The demolition of an original Des Moines homestead that sat on the Iowa State Fairgrounds has frustrated a group of preservationists who had hoped to save the structure.

The house was torn down two weeks ago, following a November decision by the Iowa State Fair Board to remove it, said Gary Slater, the fair’s CEO.

The house sat atop a hill on the east side of the fairgrounds, next to Grandfather’s Barn, which now houses an Iowa wine exhibit.

The house had undergone numerous renovations since it was built in the late 1840s, and only around 30 percent of the structure resembled the original house.

“You’ve got to remember what you’re saving here; it’s not the original house, it’s a very different house,” Slater said. “The passion of some of those folks … had it been the original structure there, I would totally agree with them.”

While the board prefers efforts to preserve the fair’s historic structures, issues such as asbestos and the house’s structural integrity rendered any preservation efforts on the house not cost-effective, Slater said.

The fair has restored buildings including Grandfather’s Barn, Pioneer Hall and the Varied Industries Building.

Des Moines area preservationist Kent Carlson disagrees with the fair’s assessment that efforts to save the homestead would have been futile.

He points to the All Saints church in Stuart, built between 1908 and 1910, as an example of successful preservation.

After an arsonist destroyed the church in 1995, it was restored into a community center with the help of state grant money. The architects used much of the salvageable original material in the construction.

“They took and spent a lot of money to turn that building into something different,” Carlson said. “It’s not All Saints church anymore, but it still has a strong tie to the community.”

The fair board’s 16 members come from districts across the state, and Carlson suggested that they might have chosen differently if they were more familiar with Polk County and Des Moines. Slater, Gov. Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey are the only members who live or work in Des Moines.

“None of them have a clue about our city and county heritage,” Carlson said. “The fastest way for a building to disappear is to have a board in charge of it.”

In an attempt to organize opposition to the board’s decision, Carlson started a Facebook pagetitled “Save the Iowa State Fairgrounds Original Homestead.”

On the page, some fans discussed organizing petitions to be presented to the board at its meeting this Wednesday, though the house was demolished before they received the chance.

Brenda Harvey, a Des Moines resident who lives near the fairgrounds, is one of those who planned on circulating a petition among neighbors and attending the meeting.

“I felt like they did it underhandedly and did not want to hear the public’s response,” Harvey said. “It just had so much to do with the fairgrounds’ history.”

Slater said he and the board took in only a handful of complaints. Jerry Parkin, a board member from Earlham, said he received only one complaint.

On the Facebook page, Carlson compiled a history of the homestead, which he says is one of the earliest houses built in the area.

According to Carlson’s research, John Harris, the home’s builder, was at the meeting at Fort Des Moines in 1848 when a group of early settlers established land claims in what is now Polk County.

Until around six years ago, the house had been home to fair superintendents and was not open to the public.

In the original nomination for the fairgrounds to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the house was not listed as a contributing resource and was designated as “intrusive.”

With the house demolished, the fair will have further opportunities to develop the site, though no plans are currently in the works, Slater said.