Five One 8 opened as new creative center

Having friends is one of life’s greatest treasures. They are a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen and free help when needed, like when Phillip and Traci Lamb purchased the building at 518 N. 4th St. in Red Oak.

To put it lightly, the structure needed serious help to transform it into the beautiful venue it is today.

“How did this all happen, long hours by great friends also known as the tribe: Barry Lovig, Kari Bloom, Shawn Cooper, Shelle and Greg Brower, Karen and Dan Crouse, Christel and Eric Nelson,” said Phillip. “If it wasn’t for a great group of friends, it would not be what it is today.”

The Lambs purchased the building in December 2017, after looking at several other buildings in town.

“Something about this building kept grabbing my attention, even though our original plan was a two story building so we could live in the second floor,” said Lamb. “Clint Rubey helped us see how our vision could work in this building. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done to save this piece of our hometown.”

The building was built in 1896 and has housed a shoe store, insurance, real estate, dentists, physicians, jewelers, appliances, milliner, flower store, hardware store, barber and even a fruit store.

“Many people in Red Oak remember it as LeRettes TV & Appliance and before that Milledge Hardware,” Lamb said.

After the Lambs purchased it, it was going to be called the Fountain Square Gallery but plans changed and evolved.

“As we worked on the building with a great group of friends, we decided there were many more things we could do with the space. We want to do many things like music and parties, but intend to keep art as a main focus,” Lamb said.

As a “creation location,” Lamb said they will rent the space for events and will be hosting live music events on a monthly basis

“We will host art classes taught by local southwest Iowa artists. We will have art shows and at some point there will be art in the building all the time and not just for popup events.”

Lamb commented there aren’t enough pages in the newspaper for everything that was removed and everything that was done to the building to make it what it is today.

In short, Lamb said multiple ceilings were removed, saving as much tin, metal and lumber as possible. The cedar shake roof and framework was removed from when it was a hardware store, paneling taken down, plaster removal and much more; pretty much, Lamb said the building was gutted.

“Anything we could recycle was recycled or repurposed. The rest was unfortunately taken to the landfill, as it could not be reused, recycled or repurposed. After completely gutting the facility and removing the elevator, we started building back to what we needed to get everything we wanted out of the space.

Although it’s not completely done, Lamb said the Five One 8 is available for special events, business gatherings and private parties.

AS for the unique logo, Lamb said they’ve had a lot of questions about the reason the 9 hangs off the “E” in One.

“The 8 is dangling from the “e” in our logo, because of the condition the building was in when we decided to take it on as a project. The building was barely hanging on and needed saved; therefore the dangling 8 and that is how I designed the logo.”

If interested in renting the facility, or for more information, contact Lamb at phil@thefiveone8.com or on its Facebook page, Five One 8.