Veterans Memorial Commission wants dual use building for May’s island

A prominent bit of green space in downtown Cedar Rapids may eventually sport a new look as part of the flood restoration process.  But a planned utilities building for May's Island in front of the Veterans Memorial Building could actually service as a permanent stage for future public gatherings.

The Veterans Memorial Commission needs an above ground building on what's historically been gathering space for crowds to provide a place to put a backup generator and utilities.  It's a necessary change needed to reopen both the underground parkade located below May's Island and the former and future city hall building itself.  But rather than a distraction, commission members are looking for ways to make that utilities building an attraction and perhaps focal point of the green space.

The old diesel generator that would kick in to provide emergency power for the parkade and Veterans Memorial Building was located in the basement and didn't survive the flood of 2008.  A new larger generator, fuel tanks and other necessities would need to get housed in a structure sitting at least a foot above the high water mark of 2008.  The building itself would probably need to be at least 10 feet wide and 20 feet long to accommodate all the mechanical components inside.  Mike Jager, Veterans Memorial Commission director, said something that size on the green space would stand out-and that's what the commission is trying to avoid.

“We're trying to work it into the overall scheme in a plan that makes sense-both from protecting and mitigating against future floods as well as revitalizing the whole area,” Jager said.

As envisioned, the above ground utilities building for the generator would have a flat concrete roof and probably rise about five feet above ground level. It would sit on the side of the green space and not the middle and would actually resemble a stage as much as a building.  The idea is to design it with ground level stairs to so groups could use the top as a platform for speakers or musicians.

Jager added “as long as we're going to be building this structure let's get multiple uses and multiple purposes out of it.”

But it's not as easy as convincing Veterans Memorial Commission members to go along with a dual-purpose design.  FEMA and the state Historical Society will also have a say in placing such a structure.  And that means it might day another 30 to 90 days to hear from those groups.

Repairs on the parkade below May's Island will mean scraping off about 18 inches of dirt and grass to get at the top of that concrete structure.  That will either happen this fall or next spring.  And that's the time the commission would also want to start work on a utilities building on May's Island.