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Pink Palace, or Toxic Dump?
Reporting By: Erin Crowley and Janelle Penny
Web Site Design By: Erin Crowley
The Iowa-Illinois Manor appears to be the average college apartment complex: crushed Keystone Light cans in the corners, cracking paint on the walls, and sounds of video games audible from the hallway. The building even has a charming nickname, “The Pink Palace,” because of the pale pink bricks that cover its exterior.
 Photo By: Erin Crowley |
Click on Pink Palace for Map of Superfund Site |
Carlos Caceros, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Iowa, has been a resident of the Pink Palace since August. His apartment was cluttered with dirty dishes, and large posters of half-naked women covered the walls. Like many of the residents, Caceros had come to the Pink Palace in search of a location close to the UI campus and downtown Iowa City. After being shown the apartment, he decided to move in. It wasn't until he was signing his lease that he was made aware of one important detail.
The Pink Palace sat atop a concentration of toxic chemicals from the turn of the century, buried 60 feet below the ground's surface.
"They didn't tell us until we signed the lease," Caceros said. "When they were showing us the apartment, they didn't mention it. They just had me read something."
It was these chemicals which led to the designation of the Iowa-Illinois Manor property and nearby Ralston Creek as a Superfund site in 1991, eight years after the apartment building was constructed. A plan for cleaning up the hazardous area was released in October 2006.