City council delays Veterans Memorial building decision

Cedar Rapids City government is still trying to figure out where its post-flood offices will go. The city council narrowed it down to two options earlier this year.

Back in mid-March, the council rejected a plan to build a new city hall and voted to return city offices back downtown.

But, Tuesday night, city staff said they still could not tell the council how much it would cost to move council chambers and other offices back to the Veterans Memorial Building. So, the council decided to delay making a decision.

“We're at a very critical stage right now. We have an architect on staff and a construction manager on contract. We need to give clear direction to these people,” Mike Jager of the Veterans Memorial Commission said.

Restoring and perhaps remodeling the original council chambers and city offices makes sense to Mayor Ron Corbett.

“The money's already been invested in those two floors from an office standpoint,” Corbett said.

Yet, many other council members feel they can't make a good decision with the limited information they have.

Right now, city staff cannot say how much it would cost to move the council meeting space and city offices back to this building.

“I don't have the money to be able to develop 5, 6 or 7 different plans,” Jager said.

Veterans Memorial Commission staff wanted a vote, but will now have to wait again for the city to gather more information. It's unclear how long that delay might take, but the overall vision remains the same.

“We need to brighten the place up. We need to modernize it. We need to increase the connectivity and the vibrancy and make it once again the vital hub and nexus of the whole downtown,” Jager said.

Now, it's just a question of exactly what that hub will look like.

Veterans Memorial Commission members said they were disappointed by the decision to delay making a decision about the building. Earlier Tuesday evening, Mayor Corbett said he hoped to have council meetings back there by early next year.

Now, it's unclear if that will be possible.

The council is also considering whether to move its chambers to the old federal courthouse. Some have argued that location would be a better, more convenient site for people.

But, again, it's unclear how much it would cost to create council chambers and city offices there.

-Mark Geary, KCRG-TV9 News