The deed for the old downtown hospital property was turned over to the City of Marshalltown on Wednesday after a judge’s ruling in the city’s favor.

Following Tuesday’s roughly-one hour non-jury trial, both parties — the city and Scott Covalt, the head of CD Marshalltown and the property owner — waited for the outcome of the case the city brought forward.

In September 2025, the city filed a 657A petition that would allow them to intervene when an abandoned structure is determined to be a danger to the neighborhood. The city is not seeking permanent ownership. The trial was postponed a few times until it finally got underway roughly nine months after filing.

The city received the verdict from Judge Christopher Polking, granting the title to the city free and clear of encumbrances.

In the eight-page filing, he wrote about the various problems with the property, which has been vacant since Covalt acquired it in 2022. Property taxes and special assessments are delinquent. The building has not had utilities for years, is out of compliance with code and not fit for human habitation or use. The building was not secured and exposed to the elements, leading to further deterioration.

“There were no efforts shown to have been taken by the property owner to rehabilitate the building and grounds, despite regular and frequent notices from the city,” Polking wrote. “There was no evidence that any of the many notices were ever complied with. No good faith effort to restore the property to productive use by the owner is shown, and on the contrary the property has continued to deteriorate with no apparent efforts seen. The only known efforts to maintain or secure the property have been taken by the city, which has expended considerable efforts to do so. Debris has accumulated, vegetation has been uncut, and vermin have been present.”

Notices were sent in October 2023 regarding junk and garbage, in January 2024 regarding snow and ice, in June 2024 about 30 tires being dumped on the property, and, in 2025, during the months of May, July and August for grass and weeds. Covalt did not resolve any of the issues.

In December of 2024, the city sent Covalt notice of the building not being secured and multiple broken windows. He was given 30 days to secure the building, but did not. In March, the city sent a nuisance notice which required compliance within 10 days. Covalt did not, and the city boarded up the building at a cost of $32,424 to prevent children, “vagrants, criminals and immoral persons” from gaining access.

The judge also called the multiple pictures of the property shown by city personnel during the trial as doing “considerable work towards showing the state of the property.” The pictures showed broken windows, ceilings that were pulled down, wires pulled out, debris, graffiti, evidence of squatters, stagnant water, fire and water damage and vermin.

“The pictures show a property in an absolutely awful state of disrepair, that is clearly unsafe and a haven for criminal activity,” Polking wrote. “. . . The building is actively unsafe and constitutes a danger to the public health, safety and welfare, in addition to being a blight.”

The property had clearly been abandoned as defined in Iowa Code Section 657A.10B(5), he wrote.

The other respondents, in addition to CD Marshalltown, were Finding Serenity, AJS of Des Moines, ServiceMaster and the Marshall County Treasurer. Polking wrote that Finding Serenity never responded and thus was in default. The remaining three had filed disclaimers of interest in the property.

City Administrator Carol Webb said Covalt had indicated in court he would file an appeal, depending on the decision.

“Now we just have to wait and see,” she said. “I think he has 20 days. Now we are just needing to think about the next steps to take if there is no appeal.”

The city has taken on some of the responsibilities of the large property, including mowing, cutting down weeds and making sure the building is boarded up so no one can gain access.

“People are still getting in, though,” Webb said. “If we see some of the boards have been removed, we replace them. We are doing the best we can to keep it closed, but people are still getting in.”

She added that the city has been advised by attorney Steven Leidinger to not take any big action on the property until they find out whether or not an appeal is filed. Then city personnel can assess what the next big steps are.

The Reimagine Marshalltown comprehensive plan lays out some possibilities of what can be done with the old hospital property, such as creating green space, single family homes, building a 15,000 to 20,000 square foot community center with a kitchen and transforming the former McFarland clinic into a business incubator.

Webb said they want to leverage Reimagine Marshalltown in moving forward with the property.

“The city’s vision of redevelopment is similar to the way it looks in the Reimagine Marshalltown plan,” she said.

What exactly the entire project would cost is not yet known, and estimations are not available. Webb said first they have to get an estimation on demolishing the hospital building.

“Right now we just want to get a better understanding of what needs to be remediated prior to working on the site,” she said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.