A groundbreaking today and renovation will soon begin for the Des Moines mansion that will be a permanent home for the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa.
The $20 million project includes an event center, a museum, a speakeasy-style bar and cafe, plus space for Italian cooking classes.
“While preserving and promoting our culture and educating folks about our rich history, we hope to create a destination for all of Iowa,” said Jeff Lamberti, chairman of the Italian-American Cultural Center of Iowa’s board of governors.
A $5 million pavilion will feature bocce ball courts and Lamberti says it will be a site for national and international competitions. Lamberti told the crowd at today’s groundbreaking he is the grandson of an immigrant from Italy. According to the National Italian American Foundation, about 50,000 people living in Iowa have Italian ancestry.
“Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing into the early 1900s, immigrants from Italy came to Iowa in search of the American dream just like immigrants from many other countries,” Lamberti said. “…They came to work in the coal mines or the railroads or as tailors or shoemakers and thru hard work they became part of the fabric and history of Des Moines and the state of Iowa.”
The property that’s being renovated is about two miles south of the Des Moines airport and sits on a bluff overlooking downtown Des Moines. “We get the opportunity the preserve and restore the historic Butler Mansion, which when it opened in the 1930s was called by one national magazine the most modern home in America,'” Lamberti said.
The project is partially funded with a $1.2 million grant from Polk County and a $2 million “Destination Iowa” grant from the State of Iowa. Governor Kim Reynolds said it’s a landmark development that will draw visitors to Iowa. “This facility will truly have something for everyone from families to wedding parties to national sporting competitions and I can’t think of a better location than the historic Butler Mansion…an architectural hallmark of this city and our state,” Reynolds said. “And this project will cement that iconic status even as it brings the mansion back to the cultural cutting edge.”
Matt McCoy, chairman of the Polk County Board of Supervisors, also spoke at the event, telling the crowd his great grandfather was a tailor who came to America to make a better life for his family. “This center is more than just bricks and mortar,” McCoy said. “It will be a vibrant hub where generations will come together to celebrate the Italian language, art, music, food and values.”
Today’s event began with a prayer from a Catholic priest, who sprinkled holy water on the site before the ceremonial groundbreaking on the south side of the three-story mansion. The concrete and steel structure was built between 1935 and 1937 for Earl Butler, an engineer. It was designated as a Des Moines landmark in 1989.