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May 26, 2023

Iowa Wesleyan auctioning campus contents, from wrestling mats to Steinways

Online auction begins Aug. 14 and continues over five days Jul. 14, 2023 11:07 am, Updated: Jul. 14, 2023 4:39 pm MOUNT PLEASANT — No decision has been made yet about the future of the 60-acre campus

Online auction begins Aug. 14 and continues over five days

Jul. 14, 2023 11:07 am, Updated: Jul. 14, 2023 4:39 pm

MOUNT PLEASANT — No decision has been made yet about the future of the 60-acre campus that now-shuttered Iowa Wesleyan University called home for 181 years, but much of the equipment that filled its halls and supported its students in their academic and athletic endeavors could find a second act when they go up for auction next month.

Over the span of five days, Backes Auctioneers of Raymond will host an online auction of items used across the Mount Pleasant campus — from wrestling mats and weight room equipment to Steinway pianos and an array of library books.

Backes will move through different campus facilities on each of the five days:

Day 1 on Aug. 14 will feature the entire contents of the Holland Student Union and Wesleyan’s off-site wrestling facility. The union offered food service, meaning cooking and kitchen equipment will be available. It also housed the Tiger spirit store, student lounges and conference rooms. Via the wrestling room, weight room equipment will be available, along with wrestling mats, sports therapy equipment, office amenities, an electric lift and more.

Day 2 on Aug. 16 will concentrate on the PEO Memorial Building, the university chapel, music building and library. Backes on its website reports a “fabulous offering of pianos to include Steinways, Baldwins, and Yamahas,” plus library books and shelves, school desks and chairs and office equipment.

Day 3 on Aug. 21 will move through the science building and the president’s residence.

“The science building will be loaded with very nice classroom desks and chairs, soap stone and black laminate top lab tables, estimate 80 microscopes (there are some high dollar scopes in this), lab test equipment, vent hoods and all the support items that makes this building run smoothly,” according to the auction summery, reporting “a good lineup of furniture and fitness equipment from the president’s residence.”

Day 4 on Aug. 23 will auction items from the Wesleyan shop, old gym and a 2005 dormitory. Offerings will include dormitory furniture, baseball indoor batting nets and pitching machines, football lockers, indoor turf and track and field pits. The shop will include parts and supplies, plus a school bus and two vans.

Day 5 on Aug. 28 will auction off items from Hershey Hall, which housed the music program, and “print equipment as well as art supplies, kilns and pottery related assets.”

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A date for an in-person viewing of the items on the Mount Pleasant campus hasn’t yet been set, according to Backes. There is an 18 percent online buyers fee for winner bidders, plus sales tax.

All the online auctions begin at 10 a.m. on their respective dates.

Iowa Wesleyan — one of the oldest universities west of the Mississippi and the second-oldest in Iowa — graduated its final class in May, after financial woes compelled it in March to announce the end of its historic run.

Having opened in 1842 — before Iowa became a state in 1846 — Iowa Wesleyan in recent years had run into similar challenges facing other small private not-for-profit liberal arts colleges: enrollment concerns paired with a shrinking endowment, compounded by rising operating costs due to inflationary pressures and a “significant drop” in philanthropic giving.

Although Wesleyan was struggling before the pandemic, its net assets fell to $4 million in the 2022 budget year from $12.5 million in 2018 and $28.7 million a decade earlier in 2012.

In its efforts to survive, Iowa Wesleyan partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office on a loan for more than $26 million. Wesleyan President Christine Plunkett also pleaded with Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office for $12 million in COVID-19 relief funds, which she denied.

Now that Wesleyan has lost its fight, the Mount Pleasant community has convened an Iowa Wesleyan Task Force to work with the still-intact Iowa Wesleyan board of trustees and the USDA on next steps for the vacant property.

As part of that work, the group has created an “Imagine Mount Pleasant” website to collect ideas and suggestions from community members. Rachel Lindeen, executive vice president of the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance, this week told The Gazette the “response has been great.”

“Lots of good ideas,” she said. “The list has been shared with the Iowa Wesleyan board of trustees and the USDA-Rural Development Special Asset Unit team.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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