116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
This plan IDs $8M in potential improvements to Marion’s Lowe Park. Now what?
City staff to move forward with identifying potential phasing and funding opportunities for proposed improvements
May. 13, 2025 5:30 am, Updated: May. 13, 2025 8:07 am
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
MARION — Marion officials are mulling several high-profile upgrades to Lowe Park after an analysis of existing park amenities identified nearly $8 million in potential improvements.
Marion City Council members last week approved schematic design plans for various improvements to Lowe Park ranging from the expansion of existing greenhouse operations to the construction of a new storm shelter and additional office space.
The approval directed city staff to evaluate potential phasing and funding options for the project, and that analysis will return to the council this summer for consideration as part of the annual capital improvement planning process.
“We’re trying to make this plan while thinking about the future growth of the community,” said Paloma Chapman with RDG Planning and Design. “It’s not completely designed. But based on (these schematics), we can start going through some of the hard questions to figure out what that would entail.”
Project Background
Lowe Park encompasses 180 acres of land in north Marion. Its amenities include walking trails, sport fields, community gardens and more around the centerpiece structure of the Lowe Park Arts & Environment Center.
The multiuse center offers community room rentals and acts as the main office for the Marion Parks and Recreation Department. It’s flanked by several demonstration and community gardens, as well as a greenhouse run by Linn County Master Gardeners.
The park has undergone high-profile improvements over the years — including the $1.7 million Klopfenstein Amphitheater for the Performing Arts addition and the 2019 opening of an accessible playground.
In 2023, the city updated the Lowe Park Master Plan to identify opportunities for growth in response to the park’s growing popularity. The city engaged RDG Planning and Design for schematic design work, and findings were reported to City Council members last week.
What’s included in the proposed improvements?
The schematic design plan outlines an estimated $7.8 million in potential improvements, although the city could choose to pursue only portions of the presented plan or split it into multiple phases.
The plan includes renovations to the existing Lowe Park Arts & Environment Center, as well as a $1.8 million building addition to address the current and future needs for additional Parks and Recreation Department office space.
Another $1.7 million is projected for the construction of an on-site storm shelter that would double as a central headhouse — an enclosed building attached to an open-air structure — with educational space to complement the proposed replacement and expansion of the existing greenhouse.
The plan calls for a two-bay greenhouse, although the second bay could be deferred to spread out the combined $1.8 million price tag. The greenhouse would be used by both the city and Linn County Master Gardeners, who consulted on the preliminary design.
Master Gardener Greenhouse Manager Phil Pfister said the additional greenhouse space would be a significant improvement given the strain levied on current operations by a lack of available square footage.
“The whole thing is going to give us a lot more growing space, so we’re going to be able to offer a lot more plants from our greenhouse to the community through things like our plant sale” and donation programs, Pfister said.
The Master Gardeners also would partner with the city to use the headhouse space for educational classes and other programming, as well as for storage to further support greenhouse operations and the maintenance of the group’s on-site demonstration gardens.
The plan also calls for $1.2 million in general site improvements, as well as several additional potential projects such as a roof-mounted solar array or new siding for the existing building to match the proposed addition.
What happens now?
In adopting the schematic designs for the Lowe Park project, council members greenlit city staff to move forward with identifying potential phasing and funding opportunities for the proposed improvements.
Parks and Recreation Director Seth Staashelm said that process will include evaluating all available funding sources for the project — including the direct use of city funds, grant opportunities and the feasibility of private donations and community partnerships.
The storm shelter could be a good fit for grant funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, or the rooftop solar array could net some tax incentives and/or rebates.
It’s also possible that staff could choose to split proposed improvements into several phases to reduce the one-time cost.
All findings will ultimately go back to the council in August as part of the annual capital improvement planning process, where it will be considered alongside other potential city projects for final selection. If not approved this year, it can be reconsidered in future years.
“I’d love it if we could build everything tomorrow, but that’s not the reality of the situation,” Staashelm said. “It’s really about looking at things holistically to address whether moving this project forward right now is what’s best for the community.”
Comments: grace.nieland@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters