Park Street Closed Intermittently This Summer

Jun 16, 2017

Map showing movement of houses on Park St in order: 1201 to 1307, 1227 to 1321, and 1217 to 1311

Starting this month, Grinnell College's Chinese House, German House, and Russian House are moving onto new foundations built on the west side of Park Street north of Eighth Avenue.

German House, 1221 Park St., is moving first and will be on its new foundation by June 20.
Chinese House, 1227 Park St., will move between June 21 and July 6.
Russian House, 1217 Park St., will move from Aug. 1 to 15 (all dates are tentative).

All of these language houses provide lodging for students.

Park Street will be closed intermittently from Seventh Avenue to Ninth Avenue for the relocations of these houses.

The relocations are part of the site preparation for the new Admission and Financial Aid Center to be constructed directly across from the Humanities and Social Studies Complex at Park Street and Eighth Avenue.

The footprint of this new facility made it necessary to relocate the College's Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice (CRSSJ), as well as the three student language houses.

The CRSSJ is moving to a one-story, college-owned house at 913 Eighth Ave. Renovation and expansion of that structure, which will include respectful space for students of all religions and spiritual traditions, will be completed this summer. The current CRSSJ facility at 1233 Park St. will be razed in late July, as the last step to clear the site to prepare for new building construction.

"Grinnell College is committed to safety and we are working with local officials to have proper precautions in place, including barricading the roadways," says Rick Whitney, assistant vice president for facilities management. "Please obey all signs and warnings."

Regular construction updates will be distributed to local media outlets.