Drone shot full campus

The historic core of the Wartburg College campus has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The 25-acre plot includes 17 buildings that contribute to the designation and the columns that were salvaged from the original Wartburg Hall. The area is anchored by Players Theatre and the Science Center along First Avenue NW and extends north through campus, excluding the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center and Walston-Hoover Stadium, to Fifth Avenue Northwest. The Manors are included in the designation, but Knights Village is not. The district then runs from the newly named Ubuntu Center (formerly the Centennial Complex) on the corner of Fifth Avenue NW and Eighth Street NW back up to Players Theatre. 

“Securing this designation was a team effort that included Rebecca Lawin McCarley, our historic tax credit consultant from Spark Consulting; Andrew Bell from Align Architecture and Planning; Rachel Breuer and all the folks from Cardinal Construction as well as other contractors; and Scott Sharar, director of facilities and special projects at Wartburg,” said Rich Seggerman, Warburg’s vice president for finance and administration. “These folks deserve most of the credit. Certainly, a great win for the college and the community.”

Karen Lehmann, a longtime member of the Waverly Historic Preservation Commission, called the it a “tremendous honor for Waverly.”

“These districts contribute to the awareness of the community and the college’s histories,” she said. “It is a testament to how Waverly and the college have been maintained and that they are worth celebrating. There are many communities that are much older than Waverly and Wartburg, and they do not have these kinds of designations. We appreciate the college pursuing this.”

The Wartburg College district is the fifth in the city. Old Main, on the college’s central campus, has been on the historic registry since 1978.

“I’m delighted that the campus has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Old Main is the only building left from the campus that Georg Grossmann knew,” said Terry Lindell, Wartburg professor of history. “That building was built in 1880 to serve the needs of the school for training teachers for parochial schools. The contractor for that building, by the way, was William Knight. The buildings built during the tenure of August Engelbrecht — including Luther Hall, the first gymnasium (now Players Theater), Grossmann Hall (now Founders Hall) and Wartburg Hall (razed in the 1980s) — were a decisive factor in bringing Wartburg College back to Waverly in 1935.”

Though the designation does not place any explicit limits on future campus changes, the college did apply for and receive notification of funds for a Historic Preservation Tax Credit from the Iowa Economic Development Authority for the Centennial and Vollmer Hall Renovation Project. The tax credit, which could total as much as $2.8 million, can be used to rehabilitate these two historic buildings while maintaining the character-defining features that enhance neighborhoods and communities. Work completed must meet the federal Secretary of Interior standards.