{"id":111734,"date":"2026-01-25T08:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T08:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111734\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T08:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T08:21:14","slug":"history-of-cedar-rapids-dairy-queen-cited-in-local-landmark-application-homegrown-iowan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/111734\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Cedar Rapids Dairy Queen cited in local landmark application \u2013 Homegrown Iowan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Dairy Queen in the Mound View neighborhood of Cedar Rapids on 16th Street NE was built in 1954. (photo\/Cindy Hadish)<\/p>\n

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa \u2014 Already a cornerstone for the Mound View neighborhood, one of the remaining walk-up Dairy Queens is seeking an official designation with the city of Cedar Rapids as a local historic landmark.<\/p>\n

Dairy Queen #4, at 501 16th St. NE, had the first review of its local landmark application in front of the city\u2019s Historic Preservation Commission on Jan. 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

Built in 1954, the Dairy Queen celebrated 70 years in business last year. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A photo of Don Myers, a past owner of the Dairy Queen with his wife, Mary Ann Myers, is shown during the Historic Preservation Commission meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cute little thing and people love it,\u201d owner Karla Sibert said of the 540-square-foot building.<\/p>\n

Sibert, who has operated the business for more than eight years, is just the third owner of the 16th Street Dairy Queen. <\/p>\n

A local landmark is an individual building designated by city ordinance as being historically significant. <\/p>\n

Cedar Rapids currently has nine local landmarks, with the Zastera Pharmacy building<\/a>, at 1135-1137 Ellis Blvd. NW, and Arthur Elementary School<\/a>, 2630 B Ave. NE, added last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Zastera Pharmacy building was designated a local historic landmark in Cedar Rapids in 2025. (photo\/Cindy Hadish)<\/p>\n

The nonprofit Save CR Heritage<\/a> is reviving the Zastera building to serve as a storefront and neighborhood hub, while the Eastern Iowa Arts Academy<\/a> has repurposed Arthur, which closed as a neighborhood school in 2024.<\/p>\n

Any exterior changes to local landmarks are subject to review by the Historic Preservation Commission, while the designation protects the buildings from future demolition.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Arthur Elementary was built in 1914 and opened in 1915 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo\/Cindy Hadish)<\/p>\n

The Dairy Queen application noted the businesses expanded rapidly after first opening in 1940, with more than 100 by 1947. Dairy Queen #1, at 3304 First Ave. NE, is the oldest in the Cedar Rapids area.<\/p>\n

According to the application, the design of the walk-up, treats-only Dairy Queen on 16th Street reflects a rare surviving example of mid-20th Century commercial roadside architecture along a well-traveled thoroughfare.<\/p>\n

The commission will vote on whether or not the application should move to the next step in the process during its meeting on Feb. 12.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Sibert has been searching for photos of the Dairy Queen in its early years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much history in that neighborhood,\u201d she said, citing Grant Wood\u2019s childhood home and related buildings in the Mound View area. \u201cIt keeps that neighborhood alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

More: See photos of the Dairy Queen\u2019s 70th anniversary celebration<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Owner Karla Sibert stands outside the Dairy Queen on 16th Street NE, Cedar Rapids in August 2025. (photo\/Cindy Hadish)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dairy Queen in the Mound View neighborhood of Cedar Rapids on 16th Street NE was built in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":{"0":"post-111734","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-nyc","11":"tag-queens","12":"tag-queens-headlines","13":"tag-queens-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}