Preserve America Hollywood in the Heartland GrantPlanning Services Department
City Hall
50 West 13~ Street
Dubuque, IA 52001-4864
(563) 589-4210 phone
{563) 589-4221 fax
(563) 690-6678 TDD
plannin cityofdubuque.org
November 29, 2007
Mr. Hampton Tucker
Preserve America Grants
National Park Service
1201 "Eye" Street, NW
6~' Floor (ORG. 2256)
Washington, DC 20005
Dear Mr. Tucker:
THE CITY OF
DuB E
MIIStCf~7leCe 011 tylE MISSISSI~1
The City of Dubuque's Historic Preservation Commission fully supports the Preserve America
grant application "Hollywood in the Heartland" submitted by the Iowa State Historic Preservation
Office. We believe that this project will help preserve Iowa's theaters as well as create an exciting
heritage tourism initiative for the state.
Dubuque, Iowa is a community well known for its historic architecture that makes up much of the
downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. As Iowa's oldest city, Dubuque has had a strong
historic preservation ethic since the mid 1970's, with variety of preservation incentives supported
by an active Historic Preservation Commission. The City of Dubuque participates in the Certified
Local Government (CLG) program of the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office. In 2004, the City
of Dubuque was designated as Iowa's first Preserve America community.
In Downtown Dubuque, we have two historic theatres which are important tourist attractions
locally, statewide, and regionally. The Grand Opera House was converted into a movie theatre when
motion pictures replaced live entertainment. This building has been rehabilitated and once again is
an important entertainment and cultural venue. The Majestic (Orpheum) Theater likewise was
converted from an opera house to a movie theatre in 1929. This building also has been
rehabilitated. As part of the Five Flags Civic Center, the Majestic Theater draws visitors from the
tri-state area of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
We support the "Hollywood in the Heartland" application as a means for downtown revitalization,
neighborhood stabilization, attraction for heritage tourism, job creation, and film industry
production for the state of Iowa.
Sinc y
Chris ' e Olson, Chairperson
Historic Preservation Commission