(Radio Iowa) – State officials started the process of closing the State Historical Research Center in Iowa City last summer — and a bill that’s cleared a Senate subcommittee would give the Iowa Department of Administrative Services authority to shut it down for good on June 30th. Republican Senator Carrie Koelker of Dyersville says Iowa taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for the Centennial Building in downtown Iowa City when there’s no support from Johnson County or fees from people and organizations storing materials there.

“This center’s been there since 1957,” Koelker said. “…I have visited it before and I know on recent visits it seems to be very disorganized.” Two lawsuits have been filed to try to overturn the agency’s move to close the facility and transfer materials to the State Historical Building in Des Moines and other locations. A judge has already ordered a temporary halt to that removal process, but the building WAS closed to the public in December.

Bill Page, a historic preservation consultant, says that limits access to documents at the Iowa City facility cities use to quality for state tax credits that help finance restoration of historic buildings. “History is good business,” he said. “The Centennial Building is good for history.” Dave Baker, a 37-year-old writer who focuses on Iowa history, has used the collection in Iowa City for his research. Baker says closing the facility sends the wrong message about the importance of Iowa history.

“I’m a business person, I can appreciate wanting to save money, but there’s got to be other ways to do that,” Baker said. “We fund things that we feel are important and if we’re not adequately funding the Historical Society, to me that says that’s not a priority for Iowa.”

A bipartisan group in the Iowa House, including House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann, are co-sponsoring a bill to require that both historical research centers in Des Moines and Iowa City are staffed and open to the public. The deputy director of the Department of Administrative Services says the agency cannot afford to operate both.