Lost Grove Community Center
Preservation Project
Embedded Files
"During basketball tournaments the gym was packed. The Harcourt high school kids ran the coat check, making 10¢ a coat. We thought it was a big deal!"
"During basketball tournaments the gym was packed. The Harcourt high school kids ran the coat check, making 10¢ a coat. We thought it was a big deal!"
"I can still smell the lunchroom downstairs!"
"I can still smell the lunchroom downstairs!"
"On Fridays we watched movies."
"On Fridays we watched movies."
The Lost Grove Community Center Preservation Project
The Lost Grove Community Center Preservation Project
Harcourt consolidated school gymnasium is an architectural gem. For years school teams from around the area competed for victorious bragging rights. Quality performances and plays were showcased on the stage, including a large group of international dancers from Sweden. School lunches and banquets were served in the downstairs banquet hall. Community-wide events brought the residents from many miles around to celebrate and commune with each other. It was the pride of the community.
Today the gym is owned 50/50 by the City of Harcourt and Lost Grove Township and is known as the Lost Grove Community Center. It still provides a place for recreational activities and community gatherings of all types. Homeschoolers hold basketball tournaments, the Community celebrates holidays, families gather, and community events are still held in the gym. Also, walkers, Granny basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and the newly popular pickleball have been using the gym recently. It is still important to our community.
Construction began in late 1940 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA). A program started by President Roosevelt to put people back to work after the Depression. A year after the gym was started, the country went to war. With the war effort, it is impressive the building was completed in time for school in 1942 and before the dissolution of the WPA in 1943.
The strength of this building is its workmanship. Seven-inch thick concrete walls, a beautiful 1st-grade maple floor, 30-foot tall, laminated wood arches, and large glass block windows create a very rich and inviting gymnasium. It is even adorned by three bas reliefs by the internationally known sculptor Christian Petersen.
If only this building could talk!
The building needs a new roof with a cost of $144,000. $30,000 has already been raised. We ask you to help us preserve an important piece of our Iowa history and continue providing a place for the community to gather.
Please send your tax-deductible donation for Lost Grove Community Center to:
29 North 9th St., Suite B
Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
Randy Kuhlman, CEO
515-573-3179
Call a member below if you have additional questions or would like a tour of the building. Thank you!
The Lost Grove Community Center Preservation Project Committee (LGCCPP)
Kelly & Becky Blair 407-362-8430 Matt Fors 515-408-4333
Jim Heggen 515-351-8995 Robert Anderson
Jesse Greene Grant Gibbons
"If only this building could talk!"
"If only this building could talk!"
116 Larch Street
Harcourt, IA 50544
Phone: (515) 354-5452
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