Main Street Feature

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Main StreetIs Back!

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

From the January/February 2011 issue

m a i n s t r e e t

T h e pa c k e T o f

recommendations was both exciting

and daunting. A 2007 community

assessment by the Iowa Downtown

Resource Center — including

dozens of interviews with town

residents — resulted in some eye-

opening discoveries and creative

suggestions, remembers Colfax’s

Julia Kern. Could this Main Street

program work in her community?

Kern and other volunteers

started making visits. To Greenfield

and Belle Plaine. To West Union

and Conrad. To State Center and

West Branch. “Every town we visited

was so helpful and willing to share

what it means to be a Main Street

community, how to become a Main

Street community, the benefits you

receive as a Main Street community,”

says Kern, now director of Colfax

Main Street, describing both a

statewide and national network

of ideas, advice, and support.

Valley Junction’s holiday event,

Burlington’s entrepreneur program,

West Union’s involvement with the

county fair, Bloomfield’s experience

applying for a federal grant — even

an inspirational public relations

campaign in Conway, South Carolina,

seemed a good fit for Colfax.

Co m m u n it y at i t s C o r e

a destination, an identity, an engine, a strategy:Main Street is reawakening Iowa downtowns


m a i n s t r e e t

22THE IOWAN January/February 2011

Though Colfax Main Street

was initiated less than two years

ago, Kern’s phone is already

ringing. “Other towns have called

us for assistance!” boasts Kern,

proud of her community’s ability

to now contribute to the growing

Main Street Network.

Similarly propelled to action, 63

Iowa downtowns have adopted the

grassroots strategy for revival since

Main Street Iowa was established in

1985. (There are currently 45 active

Main Street communities in the state.)

The revitalization method is rooted

in historic preservation but goes well

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 stepsBy 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 long-

term dedication and goal-focused

cooperation. Communities applying

for Main Street designation must

first achieve consensus among

local residents, government, and

business owners that sufficient

commitment — in spirit and in

dollars — exists to leverage the

Main Street program’s resources.

Preparing for application is

itself an exercise in commitment.

Exploratory visits from and to

current Main Street communities

generally precede the designation of

a private nonprofit organization to

serve as governing body and policy

board, as well as the development

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

of funding, building inventory and

community demographics, problem

identification and economic trends,

goals and expectations, and more.

“We have very high expectations.

They have to be prepared to hit the

ground running,” emphasizes Main

Street Iowa State Coordinator Jane

Seaton. “After the application, the

fun is just starting.”

the long haul Main Street programs facilitate

place-appropriate downtown

revitalization driven by local needs

and local resources. A salaried

director, hired by the community,

steers each individual Main Street

program, but its navigation and its

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23 Iowan.com

m a i n s t r e e tm a i n s t r e e t

promotionImage 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.

3

4

main street methodologyThe 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.”

organizationLots of different people want to see their commercial district revitalized. When the efforts of the public sector, private groups, and individual residents all dovetail, the synergy is powerful. A volunteer board of directors and four volunteer subcommittees, all led by a salaried Main Street program director, must incorporate diverse perspectives while reaching consensus and cooperation.

designDowntown must be a destination for shoppers, workers, and visitors. All of its physical elements — buildings, storefronts, signage, parking, streetscaping, window displays, and public space — should together announce your arrival (You are here) and issue an invitation (Come see what we have to offer). The rehabilitation of historic buildings, facade improvements, appropriate new construction, good maintenance practices, and business and property owner education contribute to a cohesive, enhanced visual quality.

business improvement A balanced commercial mix can effectively respond to 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.

1 2


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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;

and strategic planning help set each

program’s course.

Once a Main Street program

has gathered steam, it continues to

progress by tapping into a diverse

and growing network — statewide

and nationwide — of Main Street

communities. Quarterly workshops,

ongoing training through distance

learning, the National Main Street

Conference and the Iowa Downtown

Summit, newsletters, and online

discussion boards with revitalization

peers enable Main Street

participants to share challenges

with and gain insight from member

communities across the state

and throughout the country. The

camaraderie is a powerful and vital

resource, says Seaton. “There is

strength in numbers.”

the good return Neither Main Street Iowa nor the

National Trust Main Street Center

directly funds local programs.

Individual communities support the

administrative costs of their Main

Street programs with contributions

(monetary or in-kind) from local

government, property and business

owners, foundations, and residents.

Funding for specific projects may be

secured or supplemented through

state and federal program grants.

More than $979 million has

been invested to date in Main

Street Iowa communities through

a combination of local public and

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.”


m a i n s t r e e t

25 Iowan.com

Three TwenTy-SoMeThingS

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,” remem-bers 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 commu-nity-wide jazz funeral parade made its way down Front Street. Accompanied by the sliding moan of a trombone and the muted drone

C

m ai n s tr e e t m oxi e

the future leads today’s Colfax[ story by DEB JANSEN | photography by PAUl GATES ]


m a i n s t r e e t


of a trumpet, Colfax residents wrote down negative thoughts about the town and placed them in a casket. As honorary pallbear-ers 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 hand-lettered 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 impor-tant turn in the road for Colfax, but the journey had only begun.

good vibes“Colfax has a rare resource — enthu-siastic, 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

to the Main Street Iowa program. “You won’t find that dynamic combi-nation in many small towns.”

