Cedar Rapids amphitheater proposal well-received by Vision Iowa

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz and Mayor Ron Corbett report that the state's Vision Iowa Board likes the city's plans for a new $8.7-million riverfront amphitheater.

The two city leaders and others from the community appeared in front of the state board on Wednesday to ask for a $2-million grant from the board's River Enhancement Community Attraction and Tourism (RECAT) program.

"We feel good," said Pomeranz, adding the board is expected to make a funding decision in January.

Corbett noted that the Cedar Rapids business community and the non-profit Hall-Perrine Foundation in Cedar Rapids have "really stepped up" with a total of nearly $2 million in donations for the project.

"That really made an impression with the Vision Iowa Board," Corbett said.

One board member noted that the city of Des Moines' riverfront amphitheater, like the one proposed in Cedar Rapids, is designed to flood, the mayor said.

Corbett said the state board wants the city to provide some evidence that the community as a whole is behind the amphitheater project. The board also wants to know the specifics of who is going to manage the venue's operation, a sign, Corbett said, that the state board is interested in the city project.

He said the city's parks department might schedule local uses for the amphitheater and VenuWorks, the entertainment firm that runs the city's U.S. Cellular Center and Paramount Theatre, might bring in traveling shows to the venue.

Corbett and Pomeranz noted, too, that the state board asked why Brent Oleson, one of five Linn County supervisors, voted against the amphitheater project.

They noted that Supervisors Linda Langston, Lu Barron and Ben Rogers all attended the Vision Iowa Board meeting with city leaders to show support for the project.

Linn County and the city are contributing land and cash to the project to go along with private contributions, a state I-JOBS grant and, hopefully, the RECAT grant.

The amphitheater, which will sit north of the police station on the west side of the Cedar River, is being designed as both an entertainment venue and a piece of the city's new flood-protection system.