For more information contact:
Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
Citizen Advisory Board:Bill Menner Robin Anderson David Bernstein Claire Celsi Samantha Erickson Mark Ginsberg Tom Hanafan Quentin Hart Terry Lynch Gil Spence Amanda Styron Rita Vargas
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Iowa’s new Great Places identifiedFor Immediate Release: October 27, 2006 DES MOINES – The Department of Cultural Affairs today announced Adams County, Dubuque, Fairfield, Guttenberg, Jackson County and Mason City as Iowa’s next Great Places.
The announcement came after the Iowa Great Places Citizen Advisory Board concluded a four-day tour of 12 finalist locations and made its recommendations Thursday to DCA Director Anita Walker, who identified the new Great Places today during a press conference at the State Historical Building. The state and the new Great Places are expected to develop work plans and sign Memorandums of Understanding later this year.
“This week has been inspiring” Walker said. “In every community, neighborhood and place we visited, Iowans shared their hopes and dreams for the future of their communities. Every place that participated showed remarkable commitment to their place and to the program. The finalists were incredible and truly are all Great Places. The interest, enthusiasm and energy shows there are people all over this state with the passion to achieve their vision – we just have to help them make it a reality.”
Iowa Great Places is a program created by Gov. Tom Vilsack that calls on state agencies to partner with Iowans in a new way by combining state resources with local assets to make Iowa’s communities, neighborhoods, districts and regions great places where people want to live, work and raise a family.
“What makes Iowa Great Places so successful is that it frees individuals and organizations from traditional mindsets so they can collaborate in new and meaningful ways,” Vilsack said. “When we have the freedom to be creative, we can be better and more efficient in meeting the needs and desires of our communities. We are truly changing the landscape in Iowa – not in just a few cities and towns, but in communities throughout the state.”
Now in its second year, the program continues to draw interest from enthusiastic Iowans in every corner of the state. Representatives from 71 places expressed interest in visioning and enhancing their place and could choose a “short” or “long” track based on their readiness to move forward with their plans. Places that chose the long track option can work with state agency coaches to further develop their proposals for consideration in future years. Thirty-five places submitted proposals on the short track last month. State agency advisors and the Citizen Advisory Board narrowed the group to 12 finalists in late September.
In developing their proposals, places were asked to address seven unique and authentic qualities that make places special: engaging experiences; rich, diverse populations & cultures; a vital, creative economy; clean and accessible natural and built environments; well-designed infrastructure; a shared attitude of optimism that welcomes new ideas; and based on a diverse and inclusive cultural mosaic.
This year’s newly identified Great Places join Clinton, Coon Rapids and Sioux City. Following are summaries of the proposals submitted by this year’s newly identified Great Places:
Adams County – Adams County proposes to build a stronger foundation to invest more in the arts, cultural and heritage tourism, recreation and other elements that contribute to a high quality of life. The building blocks of that foundation include continued preservation of the French Icarian Colony Village, further renovation of the Corning Opera House Cultural Center, development of a new aquatic center, increased community beautification on Corning’s main thoroughfare, conversion of existing buildings into the Corning Center for the Fine Arts, development of amenities at Lake Icaria for camping, continued restoration of Johnny Carson’s birthplace and development of Cedar Hills at Lake Icaria as a second-home community/resort facility.
Dubuque – Dubuque’s proposal calls for building a tri-state community health center, expanding the Mississippi River Museum campus with Rivers of America Museum, renovating the historic portion of Carnegie Stout Library to expand city library services, building a state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor performing arts center, partnering with local education professionals to create bi-lingual curriculum, developing an integrated walking/biking/hiking trail system, developing passenger train service, identifying a warehouse district by converting buildings into multi-use structures, creating the Recovery Center to offer mental health substance abuse service and implementing a plan to offer community-wide Wireless service.
Fairfield – Drawing on its arts community, local foods and cultural richness, Fairfield’s vision works to expand the dynamic economy through a new Civic Center, marketing plan and business incubator, and an investors’ roundtable. It works to improve the natural beauty, redeveloping its downtown streetscape, restoring the Maasdam Barns and implementing a bikeway/walkway plan for the community. It enhances educational opportunities with its community supported radio station, sustainable living educational opportunities and educational kiosks. It works to cultivate the cultural richness and recreational opportunities through a trails system, a Vedic Observatory, and its 1st Friday Art Walk. It works to strengthen opportunities for community philanthropy and enhances art projects around the area.
Guttenberg – A finalist in last year’s Pilot Project, Guttenberg has made extensive progress on last year’s proposal, an effort to redevelop the riverfront. This year’s proposal continues development with a branding campaign, Marina dredging, shoreline stabilization, mussel relocation, slips and docks and educational kiosks.
Jackson County – Jackson County’s proposals focuses on developing and expanding canoe trails on the Maquoketa River, hooking into the proposed Mississippi River Trail via the Jackson County Bike Trail, rehabilitating the Clinton Engines Administration Building (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) as a museum dedicated to the history of business and industry, providing people with disabilities access to sidewalks in Bellevue’s commercial area, creating Bellevue’s Mill Creek Walkway and preserving the Jackson County Insane Asylum to make it safe for demonstrating the kind of treatment administered to mentally ill patients in the past.
Mason City – “Pride of the Prairie” proposes to reconnect the Park Inn Hotel – designed by Frank Lloyd Wright – with the adjacent City National Bank building to create a historically significant hotel and conference center in downtown Mason City. The proposal also calls for installing wayfinding signage, maps and kiosks, and the development of an interpretive center to complement the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Stockman House.
More information about Iowa Great Places is available at www.iowagreatplaces.gov.
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