The public is welcome and is invited for a very interesting Preservation Presentation from Peter Franks.

A Pennsylvania native and well-rooted midwestern transplant, Pete Franks is a graduate of the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He has worked in the profession since the late 1980s, including time with firms in Washington DC, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Omaha.

Pete is the founder and president of The Franks Design Group, PC of Glenwood, Iowa; an architecture firm specializing in the sensitive treatment of existing and historic buildings. Since the firm’s establishment in 2006, they have worked on a wide variety of historically significant properties across the region. During the last 12 years, the firm has served as the architect for Downtown Revitalization Façade Rehabilitation Projects in twelve smaller western Iowa communities. Through these projects, they have impacted over 150 historic buildings.

Pete has been a presenter at National Alliance of Historic Preservation Commissions Forum, Statewide Preservation Conferences in Iowa and Missouri, The 2018 Iowa Downtown Conference, Iowa AIA Convention 2018, and the Centennial of the National Historic Landmark Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux City, Iowa.

His service background includes several years as a fire/rescue volunteer firefighter and EMS responder, Mills County Zoning Board of Adjustment board member and chair, and The East Mills Community School District Board of Education as a board member and board president. More recently, Pete has served AIA (American Institute of Architects) Iowa since 2019 as a twice-elected board director, serving as Secretary in 2021 and 2022, and 2nd Vice President in 2023. In 2024, he is AIA Iowa’s 1st Vice President/President-elect.