Former restaurant owner says history is lost with Laraway Block demolition

It was difficult to watch, but Don Yates came by periodically last week to witness a demolition crew methodically take down a building that was a part of his life for nearly 50 years.
   
From 1961-2009, Yates owned the historic Laraway Block building, just off the southwest corner of Glenwood’s Town Square. He operated The Oasis restaurant at the building from 1961-1998 and from 2002-2004.

“You hate to see the history go away. This building was a landmark,” Yates said Friday as he watched trucks line up to haul away bricks and other debris from the demolition site on South Walnut St.

The Laraway Block, built at the end of the 19th Century, housed a variety of businesses during its 117-year history, including W.F. Laraway’s watch making shop and jewelry store, a pool hall, dance floor, photography studio, second-hand store, apartments, tavern and restaurants. The most recent business in the building, Doodle’s Grill, closed last summer.

The building was unoccupied when a portion of the wall on the southwest corner of the brick structure began collapsing in mid November. After inspections by insurance adjusters and structural engineers, the decision was made to demolish the building.

Yates and his business partner, Chuck Pazderka, purchased the north side of the Laraway building in 1961 from Ace Evans, who had been  “I never understood why the building was split up like that,” Yates said. “At that time, Charlie Radford owned the lower building where there was a salvage shop.”

In 1970, Yates and Pazderka added a “small kitchen” to the back of their business. In the mid ‘70s, they purchased the south section of the building and the vacant lot adjacent to the new building that would house The Opinion-Tribune newspaper office.

“We opened the dining room in 1975,” Yates said.

The new dining room came with a complete renovation of the building and the addition of a party and banquet room in the basement.

With the assistance of carpenter Max Caddy, Yates and Pazderka built a “dumb elevator” to deliver food from the kitchen to the basement banquet room.

The dining room and banquet facilities were an instant success as The Oasis became a popular venue for homecoming celebrations, receptions and other social gatherings.

“At one time, we had almost every civic organization in town having their meetings at our place,” Yates said.

In 1984, Pazderka sold his share of the business to Jacklyn Jens, who would later become Yates’ wife.

Known for its famous broasted chicken, The Oasis was a popular dining venue for locals and out-of-town patrons alike.

Yates said he and his wife have many fond memories of operating the restaurant.  They owned the business during five RAGBRAI visits to Glenwood and hosted several political dignitaries over the years.

“Chuck Grassley came the first time he ran for office,” Yates recalled. “That was the first time I met him and he’s been in office for a long time.”

Gov. Terry Branstad came to The Oasis numerous times to speak to service organizations and for other political events and several presidential candidates also made campaign appearances at the restaurant over the years.

Yates said he’s saddened to see the Laraway Block go away and he’s hopeful other 19th Century buildings in the community won’t meet a similar fate. He said it’s costly to maintain an old building and believes business owners who invest in their aging structures should get a break from local tax authorities.

“They tax them so bad on it. They should give them a break if they fix them up instead of raising the taxes,” Yates said. “The taxes on that building used to be practically nothing, but then we remodeled it and put a new front on it, and man, they raised the taxes way up.”

Yates is hopeful the Robinson Block building, which adjoined the Laraway Building to the north, will maintain its structural integrity and remain standing for years to come. The Robinson Block owner, Jim Tucker, said once the Laraway demolition is complete, his building will be inspected by structural engineers to determine if any damage was sustained during the demolition and what, if any, repairs need to be made. Tucker said he wants to preserve the Robinson building because he understands its historical significance to the community.

As for the empty space on Walnut Street created by the demolition of the Laraway Block, Yates said he’s hopeful a new building will be constructed in the near future.

“I’d like to see them build something in it,” Yates said. “I think it would have to be a masonry building of some kind. The biggest issue would be the parking.”