Reviving Fort Dodge’s Warden Plaza
What does one do with a large abandoned commercial or residential building that has fallen into disrepair through decades of neglect?
It is a common dilemma facing cities and small towns across Iowa and beyond. Often built during periods of economic prosperity, these frequently grand spaces are usually the first to fall victim during an economic downturn or when years of deferred maintenance can no longer be ignored. As personal fortunes are lost or area businesses either fail or pull up stakes in search of greener pastures, empty and deteriorating buildings are often left behind in their wake.
One such building is the Warden Plaza in Fort Dodge. It was built between 1922 and 1924 as a component to the 1910 Wahkonsa Hotel and Annex, which was designed by the architectural firm of Liebbe, Nourse and Rasmussen of Des Moines. The Warden Plaza, however, was designed by Damon, O’Meara and Hills for Theodore G. Warden, who had purchased the lease for the Wahkonsa Hotel in 1915.
The Warden offered luxury apartments for area residents as well as hotel accommodations for travelers at the tail end of Fort Dodge’s “Golden Age” of prosperity during the early 20th century. The U-shaped, Classical base of the building is clad in stone and offered recreational spaces on the lower floors as well as an open courtyard. Apartments and hotel rooms could be found on the upper levels where the building becomes E-shaped, clad in red brick and capped by a stone cornice.
Ownership was divided in 1930 and Wahkonsa ceased operation as a hotel in 1972. After a few additional changes in ownership, the Warden, which had been completely vacant since about 2005, ended up being sold through a tax sale to someone in California who had never even seen the building. The price — a mere $37,365 for a building assessed at more than $600,000 — must have seemed like too good a deal to pass up at the time.
Unfortunately, it would require several million dollars to rehabilitate, and the new owner ultimately decided to not invest the funds. It remained an empty nuisance, attracting vandals over the years until the city of Fort Dodge took title in 2016 under Iowa’s abandoned buildings law.
The Formation Group in Des Moines is serving as the city’s representative on the project as KDG LLC of Columbia, Missouri, moves to begin the Warden Plaza’s rehabilitation. Plans for its use are still being developed with mixed-use housing, commercial space, and a recreation center as possibilities.
Vickie Reeck, the city’s community and economic development director, is excited to see this project finally get underway.
“The revitalization of this building will be the tipping point for our downtown,” she said. “We have seen a lot of public and private investment in the downtown over the last five years. The plans we have for this building include market-rate housing, retail, recreation, and cultural center components that will make this a destination with a wow factor like no other in the state and region.”
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Tour of the Warden Plaza during this year’s Preserve Iowa Summit, set for June 8–11 in Fort Dodge.
— Laura Sadowsky, State Historian
