In 1870, Alanson T. Parker left his home state of New York and went west. Arriving in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, Alanson and his cousin H. G. Parker established a mill. The cousins built Parker Opera House at Sixth and Main Streets in Mason City. Foster and Williams were the architects who designed the building made of native limestone in the Italian Renaissance Revival style. Parker Opera House opened in 1883.

A. T. Parker Additon and Parkers Woods in West Park are named in Alanson's honor.

In 2007, Mason City received $60,000 to help with restorations of the opera house. Parker's Opera House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places November 20, 1998.

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
September 20, 2011, by Kristin Buehner

MASON CITY — The grass and sedum roof being installed at Central Park Dentistry in Mason City may seem like a throwback to the days of sod huts and thatched roofs — but it is also the latest thing in green.

“It’s good for the environment, it’s good for me and it’s something different,” said Jay Lala, owner of the building, located at 23 N. Federal Ave.

The green roof system will cost approximately $200,000, Lala estimates. He has received some funding help from an $82,500 I-JOBS grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Developed in Germany, green roof technology offers 30 percent better cooling efficiency than a traditional roof and 10 percent more insulation, Lala said.

“The main thing is, it will make the roof last three to four times longer,” he said.

Work has been ongoing for months, with the installation of under-layers of heavy rubber, a waterproof layer, and dirt. The green seedling layer was being rolled out Tuesday.

An automatic irrigation system will also be installed.

The layer of grass and sedum will be six to eight inches tall. Commonly used as ground covers, they are drought-resistant, Lala said.

“Up to an inch of rainfall in a 24-hour period will have zero runoff,” he said.

The roof can go for three weeks without water, a spokeswoman for Northern Cedar Services of Mason City, contractor for the project, said.

She said it is the first green roof the company has installed.

The green roofs were provided by Xero Flor America LLC of Durham, N.C., and Liveroof Hybrid Green Roof System, of Davenport.

More and more cities are encouraging the installation of green roofs, Lala said.

Green roofs are being used at the Ford Motor Co. truck plant in Dearborn, Mich., Duke University Medical Center, Chicago City Hall and O’Hare Airport.

  

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
October 15, 2012, by John Skipper

MASON CITY — Another governmental hurdle has been cleared in the plan of a Mason City dentist to put 13 apartment units above his downtown office.

Earlier this year, Cerro Gordo County supervisors approved grant applications totaling $1.6 million to convert the upper two floors of his building into apartments.

This month, it was determined there is no significant environmental impact on the neighborhood — and therefore no environmental impact statement is required.

This sets the stage for release of the grant money.

Approval of the supervisors was necessary as a sponsoring organization but no county money is involved, said Joe Myhre, executive director of the North Iowa Area Council of Governments which administers the grant money.

Dr. Jay Lala’s building is the former Parker Opera House building, 23 N. Federal Ave.

Among terms of the grant money: At least 51 percent of the tenants must be at or below 80 percent of the median county income level.

For a one-person household, the median county income is $44,400; 80 percent of that is $35,500, according Myhre.

The funding is disaster assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

It is intended for replacement housing due to the number of housing units lost in the flooding of 2008 and the flood buyouts.

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
August 01, 2013, by John Skipper

MASON CITY — Work is progressing on putting 13 apartment units above the downtown dentistry office of Jay Lala in the former Parker Opera House building at 23 N. Federal Ave.

The project is being supported by federal grants totaling $1.6 million. The grants require at least 51 percent of the tenants to be at or below 80 percent of the median county income level.

The funding is from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, intended to replace housing lost in the flood of 2008.

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
October 18, 2013, by Laura Bird

MASON CITY - A blue sky with white clouds and pink and purple flowers will greet future tenants of apartments above Central Park Dentistry in the Parker Opera House.

The 130-year-old mural is located in a dome on the third floor of the building. It was recently restored by Mason City artist Jan Kostka. >{? “I’m very pleased,” she said. “It will make for a feeling of ethereal — looking out on a nice day in Iowa.”

The second and third floors of the building are being remodeled into 13 apartments. When the project started, owner Jay Lala said he knew the mural had to be restored.

“It’s unbelievable; just gorgeous,” Lala said. “She basically replicated it. It’s actually the only remaining remnant of the opera house.”

Kostka said she put in more than 100 hours on the project working from old photographs and what was left of the heavily damaged painting.

“It was a mess, but not hopeless,” she said. “I saw the potential in it.”

Some of the bouquets of flowers were in relatively good condition but one of the four was completely missing.

“It was a gapping hole,” Kostka said. “I had to guess.”

She also had to guess on colors. Most of the original was yellowed from water damage, tobacco smoke and aging.

The photos were also only helpful to a certain point because they only went back so far. Lala said there are no known existing photos of the inside of the Parker Opera House. It’s also unknown who the mural artist was.

“I had to reconstruct what I thought might have been there,” Kostka said.

The fact that it was a dome also made for an interesting experience. Kostka had to use scaffolding and a harness.

“When I was painting I felt very much surrounded by the artist’s spirit,” said Kostka, noting that she’s done many murals over the years, but usually on flat surfaces. “It was different being surrounded by someone else’s artwork.”