncey F. Lovelace, who moved his office into the building. The main facade of this two-story brick structure is capped with an ornate, bracketed, tin cornice with the words "College Block" on an ornamented crest. There are eight windows on the second floor, all with ornate window hoods. The second and third windows on both ends are coupled together under a larger hood. The main floor is occupied by commercial space, and the second floor contains apartments. Urban renewal threatened the building's existence in the 1970s. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. In 2021, the building was included as a contributing property in the Iowa City Downtown Historic District.