Summary of proposed Five Flags Project for National Bicentennial Commission_02.01.1973T H E C I T Y O F
DUBUQUE
G I L B E RT D. CH AV E N E L LE
CITY MANAGER
February 1, 1973
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Mr. Frank Begley
Special Assistant to the
Regional Administration
Department of Housing and
Urban Development
911 Walnut Street
Kansas City, Missouri
Dear Mr. Begley:
O E PA RT M E NT OF
HOUSING AND RE O E V E L O P M E NT
G ESN T M. W I T T E N B E R G , D I R E C T O R
SUITE 10-13 FISCHER BUILDING PHONE 319 588-0017
D U B U Q U E. 1 O W A 5 2 O O 1 -
We are pleased to provide you with a summary of the proposed Five flags Project
which we believe meets the criteria of the National Bicentennial Commission.
We further believe that this project merits the support of HUD in that it is
historically sound, can be successfully completed, and has the endorsement of
the local community. The project was conceived through citizen initiation, and
Is being implemented jointly by the private and public sectors of this community.
On February 26 and 27, a delegation from this community under the leadership of
Congressman John Culver (2nd District, Iowa) and Del Black, Regional Director
for the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, will be making presenta-
tions to appropriate persons and agencies in Washington soliciting support to
include the Five Flags Project in the bicentennial recognition program.
For your information we have communicated the details of this proposed project
to Mr. Ronald Stegall, Coordinator for the HUD Advisory Committee for the
National Bicentennial celebration.
Please be assured of our prompt cooperation in providing any additional data which
you may need to prepare your report. We apologize for the fragmented document
we are submitting at this time.
Sincerely yours,
Gent M. Wittenberg
GMW/vt
Enclosure
DUBUQUE IOWA
Name of Project: Five Flags Center
Goal To provide a centrally located facility in recognition of the
American Revolution Bicentennial Celebration to serve the
cultural, recreational, entertainment and convention needs
of the city and surrounding area.
Objective: To restore an existing theater to provide the basic unit of a
facility composed of the restored theater, a new exhibit -arts
building and a connecting promenade together with site
Improvements and an off-street parking accommodation,
Incorporated into the new building will be a multi -media and
sound center depicting among other programs 200 years of
early Iowa history.
Progress: 1. Theater and necessary land purchased by the City of Dubuque
to implement the Downtown Urban Renewal Project, Iowa R-15.
2. Five Flags Center Fund, a non-profit organization, formed
to
A. Solicit all private funds ($700, 000 pledged to date and
available for match).
B. Purchase the real estate from the city.
C. Restore the theater under an acceptable arrangement
with the city and HUD.
D. Construct all improvements.
E. Deed the completed project to the City of Dubuque.
The name represents the five periods of occupation with the
exception of the original Indian owners (Two French Flags,
One Spanish Flag, One English Flag and the Flag of the
United States of America).
3. Upon nomination by the City of Dubuque and the State
Liaison Officer, the theater and theater site have been
entered in the National Register of Historic Places.
A. The theater built in 1910 represents one of the earliest
known theaters designed by Rapp and Rapp, an
architectural firm later to become well known for
theater design in the late teens and twenties.
B. Theater site represents the oldest known site in
Iowa (and possibly west of the Mississippi River)
to continuously house a theater, opera house,
vaudeville house and/or public entertainment
facility.
4. A.$1000 matching grant for prize money has been approved
by the Iowa Arts Council for a sculpture competition.
5. Documentary evidence that the only known Iowa casualty
of the American Revolutionary War was a Dubuqueland
miner, Jean Marie Cardinal, who after being captured by
the British at Dubuque during their march down the
Mississippi River Valley, escaped to warn the French at
St. Louis. Cardinal was killed during the battle, and the
defeated British abandoned their campaign.
Historians suggest that had it not been for Cardinal's
warning, the exploits of George Rogers Clark might have
well been in vain and the Treaty of 1782 might have well
fixed the western boundary of the United States along the
Allegheny Mountains instead of the Mississippi River.
6. The project has been designated as a State Bicentennial
Site by the Iowa American Bicentennial Commission.