Lang
11/14/26
The Iowa City City Council will vote on Tuesday whether or not to approve an expansion project from St. Mary’s Church that would involve demolishing two houses in a historic district.
St. Mary’s is planning to build a new parish hall at 302 and 306 East Jefferson Street…across Linn Street from the main chapel. But those two plots are currently occupied by two houses that sit in the Jefferson Street Historic District, which runs along a small strip of Jefferson Street from Clinton Street to Van Buren Street.
While the homes themselves are not designated as historic, because they are inside the historic district the Iowa City Historic Preservation Commission denied the St. Marys’ request by a 4-3 vote.
That vote could still be overridden by the city council, which is set to discuss the matter and possibly hold a vote Tuesday night at 6 at City Hall on East Washington Street.