Linn County awards $100,001 to Marion’s $7M Central Plaza project

CEDAR RAPIDS — A project that will transform the Central Plaza at City Square Park in the heart of Uptown Marion got a $100,001 boost Wednesday with federal COVID-19 relief funds awarded by the Linn County Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors awarded American Rescue Plan Act dollars to the project that Mayor Nick AbouAssaly said “is the perfect example of a community-building place-making project” as city officials work to reinvent this part of Marion into a destination.

“We need to attract people to our region and our state, and it’s really through these kinds of quality-of-life projects that we can do that,” AbouAssaly said. “We don’t have the natural features that other states have or the great weather year-round … so this is important for our continued growth as a region, our economy, workforce attraction.”

This area is on the Grant Wood Trail and will be connected to the CeMar Trail within a few years, AbouAssaly said, giving people the ability throughout region to go to the urban core of Cedar Rapids and beyond.

AbouAssaly said this week the approximately $7.3 million project will include water features, art, seating areas, fire tables and a refrigerated ice-skating loop during the winter. The Depot Pavilion in the park — which was built with the roof structure and bricks from the original train depot — will be enclosed with an event space, bathrooms and warming area for the ice-skating loop, AbouAssaly said.

The supervisors landed on the $100,001 amount to be at the “benefactor” donor level. Those who’ve contributed over $100,000 get benefits including prominent recognition on a donor wall, three free space rentals and one free private rental of the ice loop within the first three years of opening and other perks.

Jill Ackerman, president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, said this project would be Iowa’s first refrigerated ice loop, though Ames also has one in the works.

The state last year awarded a $3 million ARPA-funded Destination Iowa grant to the project. As part of private fundraising efforts, Ackerman said Farmers State Bank gave $200,000 and the McGrath family contributed $150,000 for the ice loop, so officials are “well over a half million in” toward their $1 million fundraising goal.

AbouAssaly said the overall price tag may rise because construction costs are increasing, so that may further bump the fundraising goal.

Construction hasn’t started yet, but once work is underway likely in the coming months, Ackerman said the project is expected to take about 18 months to complete.

This project is an expansion of the Uptown Artway project located between 10th and 11th streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenue, AbouAssaly said, which is a formerly underused alley that now features nine art installations by local and national artists.

Public investment has driven private investment in the Uptown Artway space, Ackerman said. She noted Uptown Snug and Brick Alley have added patio space, and about seven new businesses emerged to locate near the art installations.

“We expect the same from this plaza project,” Ackerman said. “There are businesses that are waiting to make sure this is getting built and they will come in to invest after this is completed.”

Supervisor Ben Rogers said the county is lucky to have Cedar Rapids and Marion as twin cities. Rogers said he wanted to make a meaningful commitment to Marion “on a project that will outlive hopefully a lot of us.”

“Every time I drive through Marion recently I just stand in awe of what Marion has become, what this corridor has become,” Rogers said. “ … It’s family-friendly, it’s youthful. There’s something for every demographic.”

Of $44 million in ARPA funds Linn County received, there’s about $1 million left to fulfill internal county requests. The supervisors have awarded about $25 million to local nonprofits and other local governments through a competitive application process.

Supervisor Kirsten Running-Marquardt said she’s traveled often to Green Bay, Wis., and mentioned an ice skating loop she’s visited that seems to bring the community together with cocoa and expand the tourism season. She said she sees this same potential for the Marion facility.

“The draw for this could be quite impactful,” Running-Marquardt said.

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