The C.S.P.S. Hall in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, USA was built during 1890-91 and expanded twice in the next two decades. It was a social and cultural center of the local

Czech-Slovak Protective Society The Czech-Slovak Protective Society (CSPS), which became the Czecho Slovakian Association, was an organization supporting the welfare of Czech and Slovak immigrants to the United States. The Czech-Slovak Protective Society started as an insurance s ...

(C.S.P.S.). The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. In 2002 it was included as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

in the Bohemian Commercial Historic District. The C.S.P.S. was an organization that began with offering a kind of insurance to members. The first lodge of the C.S.P.S. in Cedar Rapids was founded in 1879 and there were three by 1882. The building is a local adaptation of

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

architecture. with The building was damaged in the 2008 flooding of Cedar Rapids, but underwent a major renovation in 2011 that preserved its historic character. Beginning in 1992, the building was used by Legion Arts, a nonprofit organization, to offer visual art displays, theatre, and concerts. This mission was taken over in 2020 by a new non-profit called CSPS Hall.

'cspshall.org

References

Buildings and structures completed in 1891 Czech-Slovak Protective Society Czech-American culture in Iowa Buildings and structures in Cedar Rapids, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Cedar Rapids, Iowa Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Iowa 1891 establishments in Iowa Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Iowa {{LinnCountyIA-NRHP-stub

See also

References