Main Street Feature by The Iowan magazine

Colfax • Greenfield • Waterloo • Sac City • Burlington

the people. the places. the stories. the life.

Main Street

Is Back! From the January/February 2011 issue

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Communit y at I t s C o r e

a destination, an identity, an engine, a strategy: Main Street is reawakening Iowa downtowns T h e pa c k e t o f

Kern and other volunteers

Main Street, describing both a

recommendations was both exciting

started making visits. To Greenfield

statewide and national network

and daunting. A 2007 community

and Belle Plaine. To West Union

of ideas, advice, and support.

assessment by the Iowa Downtown

and Conrad. To State Center and

Valley Junction’s holiday event,

Resource Center — including

West Branch. “Every town we visited

Burlington’s entrepreneur program,

dozens of interviews with town

was so helpful and willing to share

West Union’s involvement with the

residents — resulted in some eye-

what it means to be a Main Street

county fair, Bloomfield’s experience

opening discoveries and creative

community, how to become a Main

applying for a federal grant — even

suggestions, remembers Colfax’s

Street community, the benefits you

an inspirational public relations

Julia Kern. Could this Main Street

receive as a Main Street community,”

campaign in Conway, South Carolina,

program work in her community?

says Kern, now director of Colfax

seemed a good fit for Colfax.

main str ee t of an initial three-year budget with adequate funds to hire a paid director, maintain an office, and support committee operations. An advisory council — made up of volunteers bringing private and public sector experience, architectural and historic preservation knowledge, and Main Street program understanding — reviews applications, scoring each one on elements such as proposed budgets and evidence Contributing photographers: Jacob boyd, Paul Gates, David C. Peterson, Lynn Wartgow

of funding, building inventory and community demographics, problem identification and economic trends, goals and expectations, and more. cooperation. Communities applying

“We have very high expectations.

was initiated less than two years

Though Colfax Main Street

for Main Street designation must

They have to be prepared to hit the

ago, Kern’s phone is already

first achieve consensus among

ground running,” emphasizes Main

ringing. “Other towns have called

local residents, government, and

Street Iowa State Coordinator Jane

us for assistance!” boasts Kern,

business owners that sufficient

Seaton. “After the application, the

proud of her community’s ability

commitment — in spirit and in

fun is just starting.”

to now contribute to the growing

dollars — exists to leverage the

Main Street Network.

Main Street program’s resources.

Similarly propelled to action, 63

Preparing for application is

the long haul

Iowa downtowns have adopted the

itself an exercise in commitment.

Main Street programs facilitate

grassroots strategy for revival since

Exploratory visits from and to

place-appropriate downtown

Main Street Iowa was established in

current Main Street communities

revitalization driven by local needs

1985. (There are currently 45 active

generally precede the designation of

and local resources. A salaried

Main Street communities in the state.)

a private nonprofit organization to

director, hired by the community,

The revitalization method is rooted

serve as governing body and policy

steers each individual Main Street

in historic preservation but goes well

board, as well as the development

program, but its navigation and its

beyond simply saving structures for posterity; a test-driven multipronged strategy aims to also save the economic potential of the downtowns anchored by those buildings.

the first steps By design and based on pilot program experiences, the Main Street Approach — developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation — is multifaceted and incremental, and its accomplishments depend on longterm dedication and goal-focused

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main street methodology The Main Street Four-Point Approach combines elements that work in concert to revitalize traditional business districts. Always tailored to meet local needs and tap local opportunities, the strategy leverages a community’s distinct assets and stimulates its empowerment — but not overnight. “Main Street is not a cookie cutter. It’s not a project with a beginning and an end,” emphasizes Thom Guzman, director of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center, which houses Main Street Iowa. “It’s an ongoing process.”

1 organization

2 design

Lots of different people want

Downtown must be a destination for shoppers, workers,

to see their commercial district

and visitors. All of its physical elements — buildings,

revitalized. When the efforts

storefronts, signage, parking, streetscaping, window

of the public sector, private

displays, and public space — should together announce

groups, and individual residents

your arrival (You are here) and issue an invitation (Come

all dovetail, the synergy is

see what we have to offer). The rehabilitation of historic

powerful. A volunteer board

buildings, facade

of directors and four volunteer

improvements,

subcommittees, all led by a

appropriate new

salaried Main Street program

construction, good

director, must incorporate diverse perspectives while

maintenance

reaching consensus and cooperation.

practices, and business and property owner education contribute to a cohesive,

3 business improvement

enhanced visual

A balanced commercial mix can effectively respond to

quality.

today’s consumers. Business retention, expansion, and recruitment; identification of potential market niches; conversion of un- and underused commercial space; and honed business practices strengthen a local economy.

4 promotion Image is everything, and Main Street communities must sell theirs to residents, visitors, and investors. Marketing, advertising, and special events fuel business and consumer confidence and community pride.

main str ee t fuel come from local volunteers, who make up the governing board of directors and four committees (each focused on one aspect of the Main Street Four-Point Approach). Countless other community members may volunteer their time and talents in fund-raising efforts and events. During the first three years, newly designated Main Street communities benefit from onsite training and technical assistance from the National Trust Main Street Center and Main Street Iowa staff, as well as private consultants. Vision and mission development; director, board, and committee training; architectural and design assistance;

peers enable Main Street

Individual communities support the

and strategic planning help set each

participants to share challenges

administrative costs of their Main

program’s course.

with and gain insight from member

Street programs with contributions

communities across the state

(monetary or in-kind) from local

has gathered steam, it continues to

and throughout the country. The

government, property and business

progress by tapping into a diverse

camaraderie is a powerful and vital

owners, foundations, and residents.

and growing network — statewide

resource, says Seaton. “There is

Funding for specific projects may be

and nationwide — of Main Street

strength in numbers.”

secured or supplemented through

Once a Main Street program

state and federal program grants.

communities. Quarterly workshops, ongoing training through distance

More than $979 million has

learning, the National Main Street

the good return

been invested to date in Main

Conference and the Iowa Downtown

Neither Main Street Iowa nor the

Street Iowa communities through

Summit, newsletters, and online

National Trust Main Street Center

a combination of local public and

discussion boards with revitalization

directly funds local programs.

private dollars, state funding, and federal grants. Data analysis reveals that every public dollar allocated to Main Street Iowa since its inception has leveraged nearly $80 from private business and investors — a noteworthy return on investment. The numbers are persuasive on the financial spreadsheet, but the real evidence is revealed on the downtown main street. “I go into a community with a different set of eyes now,” says Seaton. “You can tell — This is a Main Street community.”

