On Thursday afternoon, Mayor Brian Sokol, City Councilman Duane Pansegrau and Kristen Hartz with Scharnweber Inc., the general contractor on the renovation project, caught up with the T-R to share the latest updates as well as their visions of the future both for the structures themselves and the downtown area as a whole. The east building will include three apartments once they are finished, and Pansegrau is optimistic that they’ll have room for four or five at the west building (132 E. High).

Although they at one time housed a Masonic temple, the buildings were most recently home to a grocery store owned by recently passed 100-year-old resident Shirley Otterman and her husband Wayne and then Horbach Furniture until, according to previous reporting in the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle, they were purchased by Sandra McAntire under the business name Shoestring Jungle LLC from Larry Horbach in 2012.

Under McAntire’s ownership, the News Chronicle wrote, the properties “turned from once active retail spaces to vacant nuisance properties overflowing with refuse and becoming more dilapidated by the year.” They were eventually bought by the economic development corporation in 2022 and an emergency catalyst grant was secured to update the facade at 132.

Sokol was proud to announce that Scharnweber, which is based in Toledo, is exclusively utilizing local subcontractors based in Tama County, with most of the work focused on the 134 building and upper story at the moment.

Randy Upah, left, and his son Tanner, right, work inside the old Horbach Furniture building at 134 E. High St. in Toledo on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s a great project for us because it’s local,” Hartz said.

Grants are the primary funding source, but he does anticipate at least a small bank loan to cover remaining costs in the future. There are currently no concrete plans for which businesses might fill the two storefronts, but with the Wieting Theater across the street, Sokol, Pansegrau and Tama County Economic Development Director Katherine Ollendieck are all enticed by the prospect of an anchor eatery.

“Ideally, we’d like to have a restaurant downtown, but it’d be a great office building for somebody too. At this point, we’re kind of leaving the downstairs a blank slate until we find that right person,” Sokol said. “If you get a restaurant, you’re gonna bring people downtown.”

Ollendieck expressed a similar sentiment during a subsequent interview.

“Small towns, when we can place an anchor that is a restaurant that everyone enjoys and utilizes locally, it is an absolute transformation for that space in a downtown area. It’s an automatic foot traffic (booster), and I’ve seen it happen in Dysart. I’ve seen it happen in Traer. It happens in Tama every night,” she said. “Those places that are an anchor restaurant are just good for a downtown, and with the connection to the Wieting Theater, we couldn’t hope for more. I think this is an excellent opportunity for someone.”

An exterior view of the building at 134 E. High St. and its unique, historic architecture.

They’re also hopeful that the redevelopment will spark a domino effect and catalyze other downtown business owners to improve their buildings and breathe new life into the historic district known for its single stoplight. Ollendieck described the project as a great chance to achieve that goal.

“Housing is one of the toughest nuts we have to crack these days in economic development, and being able to create some upper story housing is transformational. So I think that’s definitely gonna be the catalyst for future plans for downtown Toledo. This really is the stepping stone that gets us going,” she said. “Being able to get three one-bedroom apartments in this 134 project, that’s gonna be a really good opportunity to get some more foot traffic and for us to start considering, you know, what are we gonna be able to bring into the lower part of these two projects?”

And while Sokol has heard the murmurs of residents wondering if they should simply be torn down, he’s happy to see the iconic structures being preserved and updated.

“Absolutely, it’d be cheaper to tear it down, but what do you put here? The cost of demolition’s not cheap either,” he said.

The apartments at 134 E. High St. are expected to be “completely buttoned up” by June 1, and Ollendieck estimated that the total investment on the project for both buildings will wind up at close to $1.2 million, including $300,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funneled through the IEDA as well as the emergency catalyst funds and local investments. She is currently working with Region 6 Resource Partners to secure Housing Trust Fund dollars as well.

“It’s just an incredible structure. Even in its dilapidated condition and full of debris, even months ago, everyone could see the vision of where we were headed,” Ollendieck said. “I think this is great. I’m so excited about this project. Brick buildings are the toughest things communities tackle, in my opinion… You dive into an unknown, and it’s just a process to work through these projects to save these buildings and make sure we don’t lose parts of downtowns.”