Early NewBo advocate Bob Chadima, 90, dies

CEDAR RAPIDS - Businessman Robert 'Bob” Chadima was remembered Monday as the most consistent force for the development of the New Bohemia neighborhood in Cedar Rapids.

'Bob had a tremendous interest in local history,” said Mark Stoffer Hunter, historian with The History Center of Cedar Rapids. 'He had the vision in the early 1990s for what would become New Bohemia. He was there in the beginning.”

Chadima, 90, who died Sunday, bought the Cherry Building in 1976 where he operated Thorarc Co., a welding and industrial supply distributorship. He sold Thorarc in 1982 but kept the Cherry Building under the ownership and management of Thorland Co.

Thorland also owns and manages the Suchy Building and the Kouba Building in NewBo. Chadima shared the management of Thorland in recent years with his daughter-in-law, Lijun Chadima.

Chadima transformed the 104,000-square-foot Cherry Building, a former factory and warehouse that spans a block between 10th and 11th avenues SE, into a home for artists and entrepreneurs. After the Flood of 2008, the recovery of the Cherry Building and revitalization of the NewBo neighborhood became his focus.

'Bob Chadima sustained a part of the renaissance that has been going on down there,” Cedar Rapids City Council member Pat Shey said. 'While the Cherry Building did not operate as a business incubator, there were a lot of businesses that started there.”

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said Bob Chadima was a consistent champion for redevelopment of the NewBo neighborhood.

'He was out there talking with others about how this area could grow and have wonderful potential,” Corbett said. 'Bob had a chance to see his vision for the area come to life in the last several years. His legacy will live on and be carried by others in the neighborhood.”

Among those who shared Chadima's vision was F. John Herbert, executive director of Legion Arts, 1103 Third St. SE.

'Bob really laid the foundation for what has occurred in this neighborhood over the last quarter of a century,” Herbert said. 'He used his resources and those of the Cherry Building to support other creative enterprises.

'I think it's really cool that he lived long enough to see New Bohemia become a solid reality.”

Chadima, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1947. He served as an officer for 12 years, including tours in Korea during the Korean War.

Chadima returned to Cedar Rapids and worked for his family's business, Hubbard Ice and Fuel. With the decline in ice harvests from the Cedar River and the advent of home refrigeration, Chadima purchased the Kacena Co., which grew into Thorarc Co.