Lang
8/9/25
The Friends of Historic Preservation are calling out the State Historical Society of Iowa for its decision to close its Iowa City location.
In June, the Historical Society announced it was moving all of its property inside the Centennial Building on Iowa Avenue to its newly revamped facility in Des Moines.
On Friday, the Friends of Historic Preservation posted to its Facebook page that its members had been told that only 40% of the Iowa City collection will be moved to Des Moines, while the majority of it will be disbursed throughout Iowa, sold, given away, or thrown away.
The post goes on to allege that the decision to jettison 60% of the collection was made in secret, with no input from long-time preservationists. It calls the items at the Iowa City location “irreplaceable”, writing “Only 13 months ago, our Governor told us Iowa had a $1.83 Billion (yes, Billion) budget surplus. Now, we’re being told that Iowa’s equivalent to the Library of Congress is to be thrown in the dumpster due to a so-called lack of funds.”
The Iowa City location is set to close on June 30th, 2026.