This was a mission to
save a historically significant building in downtown Des Moines by first
relocating it, then remodeling it. To avoid demolition, the home had to
be moved one block to a vacant lot. When they were done, this turn of
the century home had been turned into a duplex that retained all the
charm of the original structure. As Mike Kinter, born and raised in Des
Moines, put it, "It makes more sense to do something positive than it
does to bulldoze something down just because it happens to be in your
way. We’ve torn down too many neat structures in Des Moines." That is a
philosophy that impressed our judges.