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Three twentysomethings

nibbled on pizza and sipped red wine, chatting long into the night. The three graduates of Colfax-Mingo High School talked about their friends who had left. They also shared with each other their reasons for staying. They walked out of the restaurant that night gripped by an anticipation that wouldn’t let go. “Something clicked,” remembers Pam Weigle, describing that decisive conversation with Brad Magg and Julia Kern in 2008 that revealed a common dream. “I had a feeling the three of us were about to have a lasting impact on our town.” The threesome wanted to inspire Colfax, population 2,223, to care as deeply as they did about its future. And they wanted to have fun doing it. The entrepreneurial fires were stoked. Six months later a community-wide jazz funeral parade made its way down Front Street. Accompanied by the sliding moan of a trombone and the muted drone

main street moxie

the future leads today’s Colfax [ story by Deb Jansen | photography by Paul Gates ]

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of a trumpet, Colfax residents wrote down negative thoughts about the town and placed them in a casket. As honorary pallbearers carried the casket through downtown, the band changed its beat. Light-hearted music set feet to dancing, and community members joined the processional, twirling umbrellas and whirling their beads. Costumed participants cheered. People along the route waved handlettered signs of support: “Let’s go Main Street!” The parade ended in a city park, where the scribbled pieces of pessimism were buried and two new trees were planted. The parade marked an important turn in the road for Colfax, but the journey had only begun.

good vibes “Colfax has a rare resource — enthusiastic, young leaders, as well as established leaders who empower them,” says Thom Guzman, director of the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s (IDED) Iowa Downtown Resource Center, home

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P eo pl e feed o ff ou r vi b es. Th e y ’r e loo kin g to us fo r e n ergy and id e a s

to the Main Street Iowa program. “You won’t find that dynamic combination in many small towns.” Weigle, 28, rose as an entrepreneur in 2003 when she and her husband opened Georgioz Restaurant, a bistro specializing in gourmet pizzas and salads. Her establishment, just one mile south of I-80, has already succeeded in attracting pass-through travelers, as well as loyal Iowans within a 60-mile radius. Magg, 23, has been a precocious leader since fifth grade. “Back then I dreamed of owning a hot dog cart. My business plan consisted of pushing it around downtown Colfax. Of course, there wouldn’t have been enough business to make it work.” Magg laughs. “But I convinced my dad to take me to an auction anyway. I had $100 in my piggy bank. Of

“

course, the cart went for much higher than that!” While still in high school, Magg opened a catering business and served on the Chamber of Commerce. He now owns Goldie’s Ice Cream Shoppe in nearby Prairie City, where he cooks up the best pork tenderloin in the state, accordEnthusiastic, young leaders: Pam Weigle, Julia Kern, and Brad Magg (opposite). Ten commercial district businesses had benefitted from facade renovation (center) by the end of last year. The Downtown Revitalization Incentive Program offered a 25 percent reimbursement, up to $1,000 per project. During Main Street Colfax’s first year, volunteers (above) donated more than 3,300 hours toward the community’s betterment.

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Colfax’s transformation required new mind-sets and new habits. With enthusiasm catching, the city began to believe in downtown’s possibilities. Within its first year as a designated Main Street community, Colfax welcomed two new businesses and six new jobs. In July 2010, Main Street Iowa staff made a first-year visit to Colfax. They asked townspeople what they saw as the greatest accomplishment. While residents mentioned cleanup efforts, library beautification, and a weekly Farmer’s Market, the unified response was a sense of excitement about Colfax’s future.

THE NET W ORK I owa’ s 45 ac t i v e M a in S t r ee t co mm u n i t ie s range in population from 458 to 68,747. The state is home to the largest number of Rural Main Street programs in the nation — 22 — and 3 Urban Neighborhood District programs.

ing to Iowa Pork Producers. The Des Moines Register named him a 2010 Young Professional of the Year finalist. He’s currently an active member of the Colfax City Council. Kern, 31, recalls leadership taking hold in high school. “I was voted class president three years in a row. In my senior year I finally turned it down. I didn’t plan to live in Colfax, and I was afraid I’d end up organizing class reunions forever.” Now she’s excited by her hometown’s prospects and proud to see people working together to make a difference. Before becoming Colfax Main Street’s program director, she worked as a project manager for a Des Moines financial firm but volunteered regularly with the Colfax Visioning Committee, a precursor to Colfax Main Street. She organized Music in the Park, a monthly summer activity entering its sixth year. Recently she and her husband purchased an historic downtown building and renovated it for his law practice. “We’re kind of bossy, but it works for us,” says Weigle, grinning at Magg and Kern. They nod. “People feed off our vibes. They’re looking to us for energy and ideas. When we’re mad or down, the three of us get together to vent. But we’ve all agreed — we don’t take negativity into the community. Nobody wins if we do that.”