Weigle, 28, rose as an entre-preneur in 2003 when she and her husband opened Georgioz Restaurant, a bistro specializing in gourmet pizzas and salads. Her estab-lishment, 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 preco-cious 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

Enthusiastic, 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.

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, accord-

PeoPle feed off our vibes. they’re looking to us for energy and ideas “”


m a i n s t r e e t

27 Iowan.com

so many people taking responsibil-ity — four boards full of capable leaders — that no one was account-able,” 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 com-munity 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, crum-bling bricks, peeling paint, rotting wood — and some had become first- floor 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 nega-tivity. “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 col-lectively the group identified specific steps to reach an overall goal — to ready Colfax to become a Main Street Iowa town.

t h e n e t W o r k

Iowa’s 45 actIve MaIn

street coMMunItIes

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 final-ist. 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 organiz-ing class reunions forever.” Now she’s excited by her hometown’s prospects and proud to see people working together to make a dif-ference. 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 enter-ing 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, grin-ning 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 focusThere were many people in Colfax who cared about its betterment. In fact, when Guzman was hired in 2007 to make a community assess-ment, he discovered four separate organizations focused on just that. “When I visited Colfax, I observed

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.


m a i n s t r e e t


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 build-ing improvement incentive grant, rallied local residents for commu-nity-wide cleanup days, organized entertainment events, held multiple town-hall meetings, recruited volun-teers 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 accom-plished 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.”

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 dwell-ers — 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 great-est obstacles occurred in August 2010, barely a year after Colfax Main Street had its official start. Two weeks before a scheduled com-munity-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 insensi-tive 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

don’t miss a

chocolate malt made with hard-

serve ice cream from the 104-year-

old 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.

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 chil-dren will be entering junior high, and I want them to know there’s a future for them here if they want it.”

more oNLINe atIowan.com

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29 Iowan.com

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 eco-nomic reality. That’s when Dennis Kellenberg stepped in.

building successKellenberg now owns — partly or jointly — six buildings on the Greenfield Square. He has reha-bilitated 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, com-bined 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

P r o g r e ss by d e s i g n

renovations are good business in Greenfield

[ story by TERRI QUECK-MATzIE | photography by JACOB BOyD ]

g


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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 proper-ties. 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

enter the public square in mid-block, 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 build-ings, 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 confer-ence center. Nearly $10 million in private investment and public

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 side-walks enhanced with brick trim, benches, and planters — was spear-headed 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 reincarnation of the E.E. Warren Opera

House (above and opposite, with its own aged

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.


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31 Iowan.com

creating an environmentFoster is one of nearly 50 busi-ness owners to utilize a Main Street Design Grant program that provides funds for facade restora-tion through the city and two local banks, First National and Union State. Along with grant

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 cost-

sharing 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.”

the Craft of restoration

“That multitiered approach is key to Greenfield’s success,” says Main Street Iowa Design Consultant Tim Reinders, who has been in on Greenfield’s develop-ment 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 renova-tion, 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.’”

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-the-

job experience and have completed

certification training through the

National Trust Main Street Center.

Led by Greenfield Chamber/Main Street,

building restoration efforts

have attracted $820,000 in private

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.

greenfield looks just like a little snoW-globe village “”


m a i n s t r e e t


don’t miss the sky view through porthole

windows at the top of the

Opera House turret.


m a i n s t r e e t

33 Iowan.com

— 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, customer-friendly 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.

dollars comes Main Street design assistance in the form of comput-erized renderings and suggestions ranging from construction specif-ics 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 store-fronts exist new business ventures

Fifteen years after it was gifted to the

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.




m a i n s t r e e t

’ l o o r e d oWaterloo is a poster child

for the Main Street mission[ story by JIM DUNCAN | photography by PAUl GATES ]

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 oppor-tunities 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 down-town 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 viabil-ity. “There were lots of empty storefronts, especially after the ’80s farm crisis and John Deere,” says Warren, remembering the

W

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).


m a i n s t r e e t

35 Iowan.com

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 iden-tity deteriorated. “When you

main eventDowntown 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 des-tination, promoting events like the annual Sullivan Brothers road races and the Battle of Waterloo wres-tling 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 celebra-tion 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

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 build-ing, 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.

the triCk is to bring PeoPle here in the first PlaCe “”


m a i n s t r e e t

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 busi-nesses. I saw it all go down and I saw it come back up again. I never thought they could bring it back!”

repentant angelNewton’s Paradise Cafe is the latest of about a dozen restaurants and bars to reclaim historic down-town 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 busi-ness since 1914. The building’s Carrara glass structure repre-sented 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.


m a i n s t r e e t

37 Iowan.com

j u s t r e W a r d s

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 poten-tial. 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 expe-rience. 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 inspira-tion. 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 unsuc-cessfully 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.”

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.


m a i n s t r e e t

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.

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 con-verts, 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 down-town 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.

