Grinnell College will become home to Salisbury House's collection of rare books, documents

Salisbury House is parting with one of the things that has made the historic west-side Des Moines home so special: A collection of more than 3,000 rare books and documents from its stately library will go to Grinnell College.

Executive Director Kit Curran isn’t saying how much the sale later this summer of that collection — including treasures like William Shakespeare’s Second Folio and a leaf from the original printing of the Gutenberg Bible in 1455 — will fetch.

"It is our practice not to share that information," she said. 

But she did say the Salisbury House Foundation will receive full market value for the collection, and that will allow the foundation to pay off nearly $2 million in debt acquired for repairs that were needed to stabilize the building and replace the roof.

After some stressful years, it will also put the house museum back on a path to financial sustainability.

“As sad as everyone is, and as much as this tugs on their heartstrings, it’s going to be a relief,” Curran said.

The roughly $11 million home and its valuable collection at 4025 Tonawanda Drive have been the subject of scrutiny in the past few years, as revenues have dwindled and staff have been laid off or quit.

Previously:Des Moines' famous Salisbury House is losing workers and money

The historic Tudor, gothic and Carolean-style manor home provides arts and cultural programming for about 15,000 visitors annually, including this month’s Shakespeare on the Lawn. It was built between 1923 and 1928 by businessman and entrepreneur Carl Weeks, who is credited with inventing cosmetic foundation out of face powder and cold cream.

Grinnell officials have said acquiring the collection — including signed books and documents from Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, John Singer Sargent and Walt Whitman — will allow the private university to incorporate new and exciting resources for research and teaching.

The college also plans to digitize the collection, so it can be shared in a more interactive way with patrons of the home on Tonawanda. Because it was so valuable and fragile, the collection has not been available for use by visitors.

Curran said both parties facilitated the sale, as Grinnell prepares to make improvements to a library vault that houses its special collections. The move will keep the Weeks collection in central Iowa, as opposed to the foundation being forced to sell piecemeal.

"This is something to be celebrated instead of being seen as something sinister," she said.

But word of the sale also has renewed criticism by some former employees who complained last year to Watchdog that the nonprofit was being mismanaged.

At the time of a column last October, at least nine people — including the curator, the volunteer coordinator and the marketing director — had been let go for lack of revenue or quit because of an increasingly toxic environment, the employees said.

This spring, the longtime buildings and grounds employee resigned.

Some of those employees have complained Curran has not been an effective fundraiser; Curran has said the home's debt, which she inherited, made it difficult to raise funds.

Unlike other well-known house museums around the country that were gifted to foundations, Salisbury House and its collection were bought and paid for by the nonprofit foundation.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation and others have questioned whether too many such museums exist around the country. Some have suggested such small, traditional niche museums either need endowments to survive or must find a broader, less traditional purpose to pay the bills and serve their communities.

Curran contends Salisbury's struggle is similar to that of other historic house museums across the country. She says attendance to events has increased substantially, and she's employing a full staff again.

The home has just started a volunteer program on Mondays to help maintain the home's gardens and grounds.

"Sometimes you have to come in and get your own team," she said. "Something had to be done."

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Contact her at lrood@dmreg.com, 515-284-8549 on Twitter @leerood or at Facebook.com/readerswatchdog.​​​​​​​