finding focus There were many people in Colfax who cared about its betterment. In fact, when Guzman was hired in 2007 to make a community assessment, he discovered four separate organizations focused on just that. “When I visited Colfax, I observed

so many people taking responsibility — four boards full of capable leaders — that no one was accountable,” says Guzman, describing lots of ideas generated by each group but few integrated into coordinated efforts aimed at developed goals. “I knew getting all those leaders to merge into a Colfax Main Street vision would be a big job.” It was. Initially some of Colfax’s existing leaders read Guzman’s report and recommendations with mixed reviews. Colfax had been coasting along for decades as a bedroom community to Des Moines. Over time, commuters made a greater number of purchases in the capital city before driving back home. As a result many downtown businesses lost income and eventually closed. Storefront properties showed telltale signs of neglect — boarded windows, crumbling bricks, peeling paint, rotting wood — and some had become firstfloor apartments. Transformation would involve not only time and money but also new mind-sets and new habits. Not everyone believed the town was ready for that much change. Even the City Council split on the issue. Weigle challenged the negativity. “The report gives Colfax a blueprint for success. Why wouldn’t we follow it?” she argued before the council. “Colfax deserves to become a Main Street Iowa town. We have to go for it!” Mayor David Mast agreed. He gathered Colfax leaders of all ages and authorized a Take Pride Where You Reside Committee in 2008. He recruited Weigle, Magg, and Kern, along with many others, and collectively the group identified specific steps to reach an overall goal — to ready Colfax to become a Main Street Iowa town.

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With enthusiasm catching, the committee grew to a dozen members. “I worked alongside young leaders at public events. I wanted townspeople to know I supported new leaders,” recalls Mast. “It was great to see them develop and take charge.” In 15 months the Take Pride Committee raised funds for a building improvement incentive grant, rallied local residents for community-wide cleanup days, organized entertainment events, held multiple town-hall meetings, recruited volunteers to rehabilitate building facades, and gathered nearly 500 pages of documentation needed for the Main Street Iowa application. Each of the existing four boards voted to merge into a single unified force. “Some of us met weekly, so we got a lot accomplished in a short amount of time. Typically a town spends three or four years to do what we did in one!” says Weigle. “We came with ideas and left with homework.”

Don’t Miss

chocolate malt made with hardserve ice cream from the 104-yearold soda fountain in Weirick & Patterson Pharmacy. Aly Williamson is a fifth-generation employee of a business anchor that’s been serving Colfax for more than a century.

obstacles become opportunities Every small town faces obstacles when revitalizing its downtown, and Colfax was no exception. Change is energizing to some but unsettling to others. Many take a wait-and-see approach. “Main Street Iowa has been great at teaching us how to connect with people,” says Magg. “Thom told us about CAVE dwellers — Citizens Against Virtually Everything. That group may be as large as 20 percent, and it’s really not possible to convince them to change.” Instead, explains Magg, hesitant residents will see their town differently when they have a good time together and see visual improvements, no matter how small. One of the community’s greatest obstacles occurred in August 2010, barely a year after Colfax Main Street had its official start. Two weeks before a scheduled community-wide celebration, the South Skunk River crested at a record 24 feet and spilled over its levee. Flood waters inundated neighborhoods on the town’s west side, covered streets and parks, and threatened many businesses. More than 200 homes were flooded and nearly every downtown business had some basement water damage. “We didn’t want to be insensitive to what people were going through, but we didn’t want to be beaten by flood waters either,” says Kern. The Colfax Main Street Board, committee chairs, and Director Kern met for an emergency meeting. “We scaled back a few activities and lowered our admission prices to Mineral Springs Days [an annual outdoor festival]. Judging

from the turnout, we made the right decision. Flood victims seemed happy to have a few hours’ respite despite their troubles. We’re proud of the fighter spirit in Colfax!” In two short years nearly $8,000 has been extended in local grants, made possible through private donations to Colfax’s Downtown Revitalization Incentive Program. Ten downtown buildings have been renovated, and nearly $80,000 of facade improvements have been completed through public funding and private investments. “I want to keep strengthening partnerships across the community to create a thriving downtown — it really represents how we see ourselves and support one another in Colfax,” stresses Kern. “In ten years my children will be entering junior high, and I want them to know there’s a future for them here if they want it.”

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The walk up the stairway is a trip

back in time. Old wood. Hard plaster. Aged light. Opening the door and looking down the long hallway, one can almost hear the hum of the sewing machines that once filled the rooms. Here nostalgia is mixed with light from new windows and the smell of fresh paint. The history, the patina — all part of the vision, the potential. The building was all but written off as hopeless. Windows were boarded. The back wall was shored up a few years ago to prevent it from caving in. The facade was shabby, to be kind. The main floor had been rented as a pool hall, inactive in recent years. The upstairs, home to many uses in its lifetime — including a sewing shop — was most recently a gun store, devoid of light and fresh air and sparsely visited. A few years ago the building was sold to two young men with high hopes that did not match the economic reality. That’s when Dennis Kellenberg stepped in.

building success

Progress by D esign renovations are good business in Greenfield [ story by Terri Queck-Matzie | photography by Jacob Boyd ]

Kellenberg now owns — partly or jointly — six buildings on the Greenfield Square. He has rehabilitated four storefronts and five apartments, doing much of the work himself. He traded a small house for the old pool hall. It’s become a town-center renovation dream — and business as usual for Kellenberg. His experience and skill, combined with design assistance through the Main Street program, have set the building on its way to becoming a success story for the town of 2,129. It now boasts refinished quartersawn

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oak plank floors in the front room of the street-level commercial space and a large two-bedroom apartment on the second floor. “I’ll make money on this,” says Kellenberg, getting to the heart of the matter. “I’ll have $40,000– $50,000 in it when I’m done and make $800 a month rent ($350 on the commercial space and $450 on the apartment). It won’t take long to make my money back.” He currently has no vacancies in his other properties. Both commercial and living space fill as soon as they are vacated. “People like to live on the square,” he says, standing in the new living room and gazing out a large, sunlit window onto the scene below. “They like to look out at that view.”

renaissance squared “That view” is impressive. Greenfield is a classic small town. Its buildings combine a century and a half of architecture and business ventures to form the heart of the community. The town center showcases a unique Lancaster square, one of only a handful in existence. Side streets

