Backlash grows as Iowa closes historic research center
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The State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) is closing its historic Centennial Building research center in Iowa City, will no longer edit the Annals of Iowa journal, and has ended its popular mobile museum.
Why it matters: The decisions were made without public input and risk abandoning a core SHSI mission to safeguard the state's heritage, according to an online petition from the Save Iowa History Coalition.
Catch up quick: SHSI staff made the decisions in the last six weeks with the help of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services (DAS) as the agency faces a projected $800,000 budget shortfall.
- The staff had only a few weeks to close a budget gap for the fiscal year that starts in July 2026, Valerie Van Kooten, administrator of the SHSI, told the SHSI Board of Trustees in a meeting last week.
- The decisions did not require the board's approval, DAS director Adam Steen told trustees who asked why they hadn't been informed about the research center closure prior to a June 17 press release.
State of play: The SHSI has used the Centennial Building as a research center for nearly 70 years, providing public access to tens of thousands of one-of-a-kind documents, photos and newspaper articles.
- The building needs at least $750,000 in maintenance, which factored into the decision to close it, Van Kooten told the board last week.
- A $5 million revamp of archival storage at the State Historical Building in DSM will be completed in 2028 and will accommodate the Centennial Building's collections, SHSI said in a news release.
Zoom in: Annals of Iowa, which has been part of the government for more than 160 years, will no longer be edited by the state starting in July 2026.
- SHSI staff are seeking a collaboration with a state university to take over the work.
Meanwhile, SHSI recently ended its Mobile Museum — a 38-foot custom-built Winnebago that had traveled to every county in the state multiple times since 2017 — because of costly repairs, Van Kooten said.
What they're saying: "You're not being transparent," Mary Bennett, a retired special collections coordinator at the Iowa City site, told SHSI staff in a contentious public meeting last week. "Gov. Reynolds and your office made this decision unilaterally, relying on a very small handful of people, and I'm sorry, but this is erasing our history," Bennett said.
The other side: Historical items will be protected and the service decisions will ultimately position the SHSI to grow, Steen said at last week's meeting.
What's next: Public access to the Centennial Building's collection will change to appointment-only starting July 9, with its full closure anticipated by June 30, 2026.