Cedar Rapids reveals public’s preferences for flood memorial

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cedar Rapids officials unveiled the preferences for the planned Gateway to the River Memorial Plaza project during a Northwest Neighborhood Association meeting on Thursday evening.

Some 25 residents, who attended a March 7 open house, offered opinions on a range of features, such as location, brick style, type of memorial, landscape and over-the-road archway for the plaza, which would be on the north side of O Avenue NW, just west of Ellis Boulevard NW.

The feedback will help guide the city's development of the park, which is targeted for completion by June 2018, timed to the 10th anniversary of the 2008 flood.

A large memorial called 'West Side Rising,” featuring silhouettes of houses, is the centerpiece of the plaza. Money is being raised privately for that.

The participants favored a circular designed plaza that slopes into an eventual flood levee. They also favored a memorial style with names inscribed on a wall, perhaps remembering neighbors who lost their homes in 2008, with stone benches incorporated into the feature. They selected native grasses as a backdrop for the plaza.

An archway made of steel with two pillars and twisted arch declaring 'Gateway to the River” was favored over three others.

'The participants liked the Wave Gateway concept the best,” the city reported from comments it received. 'They enjoyed the flowing organic look of the gateway and how its form was reminiscent of the river.”

The plaza is seen as a transition area between residences, a greenway, flood protection system and the Cedar River. It also would be a place for neighbors and others in the community to come gather and reflect.

'We started talking about the memorial park three years ago,” said Al Pierson, neighborhood association president. 'We've been talking with the city on it off and on for a year, so for me this feels good to see it moving forward.”

A plan for the plaza will go to City Council for approval in the coming months. A budget has yet to be defined.

'The neighborhood I think really is excited,” Pierson said.

'It goes beyond just being a memorial. It's a place people can enjoy life and gather and reflect. Other places around the city have had development, and I think we are just hoping to do some things for our neighborhood.”

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