The reincarnation of the E.E. Warren Opera House (above and opposite, with its own aged

enter the public square in midblock, and alleys extend from the corners. In the center courtyard sits the Adair County Courthouse, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The courtyard is filled with foliage, as it should be in this Trees Forever community. Nearby, the distinctive copper turret of the E.E. Warren Opera House, another National Register occupant, pierces the skyline. Along with adjoining Hetherington and Taylor buildings, the Opera House is under renovation — on the way to becoming the Warren Cultural Center. Its partner project is Hotel Greenfield, now known as the Old Hotel, with a successful ground-floor restaurant since the 1980s but with two upper floors of rooms unused for decades. When completed the nearly entire city block will host restaurants, guest rooms, retail space, and an entertainment venue and conference center. Nearly $10 million in private investment and public

stairway) will retain native limestone walls and parquet wood floors. Dennis Kellenberg (below) shares the vision that has emerged in Greenfield, and he’s riding its potential. With Main Street Iowa design assistance, he’s bringing another success story (on the cover and page 22) to Greenfield.

grant dollars are mixed with local commitment and Main Street Iowa assistance. The stage presenting this renaissance-in-progress is framed by a recently completed $2.5 million streetscape. The city project — new lighting, sewers, streets, and sidewalks enhanced with brick trim, benches, and planters — was spearheaded by the Main Street Design Committee — a volunteer arm of Greenfield Chamber/Main Street and Development Corporation — and funded by a combination of special assessment tax dollars, grants, and city and Greenfield Municipal Utilities funds. THE IOWAN January/February 2011

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The Craft of Restoration Improving the atmosphere of Greenfield’s downtown district means dollars in the pocket for local craftsmen and the satisfaction of a job well done. Paul Bigelow of Bigelow Welding in nearby Bridgewater took a break from his usual business of repairing farm machinery to design and install a wrought-iron railing on the street level of the evolving Warren Cultural Center. “I like the challenge of doing something ornamental,” says Bigelow, “and I like the idea of doing a local job, of keeping the money we have here in the community.” The railing and stairway provide access to the lower levels of the Opera House and restore an important piece of the building’s historical character. The original openings below street level had been closed for many years and were reopened as part of the streetscape design in a costsharing agreement between the city and the Opera House Association. “It’s great to know I will be a part of upcoming history,” adds Bigelow, “that someday my kids and grandkids will look at that and know I did it.”

Led by Greenfield Chamber/Main Street, building restoration efforts have attracted $820,000 in private

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G r ee n fi e ld loo ks just li ke a lit tl e sn ow- glo b e vill ag e

dollars that have fueled 63 rehabilitation projects. A Main Street Design Grant enabled business owner Kathy Foster (below right) to invest in facade restoration for her storefront.

WALKING THE WALK Main Street Iowa is one of the few statewide coordinating programs in the country to provide onsite technical assistance utilizing field staff who once served as Main Street program directors and/or volunteers. Additional consultation is available through Certified Main Street Managers — current directors who have at least two years on-thejob experience and have completed certification training through the National Trust Main Street Center.

“That multitiered approach is key to Greenfield’s success,” says Main Street Iowa Design Consultant Tim Reinders, who has been in on Greenfield’s development since it became a Main Street community in 1995, personally designing many of the storefront improvement projects that create Greenfield’s ambiance. “There are individual storefront renovation, total building rehab, like Kellenberg’s, and large development projects like the Opera House, hotel, and streetscape.” “I sat here one night after the lighted Christmas parade, looking out through the little blue twinkle lights,” Kathy Foster tells from the waiting area of her hair salon on the north side of the square. “It was so calm, with snowflakes as big as diamonds. And I thought, ‘Greenfield looks just like a little snow-globe village.’”

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creating an environment Foster is one of nearly 50 business owners to utilize a Main Street Design Grant program that provides funds for facade restoration through the city and two local banks, First National and Union State. Along with grant

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Do n â&#x20AC;&#x2122; t Miss the sky view through porthole windows at the top of the Opera House turret.

THE IOWAN January/February 2011 All content ÂŠ 2011 The Iowan/Pioneer Communications, Inc., and may not be used, reproduced, or altered in any way without prior written permission.

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Fifteen years after it was gifted to the

dollars comes Main Street design assistance in the form of computerized renderings and suggestions ranging from construction specifics to paint colors. “The design assistance is a huge help,” says Ginny Kuhfus, director of Greenfield Chamber/ Main Street and Development. “Sometimes the improvements aren’t that big a deal — maybe paint or an awning — but even just that can make a big difference.” “There’s a lot of volunteer activity and grass roots effort in Greenfield,” adds Reinders. “But they also know when to utilize the professionals and outside resources.” The result is a bustling business district dotted with texture, color, accents, and character. “It creates an environment,” emphasizes Reinders. “There’s curb appeal for individual business and an overall picture that makes industry think Greenfield is a place worth coming to.” Behind the upgraded storefronts exist new business ventures 33

— a florist and a day spa nestled in among lawyers and insurance agents, jewelry and auto parts stores, plumbers and electricians, eateries and a movie theater. The effect is a downtown district that fits the Main Street ideal of historic preservation, utilization of existing assets, and a warm, customerfriendly atmosphere. For now, Kellenberg will forgo extensive facade renovation of his latest project. When time and money permit, he plans to add some creative painting and an awning and is tuck-pointing the sidewall. He’s also finishing the interior with the future in mind, leaving options open for restoring the original center entrance. As renovation and growth continue under the Main Street method, the designs are ready whenever he is. Greenfield has its blueprint for the future.

community, the E.E. Warren Opera House (below) is on its way to becoming the Warren Cultural Center, part of a larger design vision that incorporates the neighboring Free Press Building (above right) and the Old Hotel (above left). When complete, Greenfield’s town square will bill itself as an arts, commerce, and culture destination.

