Dubuque, IA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Dubuque City Code section 16-10-4 lists the structure situated on Pt. Lot 1, Government Lots 1 and 2, at the terminus of Monument Drive, as the Julien Dubuque Monument Landmark, one of eleven designated landmarks and landmark sites that also include the William M. Black dredge, Dubuque City Hall, the county courthouse and jail, the Mathias Ham House, the Shot Tower, Four Mounds Estate, Carnegie Stout Public Library, the White Water Creek Bridge and Eagle Point Park. Section 16-10-5 bars demolition of any designated landmark or landmark site unless, after an application and hearing before the Historic Preservation Commission, the commission issues a certificate of appropriateness or a certificate of economic nonviability.

Section 16-10-5 also prohibits demolition by neglect: the owner must keep all exterior portions, and any interior portions necessary to prevent deterioration, in good repair. Under section 16-10-6, no building permit or site plan approval for altering a landmark may be issued until the Planning Services Department and the commission review the work; the commission must act within 60 days of a complete application (deemed approved if it misses that deadline absent an applicant-consented extension) and must find the work complies with the chapter's standards and will not have a substantial adverse effect on the property's historic or architectural significance. Ordinary maintenance and repair that does not change the exterior appearance is exempt from this permit review.