116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Vision plan will call for improved connections between downtown Cedar Rapids, core districts
Study: Capturing energy from ‘around the core’ will draw people downtown
CEDAR RAPIDS — To spark activity in the heart of Cedar Rapids, the consultants updating the city’s Downtown Vision Plan are recommending the city build on the energy of districts surrounding the urban core to draw people, businesses and other activity into the downtown.
In an open house this week, Denver-based consultant Progressive Urban Management Associates shared its recommendations to activate connections between the downtown and areas such as the New Bohemia District, Czech Village and Kingston Village.
The consultants also envision repurposing underused spaces on Third Street SE and the Second Avenue Bridge into spaces where people can dine, gather and attend events.
“There’s more activity around the core than there is in the core,” said Brad Segal, president of Progressive Urban Management Associates.
Segal said certain amenities show promise such as the McGrath Amphitheatre, which draws thousands of people to the downtown for festivals and concerts in warm weather months, as well as the $81.5 million mixed-use development taking shape at First Street and First Avenue West.
Pickle Palace bar and grill will open in the coming months, with Big Grove Brewery soon to follow. Other mixed-use buildings with residential units, hotel rooms, an outdoor plaza and more will come online in the next several years.
Czech Village offers a reliable experience of small retailers and restaurants, Segal said Wednesday, and NewBo’s post-2008 flood transformation and continued growth, driven by new housing construction, also add momentum around the core.
But larger employers that fueled much of the downtown activity before the pandemic are still allowing employees to work remotely to some extent. At the ground level around downtown, many stores and offices have emptied out — leaving downtown largely devoid of daytime activity in particular.
Consultants identified a need to attract more independent retailers and continue adding housing to offer a mixed-use downtown that’s less reliant on office activity.
“While it would be wonderful to have activated storefronts throughout downtown, we're suggesting that we really focus our energy at this point and get some key streets really right and hopefully that energy will percolate out from there,” Amanda Kannard, vice president of the consulting firm, said.
Third Street SE
The consultants are recommending that Third Street SE be revamped as a festival or “flex” street, turning the median into a more productive space for pedestrians and cyclists.
City officials have long eyed the street as an opportunity for place-making, but with several of the properties empty or otherwise underused, it still presents opportunity to be activated as a gateway between downtown and NewBo.
Kannard presented two options, both of which would retain parking along the street.
One was a cycle track removing the underused space in the middle of the street and the current bike lanes and instead creating a stand-alone cycle track. The size of the sidewalks would be expanded to “create some interesting opportunities for the businesses located along Third Street to explore outdoor patios” and other features, Kannard said.
Another option, Kannard said, would to make Third Street SE curbless. The sidewalks would be expanded to almost 24 feet on either side, creating opportunities for outdoor dining. Bicyclists and cars would share the road, but marked pavers could slow traffic to improve safety.
Second Avenue Bridge
The consultants also see potential for the Second Avenue Bridge to be closed, either partially or entirely, to vehicles and used as a festival street or linear park. The bridge could host kiosks or food trucks or offer event space — anything to turn it into “a community and public asset,” Kannard said.
The Veterans Memorial Building also could have a more engaging community use — serving as an art center or providing some other purpose to better tap into the space and fully activate May's Island, Kannard said.
The green space between the Second and Third Avenue bridges also could be programmed with tables and chairs, a bandshell or public art that younger residents and visitors may want to visit and post on social media.
Cedar Lake
Another “catalytic project” the consultants identified would be to improve the connection over the railroad tracks, near the Quaker Oats factory, to Cedar Lake, a connection that is dangerous right now, Kannard said.
A private-public project, ConnectCR , is forging a connection between the lake and a pedestrian-bike bridge spanning the Cedar River, a project that in the coming years will transform Cedar Lake with recreational amenities, she said.
In the short term, she said, the connection could be enhanced by adding public art, improving lighting, adding wayfinding signage and landscaping. In the long term, the consultants recommend going over the railroad tracks with a pedestrian-bike bridge, she said.
Segal told The Gazette the city could leverage possible federal funding or secure support from corporate donors for some of the recommended improvements — especially to Third Street SE, which calls for a more significant overhaul compared with the more cosmetic enhancements recommended for the Second Avenue Bridge.
‘Fresh eyes’
“This is just what the doctor ordered: Take a fresh look with fresh eyes at some of the gaps, some of the things that languished,” said City Council member Dale Todd, who represents District 3, which encompasses downtown.
The consultants’ recommendations were guided by 1,414 online survey responses and by meetings with nonprofits, city officials, business representatives and other downtown stakeholders.
Survey respondents identified as the most important physical improvements:
- Embracing the river.
- Redeveloping surface parking lots and vacant buildings.
- Improving the parking experience.
As for improvements to services or programs, respondents highlighted:
- Diversifying restaurant and bar options.
- Providing more services for the unhoused population.
The vision plan — a partnership between the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, the Downtown SSMID (Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District), the city of Cedar Rapids, Linn County and the 2001 Development Group — is anticipated to come before the city council in November.
Segal said the plan will touch on the downtown management, marketing and maintenance responsibilities between those entities “to better coordinate their resources to address a variety of quality-of-life issues.”
That includes issues ranging from cleanliness to supporting the growing unhoused population in the city.
“We want the public to see that we're continuously doing this,” said Nikki Wilcox, communications director at the Economic Alliance. “We'll pick some of the short(-term) projects, but we also are going to invest in the long-term ones as well. We're just really excited to continue the partnership.”
Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com
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