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Mary Ellen Warren recalls the day

in the early 1990s when Erl Schmiesing brought home good news. “We had admired the Main Street program for awhile but had been convinced it was only for smaller towns,” says Warren, recalling the Waterloo banker’s return from a meeting with a report on the program’s opportunities for Iowa’s urban areas. Warren, Schmiesing, and other downtown leaders got to work, filling out paperwork, studying bylaws, and building support in this city of nearly 69,000. At the time, Waterloo’s downtown exemplified the reason that The National Trust for Historic Preservation created the Main Street program — to reverse the decay of town centers and restore their physical and economic viability. “There were lots of empty storefronts, especially after the ’80s farm crisis and John Deere,” says Warren, remembering the

A former jewelry store is a polished gem in a downtown that is mining new possibilities. That’s more good news for Mary Ellen Warren (below).

’Loo Redo Waterloo is a poster child for the Main Street mission [ story by Jim Duncan | photography by Paul Gates ]

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main event

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th e trick is to b rin g p eo pl e h er e in th e fi r st pl ace

farm equipment manufacturer cutting its workforce by half. “Most of the lost employees were middle-management people who were downtown shoppers.” Business and building owners, including Warren, were impacted, and Waterloo’s downtown identity deteriorated. “When you

Once mocked in a Wall Street Journal article as “a strip of mostly empty buildings with For Rent signs in their papered-over windows,” Waterloo today boasts renovated buildings and a reenergized business district (above and page 20). Mitch Biersner (right) steers an image campaign that is bringing residents back to the city center.

“

have to walk by an empty building, it’s not with a warm and fuzzy feeling and you don’t feel safe. When you have to walk by a bunch of empty buildings, the feeling is multiplied. It got so I could park on Fourth, and I would be the only car there,” recalls Warren.

Downtown Waterloo faced not only an economic challenge but also a public relations one. Reenergizing the city’s core would require reinventing it. In 1996 the Cedar Skyline Corporation, the UpDowntowners, the Waterloo Downtown Council, and the Waterloo Redevelopment Authority merged resources and resolve under a single umbrella — Main Street Waterloo (MSW). The new partnership threw its brand and aegis behind downtown events and entertainment, changing moods and minds along Fourth Street. “The trick is to bring people here in the first place,” says Main Street Waterloo’s Marketing and Event Coordinator Mitch Biersner. To that end, Main Street Waterloo touts downtown as a destination, promoting events like the annual Sullivan Brothers road races and the Battle of Waterloo wrestling tournament. Friday’Loo in Lincoln Park draws big crowds all summer with music and libations. Twice a week Farmers’ Markets in Expo Park put downtowners in touch with rural folks. “BBQ ’Loo & Blues Too!” will return this July for its tenth annual celebration in Lincoln Park, where the 5th annual Iowa Irish Fest will be held in August. October brings a Pub Crawl, Witches Brew ’Loo, and the Tour de ’Loo, a mobile open house that highlights a year of new projects. “Downtown Lights the Night” kicks off Christmas season, and Festivus has become a rite of spring in which volunteers clean up the downtown. The actual facelift of the Main Street district was gradual, and locals were skeptical. “I was against

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it at first, thought it was a waste of time and money,” remembers lifelong Waterloo resident June Hayes. “I’m 83, so I remember when downtown was full of businesses. I saw it all go down and I saw it come back up again. I never thought they could bring it back!”

repentant angel Newton’s Paradise Cafe is the latest of about a dozen restaurants and bars to reclaim historic downtown space. Its story exemplifies that of many new businesses created on Main Street Waterloo’s watch. Newton’s Jewelry store closed in 2007 after being in business since 1914. The building’s Carrara glass structure represented Deco architecture popular in downtowns during the 1920s and ’30s. Its rotating neon sign

Promotional events produced a mood swing in downtown, and Jim Walsh noticed. His restored mixed-use buildings have attracted businesses and residents. Blake Landau (below) returned to Waterloo and discovered a jewel of a space for his new restaurant. The iconic rotating sign outside complements a revolving menu inside.

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The Fowler Company Wholesale Grocers began operations on E. 4th in the 19th century. Today’s community dines, works, and lives in the renovated building (above). Main Street Waterloo’s successes have made a believer out of June Hayes (bottom right), who has lived in or close to downtown her entire life.

JUST RE W ARDS Iowa boasts 7 Great American Main Street Award winners — Bonaparte, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Corning, Dubuque, Elkader, and Keokuk — each recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as a success story for preservation-based downtown revival. (Learn more about the recognition online at preservationnation.org; click on Main Street, then National Main Street Awards.) Main Street Iowa was one of 23 award winners honored in 2010 by the National Trust, which tapped the state program as a “preservation powerhouse.”

was a civic landmark, a beacon of downtown vitality. Keeping it lit in the 21st century could make a comeback statement. With a grant secured from the Iowa Department of Economic Development, Main Street Waterloo needed a committed developer to tackle the project, one who believed in downtown’s potential. Jim Walsh had been observing. The popular Friday’Loo — MSW’s weekly end-of-the-workweek celebration — was drawing good crowds all summer. People were coming back downtown and feeling good about it. Walsh hired AHTS of Waterloo to translate his vision into reality and transform the historic jewelry story into a modern-day diner. Lime walls, aluminum counters, and leather booths with antique Formica tables all preserve a jewel-like Deco look. “I’ve found that it’s a lot easier to find a tenant if you create a business first rather than trying to rent vague space,” explains Walsh.

