116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Designs of new Hoover, Van Buren schools ‘natural, welcoming and timeless’
Father asks for his daughter’s memorial trail and garden at Hoover to be preserved
Jun. 10, 2025 4:15 pm, Updated: Jul. 15, 2025 11:35 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — Renderings of the future elementary schools that will replace Hoover and Van Buren reflect the months spent talking to stakeholders about the design.
Jerica Grabner, education architect at Shive-Hattery, said gathering input from Cedar Rapids district and school staff and families helped drive design decisions.
She described the exterior of the future Van Buren and Hoover school buildings as “natural, welcoming and timeless.” The interior of Hoover she described as “warm, welcoming and community,” and the interior of Van Buren she described as “natural, vibrant and connected.”
The schools will be constructed adjacent to the current structures — Hoover at 4141 Johnson Ave. NW and Van Buren at 2525 29th St. SW. The exiting schools will remain open during construction. The buildings will be demolished after the new schools are completed. The cost of each school is estimated to be $40 million.
Construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed for the 2027-28 school year.
In line with the district’s plan to rename new schools, school leaders plan to rename the Van Buren school building, said Chad Schumacher, director of operations for the district.
A decision has not yet been made on whether Hoover will be renamed as it currently is named after President Herbert Hoover, the only U.S. president to have lived in Iowa, Schumacher said.
The new buildings will ensure the schools can meet the demands of the growing and diverse student bodies. The schools will have larger classrooms and address safety and capacity issues.
In presenting the renderings to the school board Monday, Grabner said architects met with the schools’ principals and staff, Hoover’s Parent Advocacy Committee, families at Van Buren, and staff in the custodial, food service, information technology and transportation departments at each school
Online surveys asked stakeholders what they did and didn’t like about the design of certain buildings, including asking about the materials used, architectural style and entrance.
Teachers also toured the three new elementary schools in the district — West Willow, Maple Grove and Trailside — to give feedback on what they liked or didn’t like about the schools’ layouts and classroom sizes.
Preserve Hoover’s memorial trail and garden, father asks
During public comment at Monday’s meeting, a father asked school leaders to consider preserving or reestablishing a trail and flower garden established in the 1990s at Hoover Community School in memory of his daughter Rian Nichole Alef, who died when she was 9 years old.
“It was her favorite place, and that’s why we chose to do it. She just loved being at school,” said Terry Alef, Rian’s father.
After Rian died July 3, 1995, the family donated funds to the school to create a crushed limestone walking trail in memory of her. Later, the trail was paved. A small memorial garden sits on the northwest corner of the trail marked with a stone in remembrance of Rian, Alef said.
“I’ve tended that garden since it was established. It’s a very peaceful place,” Alef said.
“I’m wondering if there is any opportunity in the new site plan to preserve a portion or reestablish the Hoover trail to carry on the memory of my daughter,” said Alef, holding back tears.
“Keeping her memory alive is important to me,” Alef told The Gazette.
Schumacher said he connected with Alef after the meeting and told him school officials would “sit down with the family and figure out a way to honor that.”
As staff change over the years, “Sometimes you lose sight of those things, so it’s good that he reached out to us,” Schumacher said.
New schools to meet demands of growing student bodies
The Cedar Rapids school board in August 2024 unanimously approved a resolution to construct two new elementary school buildings on the Hoover Elementary School and Van Buren Elementary School sites.
The schools have seen large increases to their student body in recent years and have exceeded suggested enrollment capacity, even building temporary walls in classrooms and common areas to create more learning spaces.
Hoover this year used four portable classrooms on site to accommodate students.
Enrollment during the 2024-25 school year at southwest Cedar Rapids’ Van Buren was about 465 students, and northwest Cedar Rapids’ Hoover’s enrollment was 415 students — well above their suggested enrollment caps of 370 students and 320 students, respectively.
The areas of Cedar Rapids where the schools are located are projected to continue to see population growth.
Hoover could see an additional 24 students — enough to add a class size — in the next few years. In the next 10 years, Van Buren could see an additional 100 students added to its attendance boundary because of planned housing developments, district officials have said.
The projects are funded by SAVE — Secure an Advanced Vision for Education — an existing statewide sales tax allocated to districts based on certified enrollment.
Schumacher said the projects are “close to budget.” Last fall, the district told The Gazette the estimated construction cost of the two buildings — not including other costs to outfit the building — would be approximately $48 million.
Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com
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