Doon, Iowa — The Doon Community Center started life as a Works Progress Administration project about 80 years ago. But at the time it was built, it was to be a new high school for Doon and the surrounding area. Now, the plans are to tear the building down, and build a new facility.
We talked to Larry Boeve of Doon, who is both the president of the Friends of Doon and the chairman of the building steering committee. He tells us that while there is no timeline yet in place for the demolition and construction, they hope to start soon in the big scheme of things.
Boeve says COVID has caused a number of issues. They had to take a year off to deal with the pandemic, and now they are dealing with a shortage of building materials, causing prices to skyrocket. He says they hope that settles back down to normal before they need to buy materials.
He tells us they did let bids before the pandemic and those estimates ran around 1.5 million dollars. Boeve tells us they have about $300,000 committed so far and hope to raise an additional five to six hundred thousand before starting on the project.
According to Boeve, the Doon City Council hired an engineer who told them that with the repairs and renovations needed to the old school building, it would cost about the same to build a new building. He tells us what the building will include.
The old school building is near and dear to the citizens of Doon and the surrounding community especially since it was decided to stop using the building as a school in the mid-1980s. Boeve says that when they did the survey, they got overwhelming support of the new building idea, but also a lot of reflection. So he says in the new facility they will make sure to include the history of the site.
Boeve says the enthusiasm is high in Doon and the surrounding area and they’re looking forward to starting the project.