He’s had considerable experience. Since 2002 Walsh has purchased 34 properties in the downtown core area, within three blocks of the Cedar River, with a few in outlying points. He’s completed the restoration of five large downtown buildings, all with apartments upstairs, offices in the middle, and retail (mostly restaurants and bars) on the street level. “I have no idea why Jim Walsh picked this particular passion. I just know we are so lucky he did,” says Warren. Walsh confesses his inspiration. A founding partner of the VGM Group, which includes 15 companies mostly in the medical supply business, he explains that he and CEO Van Miller tried unsuccessfully to buy two downtown properties in which to locate their company in 1986. “No one could accommodate us, so we tore up a lovely cornfield and built out on the edge of town,” he says. “Here’s the thing. I have been feeling a need for repentance ever since. So I make my money at VGM and I spend it downtown.”

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prodigal son Blake Landau is among those grateful he does. The 24-year-old restaurateur grew up in Waterloo but left to attend Cordon Bleu cooking school and to work in famous restaurants in Wisconsin and Florida. “When I heard about the space being created here, I knew it was a special opportunity,” says the chef and owner of Newton’s Paradise Cafe, remembering his homecoming. Landau is the kind of young professional that Waterloo leaders want to attract downtown. He’s a hometown kid committed to buying as much of his food supply as possible from local farmers and artisans. He also respects the heritage of his building. The cafe’s presentations are veritable jewel boxes of design and style. A number of new Waterloo gems are generating downtown converts, Hayes among them. “About four years ago I went to a doings they had going on downtown, and let me tell you, things had all changed again,” she says. “I am so terribly proud of it all. I go downtown all the time now. I’ve been to every single establishment that the public is allowed into.” Pride and patronage — more good news for the ’Loo.

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Waterloo’s downtown commercial district extends from both banks of the Cedar River and is united by the 4th Street Bridge (above).

Don’t Miss artist Richard C. Thomas’ 29×72-foot mural gracing a downtown parking ramp and celebrating the many people and cultures that have molded Waterloo through its history.

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The predawn morning is quiet

except for the intermittent rumble of the occasional tanker truck rolling through on Sac City’s four-lane Main Street — aka U.S. Highway 20. The banks, hardware store, and other retail shops will soon open for the day, but at this hour the only lit storefront is Mooney’s Barbershop. From Main Street, through a large plate-glass window, Morris Mooney can be seen sitting in his barber chair watching weather reports on a portable TV and waiting for today’s first customer. He keeps a clean shop, neat and tidy. It hasn’t changed much from when Mooney started cutting hair at this location with his father in 1957. Outside the shop window, as the sky brightens, the volume of large trucks traveling east and west on Main Street reaches its peak. When trucks slow to a stop at the traffic light, Mooney’s window fills with the economy of Iowa. Trailers full of live hogs, ethanol tankers, loads of massive black combine tires and gleaming white wind turbine towers flow past the window.

refocus and refine

S u cc e s s ( i o n ) on Main Street keeping the lights on in Sac City [ story by Joe VanDerZanden | photography by David Peterson ]

Sometime in 2013 the four lanes of truck traffic in downtown will noticeably abate when construction of a bypass rerouting U.S. Highway 20 around the city is complete. According to Shirley Phillips, executive director of Sac Economic and Tourism Development and president of the U.S. Highway 20 Corridor Association, the bypass has been in the works since the 1960s as part of a larger economic

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development project that will eventually connect Sioux City with Dubuque. The completed transportation link, she explains, will be attractive to prospective businesses that require a four-lane highway to move freight more efficiently. The bypass will also steer other traffic around — no longer through — Sac City’s historic Main Street. To prepare for this eventuality and leverage it as an opportunity, Phillips and other community members began to organize. “We knew we were going to eventually be bypassed,” says Phillips, describing a forthcoming reality that would present a paradigm shift for the town’s downtown community. “Our Chamber of Commerce was struggling for structure and a direction.” Although Sac City has a long history of volunteerism and community pride, local leaders looked to the Iowa Department of Economic Development’s (IDED) Main Street Iowa program as a means to refocus and refine their efforts. “They provided us with the tools we needed to pull

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We b egan p r eparin g ou r s e lves to b e th e co m munit y that we could b e

everyone back together, get our program back on its feet, get volunteers together, and start making a difference. We began preparing ourselves to be the community that we could be.” The town of 2,368 was designated a Main Street Iowa community

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in 1996. Extending well beyond the six-block downtown district of early 20th-century commercial buildings, Chamber Main Street works locally with all the businesses in town. With training from specialists at IDED and support from community volunteers, Chamber Main Street’s business improvement committee has been working on market analysis, surveying customers and businesses to determine which types of products and services may be missing and how to enhance existing ones.

The view outside Morris Mooney’s shop (left) is likely to change soon when a new bypass is complete. Shirley Phillips, Laura Zimmerman, and Chamber Main Street supporters (above) are steering Sac City toward new opportunities. THE IOWAN January/February 2011 All content © 2011 The Iowan/Pioneer Communications, Inc., and may not be used, reproduced, or altered in any way without prior written permission.

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main street at 25 While the preservation of character and harnessing of economic potential cannot be adequately

New Businesses (Net Gain) New Jobs (Net Gain) Private Dollars Invested

conveyed through numbers, Main Street

10,623 $979,632,700

Building Sales/Rehab Projects

Iowa’s impact, tracked since 1986, is adding up:

Volunteer Hours

While the core goal of the Main Street program is to provide economic revitalization within the context of historic preservation, Laura Zimmerman — full-time director since 2000 — and her more than 100 active volunteers also work throughout the year organizing events such as Porktoberfest and the Barbeque Bash that draw people to — and grow awareness about — the downtown area. They also develop work plans for business development, frequently bringing in speakers to address chamber meetings. A Sac 41

3,442

11,039 1,922,890

City native, Zimmerman describes her community as having tremendous heart — a resource that has definitely contributed to the success of the Main Street approach there. “When you live in a small community, people do a really good job of taking care of each other,” she says.