Waterloo’s downtown commercial district extends from both banks of

the Cedar River and is united by the 4th Street Bridge (above).




m a i n s t r e e t

39 Iowan.com

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 store-front 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 travel-ing 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 refineSometime in 2013 the four lanes of truck traffic in downtown will noticeably abate when con-struction of a bypass rerouting U.S. Highway 20 around the city is complete. According to Shirley Phillips, executive direc-tor 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

su CCe ss ( i o n )on main street

keeping the lights on in Sac City

[ story by JOE VANDERzANDEN | photography by DAVID PETERSON ]

s


m a i n s t r e e t


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 forthcom-ing reality that would present a paradigm shift for the town’s downtown community. “Our Chamber of Commerce was strug-gling 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

We began PreParing ourselves to be the Community that We Could be “”

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.

everyone back together, get our program back on its feet, get vol-unteers together, and start making a difference. We began preparing ourselves to be the community that we could be.”

The town of 2,368 was desig-nated a Main Street Iowa community

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.


m a i n s t r e e t

41 Iowan.com

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 volun-teers also work throughout the year organizing events such as Porktoberfest and the Barbeque Bash that draw people to — and grow awareness about — the down-town area. They also develop work plans for business development, frequently bringing in speakers to address chamber meetings. A Sac

City native, Zimmerman describes her community as having tremen-dous heart — a resource that has definitely contributed to the success of the Main Street approach there. “When you live in a small commu-nity, 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-

main street at 25

new busInesses (Net Gain) 3,442

new Jobs (Net Gain) 10,623

PrIvate dollars Invested $979,632,700

buIldInG sales/rehab ProJects 11,039

volunteer hours 1,922,890

leum floor of Mooney’s Barbershop at the end of each workday. “One of the things we are talking about with our business improvement commit-tee 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 — includ-ing a new community recreation center, a swanky outdoor aquatic center, and a beautiful library — can retain and attract fami-lies 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 recruit-ing restaurateur Doug Kruchten to start up a new business in the location. The transformation from men’s slacks to steak fries hap-pened fast. After purchasing the building and commencing with a remodel, the new Sac County Cattle Company was serving ribeyes, prime rib, and award-win-ning 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, recall-ing a vision he has since brought to fruition as large, industrial

While the preservation of

character and harnessing

of economic potential

cannot be adequately

conveyed through

numbers, Main Street

Iowa’s impact, tracked

since 1986, is adding up:


m a i n s t r e e t


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, dish-washers, and bartenders.

promising patternsThe 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 down-town 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 full-time 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.


m a i n s t r e e t

43 Iowan.com

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.

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

the business also sells home deco-rating 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 some-times 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 aficiona-dos, wee dancers, and burger lovers filter into the downtown, Morris

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

Burger in Iowa Contest sponsored by

the Iowa Beef Industry Council and

the Iowa’s Cattlemen’s Association.




m a i n s t r e e t


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-year-old women’s department store, explaining how they could be trans-formed 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 light-filled 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 aban-doned warehouses, the downtown Burlington community has embraced its good bones.

gateway to ghost town and backBecause of its location by the river, Burlington — designated Iowa’s first territorial capital in 1838 — had evolved by the 1860s into a

l iv i n g r o o m upper-story development

drives Burlington renaissance[ story by SUzANNE KElSEy | photography by lyNN WARTGOW ]

b


m a i n s t r e e t

45 Iowan.com

“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 con-tributor to downtown renovations.

By the early 1980s, however, the city’s structures appeared skel-etal 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 — particu-larly along and near the intersection of Jefferson and Fourth Streets — includes a dozen high-quality restaurants, a coffee shop, an inde-pendent 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 restau-rant overlooking the river. One block east on Court Street, the new Burlington Public Library, also offering a panoramic view of the Mississippi, blends in taste-fully 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 upwardTucked 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 direc-tor 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 dis-plays 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

m o v i n ’ o n u P

To encourage lending for upper-

story 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.

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.


m a i n s t r e e t


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.

Jefferson and Fourth — at the heart of the city.

Anderson and Frevert attended conferences and workshops together to learn about histori-cal 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 apart-ments above have open floor plans with walls used only for bedrooms and baths. “Others look at an old house or com-mercial building and see an eyesore,” says Anderson. “For me, it’s like knowing that a beauti-

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 develop-ment is crucial to a thriving downtown. “If your goal is to create a healthy, growing tax base, then expecting a first-floor store-front 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 pur-chased the Hedge Building, built in 1881, whose original beauty was replaced with a “modern” storefront in the 1950s. The build-ing stood empty on the corner of

uPPer-story develoPment is so imPortant. and it ’s been more

suCCessful than i Could imagine “”

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.


m a i n s t r e e t

47 Iowan.com

downtown worksIt takes more than fashion-able restored buildings to lure people back into a city’s center. Burlington’s Main Street district energy is charged by business devel-opment, too.

Burlington native Shawn Foehring, 33, operates Bistro 322, which he describes as a “laid-back French cafe with an Asian influ-ence.” 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 com-munities 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 com-munity is simply better off when it has 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 com-petitors down here going to work.”

don’t miss the

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.

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.




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