recruiting the future This small community, like so many across Iowa, is graying. Evidence of the trend is swept up off the lino-

leum floor of Mooney’s Barbershop at the end of each workday. “One of the things we are talking about with our business improvement committee is succession training,” explains Zimmerman. “We are proactive about the fact that we do have some businesspeople that are looking at retirement, so we are trying to find ways to help them transition their business.” While good schools and recent civic enhancements — including a new community recreation center, a swanky outdoor aquatic center, and a beautiful library — can retain and attract families and businesses, the vitality of the downtown core depends on its remaining a destination. Zimmerman and the Chamber Main Street business improvement committee work toward this end by recruiting new business when longtime owners contemplate turning the lights off for good. When the owner of a men’s clothing store was preparing to close his Sac City shop and retire in 2007, Chamber Main Street responded, successfully recruiting restaurateur Doug Kruchten to start up a new business in the location. The transformation from men’s slacks to steak fries happened fast. After purchasing the building and commencing with a remodel, the new Sac County Cattle Company was serving ribeyes, prime rib, and award-winning burgers within three months. “When I first walked in the back door, the whole back room was a shoe storage deal. There were racks of clothes, dressing rooms — the whole ball of wax. It was fully stocked,” says Kruchten, recalling a vision he has since brought to fruition as large, industrial

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stainless-steel vent hoods and commercial-grade deep fryers. Now on weekends the Sac County Cattle Company serves as many as 350 dinner guests and employs around 30 part-time wait staff, cooks, dishwashers, and bartenders.

promising patterns The popularity of the restaurant blossomed as other businesses were recruited and took root on Sac City’s Main Street using a similar suc-

cession effort. The new economic activity has created a different traffic issue, one perhaps more welcome than the stream of trucks rolling past Mooney’s window. “The start of this [new] traffic in the downtown began in the last five years,” explains Zimmerman. “All of a sudden we had a 24-hour fitness center, then we recruited a dance studio downtown, and then the restaurant came in.” The two-story building that once accommodated a drugstore on the street level and a dentist office above sat empty for more than a

decade before Cheryl Gerry opened her florist shop here in 2000. Since opening, offerings at Details, Flowers, Etc. have grown to include more than just than fresh and dried flower arrangements. With one fulltime and four part-time employees, Larry Birt (above, with patron Jim Houska) is clipping just thee days a week now, but newer businesses like The Hub (opposite top) — a family-operated restaurant and coffeehouse — and Details, Flowers, Etc. (the brainchild of Cheryl Gerry, page 42, top left) are creating new traffic. THE IOWAN January/February 2011

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the business also sells home decorating items, jewelry, Iowa wine, and even formal wear. “I’ve got a tanning bed, too,” adds Gerry, who is active with Chamber Main Street. She believes that attention to detail and savvy business acumen have made her niche retail business a shopping destination. Zimmerman smiles when she describes how visitors must sometimes park as far as two blocks away from their Main Street destination. “I’ve always said that if we ever have a parking problem downtown, that will be a great day. It’s an excellent problem to have.” Morris Mooney is retired now. Sort of. He only opens his east-end shop two days a week, part of an informal business arrangement with Larry Birt of Larry’s Barber Shop, who is also sort of retired and opens his west-end shop the other three days. Toward evening, when the truck traffic eases and cars filled with treadmill aficionados, wee dancers, and burger lovers filter into the downtown, Morris 43

Mooney can be seen through the plate-glass window cutting hair. The lights are on in Sac City.

Chamber Main Street and restaurateur Doug Kruchten (above) kept the lights on in the storefront that became Sac County Cattle Company, home to the Mushroom Swiss Burger, winner of the 2010 Best

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Burger in Iowa Contest sponsored by the Iowa Beef Industry Council and the Iowa’s Cattlemen’s Association.

Don’t Miss the majestic Early Mansion perched on a hill overlooking downtown Sac City and surrounded by sculpture and garden. Built by D. Carr Early in 1875, the General Grant Victorian home has been a hospital, apartment house, art museum, and restaurant but now sits empty. It is one of several landmark buildings in a larger revitalization vision.

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Living Room upper-story development drives Burlington renaissance [ story by Suzanne Kelsey | photography by Lynn Wartgow ]

Bob Brueck stood outside

the four-story Schramm Building in 1997 and described his vision. The owner of Brueck Construction noted the vacant upper levels of the 125-yearold women’s department store, explaining how they could be transformed into apartments and upscale condos. Janet McCannon, who had worked almost two decades as a buyer in the store, listened intently, scrutinizing a new life for a worn downtown structure. She raised her hand and pointed. “I want the top floor, east side.” McCannon moved into her lightfilled condo in 2001. Two bedrooms and a sitting room line the south wall, while on the east side a large open room with kitchen, dining, and living space overlooks the Mississippi River. “When I come home after a long trip, I’ll walk in and say, ‘Hello, house.’ I love it. I have a big party out on the balcony during the Steamboat Days fireworks display. It feels like the show is just for us.” Today’s Burlington has a buzz. In this river town of 26,000 nestled in the southeast corner of the state, people are excited about a resource that until recently was considered a liability: old buildings. Lots of them. After coexisting uneasily for years with empty multistory commercial buildings and abandoned warehouses, the downtown Burlington community has embraced its good bones.

gateway to ghost town and back Because of its location by the river, Burlington — designated Iowa’s first territorial capital in 1838 — had evolved by the 1860s into a THE IOWAN January/February 2011

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Downtown enthusiast Becky Anderson (below right) brought back the glorious details of the historical Hedge Building, now a mixed-use marvel in the heart of the city.

MOVIN ’ ON U P To encourage lending for upperstory development, Main Street Iowa — in collaboration with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and the Iowa Finance Authority — developed an underwriting program. Taking second position and sharing risk on approved Main Street Mortgage Loans, Main Street Iowa is stimulating downtown living.

“Gateway to the West,” second only to St. Louis. By 1885 the city was a railroad hub. By the early 1900s the business district had sprouted dozens of brick, limestone, and sandstone buildings in such styles as Greek Revival, High Victorian, and Gothic Revival. “We have more architectural styles than France,” jokes Brueck, a key contributor to downtown renovations. By the early 1980s, however, the city’s structures appeared skeletal with vacancies and boarded windows. The farm crisis devastated the local economy, and a new mall had drawn retailers to the west side of town. Still, McCannon and others believed in downtown. When Main Street Iowa was established in 1985, Burlington got to work. The city became one of the program’s veteran communities in 1986. Burlington residents describe the downtown area as a natural amphitheater surrounded by hills. The new scene that has slowly emerged in this cradle — particularly along and near the intersection of Jefferson and Fourth Streets — includes a dozen high-quality restaurants, a coffee shop, an independent bookstore, and many other retail shops and offices. Up the hill on North Fourth is the Des Moines County Heritage Center, an elegant red sandstone structure built in 1896 as the city’s first public library. Farther up, a six-story hospital built in 1927 has been transformed into offices with a refined fourth-story restaurant overlooking the river. One block east on Court Street, the new Burlington Public Library, also offering a panoramic view of the Mississippi, blends in tastefully with the surrounding historic architecture. Grand old churches

cast steeples into the sky, which will soon welcome the spire of a Methodist church re-emerging like a phoenix after everything but its thick, stone-wall exterior was lost to arson in 2007.

onward and upward Tucked into the upper stories of the older structures are an increasing number of renovated apartments, condos, and lofts. The old Burlington Hotel was one of the first in the Main Street program’s sights. “The hotel had been vacant over 15 years,” says McCannon, who served as Main Street Burlington’s second director from 1988 to 1996 and has since become a consultant for Main Street Iowa’s Downtown Resource Center. “We did all sorts of things to draw attention to it, from putting Christmas displays in the windows to bringing renovation financing to public referendum. I’d get the key and show it to entrepreneurs from all over the country.” The city sweetened the pot by offering $1 million, the cost of tearing down the building, which was Plan B. Renovated and

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u pp er -sto ry d e ve lo pm e nt is so im p o rtant. And it ’s b ee n m o r e succe ss f ul than I could imagin e

transformed into a 75-apartment complex, The Burlington opened for residence in 1998, adding new living options — and new energy — to the heart of the city. Steve Frevert believes that upper-story residential development is crucial to a thriving downtown. “If your goal is to create a healthy, growing tax base, then expecting a first-floor storefront business to provide upkeep and pay utilities and taxes for a multistory structure is like having a refrigerator and only using the lower shelf,” explains Frevert, current director of Burlington’s Main Street program, now called Downtown Partners, Inc., to reflect increased funding from the city. “That’s why upper-story development is so important. And it’s been more successful than I could imagine.” The organization had a goal of 25 new residential units by 2013. Already the downtown boasts 136 rental apartments and a dozen high-end owner-occupied condos — all in historical buildings. Becky Anderson, another proponent of downtown living, is currently setting a new standard in historic preservation. This financial planner restored her own Italianate home overlooking downtown. More recently she purchased the Hedge Building, built in 1881, whose original beauty was replaced with a “modern” storefront in the 1950s. The building stood empty on the corner of

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Jefferson and Fourth — at the heart of the city. Anderson and Frevert attended conferences and workshops together to learn about historical preservation tax credits and upper-story development grants. After assembling a financial plan and employing a local architect to chart the renovation, Anderson and a relative began the work, carefully preserving such details as the upstairs wainscoting around the interior perimeter and the steps worn by thousands of shoes between 1881 and 1990. Today the staff of Anderson’s firm, Berthel Fisher Financial Services, occupies the ground floor, enjoying ceilings layered in pressed tin. The four apartments above have open floor plans with walls used only for bedrooms and baths. “Others look at an old house or commercial building and see an eyesore,” says Anderson. “For me, it’s like knowing that a beauti-

ful drawing is going to emerge on a blank page if only someone gives it some time and attention.” A photograph of the exterior of Anderson’s “beautiful drawing” was recently featured in a desk calendar issued by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Familiarity breeds contentment: Once her workplace for nearly two decades, the transformed Schramm Building (above) is now home for Janet McCannon (page 43). Shawn Foehring shares the same street address — an easy walk from his downtown restaurant Bistro 322. THE IOWAN January/February 2011

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downtown works It takes more than fashionable restored buildings to lure people back into a city’s center. Burlington’s Main Street district energy is charged by business development, too. Burlington native Shawn Foehring, 33, operates Bistro 322, which he describes as a “laid-back French cafe with an Asian influence.” The reception to the cafe, now in its second year, “has been the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” says Foehring, who has worked in kitchens in Oklahoma and Las Vegas and now walks to work from his home in the restored Schramm Building. “We’ve had huge support from Burlington and other communities just by word of mouth. I really couldn’t ask for better.” Frevert says that Downtown Partners, Inc., will continue to support entrepreneurs like Foehring by upholding the mission originally set forth by Main Street Burlington. “Our biggest job is still to promote the downtown, whether it means keeping flowers planted, installing public art, or sponsoring events like the farmers’ market or the annual Snake Alley Criterium,” he emphasizes, referring to the city’s grueling bike race. “A community is simply better off when it has a vibrant downtown.”

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The Burlington (below), once targeted for demolition, introduced new downtown living options in 1998. Downtown Partners, Inc.’s Steve Frevert and developer Bob Brueck (above, left to right) both understand the value of a vibrant downtown.

Downtown Partners will also support renovations for the long term. Bob Brueck estimates nearly 80 solid buildings are left in the retail district and the adjacent warehouse district. Two to five stories high, they are sitting empty from the second floor up, just waiting. “I’d love to see my competitors down here going to work.”

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neon glow of the Capitol Theater marquee. Though currently undergoing a $2.7 million renovation, the 1937 Art Deco cinema remains a beacon in downtown Burlington, lit nightly with community announcements and promotions.