New Bohemia Village ‘heading toward the vision’

It may seem that New Bohemia Village, a bustling center of new urbanism cradled in a bend of the Cedar River, was created by the 2008 flood.

However, the transformation from a community where previous generations of residents walked to work at a slaughterhouse or steel mill to a re-imagined human-scaled neighborhood where people live, work and play was underway before the flood.

And while the floodwaters did considerable damage, especially to historic structures in the area bounded by the river on the south and west, Eighth Avenue on the north and the railroad tracks along the east, they also accelerated the development of what Jennifer Pruden calls the new “jewel of Cedar Rapids.”

As bad as it was, the flood actually helped speed up redevelopment, says Pruden, executive director of the Czech/New Bohemia Main Street District. “It expanded the opportunities for funding.”

“We already had a good head of steam before the flood,” says Michael Richards, a member of the original New Bo neighborhood board and owner of Soya Wax. A design for a streetscape had been completed and some funding had been obtained.

“And the entrepreneurial drive was alive,” he says, referring to anchor businesses such as Parlor City Pub & Eatery, the Cherry Building and Chrome Horse Saloon & Slop House.

That entrepreneurial spirit attracted Tony and Nick Bata to New Bo where the father-son team has opened a restaurant, Bata's.

“Ultimately, it was our decision because of the spirit of the area,” Tony Bata says. He pointed to the willingness and the will to comeback after the flood demonstrated by CSPS, Parlor City, Chrome Horse and other businesses.

Bata and his son had offers of free rent for up to two years at other locations, “but we admired the spirit of the area and decided that's where we needed to be.”

At CSPS, Production Director Mel Andringa says Legion Arts was always in it for the long haul.

“We feel critical to the development of the neighborhood,” he says, “but we don't feel responsible for its recovery.”

The flood was a setback and has changed the neighborhood, says Andringa, who as in New Bo Village during the 1993 flood. For example, it resulted in the loss of single-family housing and the development of more upscale housing that people who work in New Bo Village can't afford.

On the other hand, it may have accelerated new development, Andringa says. The same grants and other resources that helped CSPS recover helped others. It also cleared the way for new businesses like New Bo Books, Brewed Café and Bata's.

Andringa is encouraged by the willingness to invest given that permanent flood protection has not been secured.

“The recent scare was a real reminder that flood protection is not in place and may never be,” Andringa says.

The lack of flood protection was a concern, but the Batas took precautions. Utilities – gas, electricity and communications were routed overhead rather than located in the floor, Bata said.

“You prepare more knowing the environment,” he said.

The spirit that drew Batas to New Bo Village was the same spirit that helped bring the rest of the city on board, according to Richards, and the New Bo neighborhood became a symbol of recovery.

The recovery is not complete, “but we're heading toward the vision,” Richards says.

That vision, developed before the flood, has proved invaluable in positioning the neighborhood for reinvestment and recovery, according to Jennifer Pratt, a planner in community development at Cedar Rapids City Hall. She doesn't claim credit for the new businesses and residential development that has sprouted post-flood, but Pratt points out that the city's investment in the Oak Hill Jackson neighborhood, which includes New Bo, helped accelerated recovery.

Pratt, Pruden and Richards tick off lists of programs – local, state and federal -- that helped the neighborhood get its legs under it again. They also point to the swell of private investment that followed.

The private investment keeps growing,” Pratt says, “and that continued investment shows that people think its going in the right direction.”

If there's any concern about the post-flood direction, Richards says, it's that the area becomes gentrified. He was disappointed to see Osada, apartments for low- and moderate-income residents, converted into The Bottleworks condominiums. For Richards, a key to a vibrant neighborhood is the diversity of its residents.

“It's not total gentrification,” he says, but the neighborhood would have been more inclusive with Osada. “Some of the elderly see gentrification, but we've made a conscious effort to see that passes with this generation.”

Even before the flood, Pratt says, it was clear residential development was a challenge.

Since the flood, she says, the focus has been on repopulating the neighborhood “which drives those commercial investments.

All parties excited about the continued development, especially the announcement by Geonetric Inc., a local health care software and services company, that it will build a three-story office space on the site of the old Iowa Steel plant site in the 400 block of 12th Avenue SE.

Also on the drawing board is a plan for a four-story New Bohemia Station on the site of the former Brosh Funeral Chapel in the 1000 block of Third Street SE. Plans call for retail shops, an extended-stay hotel and theater.

There are row houses planned on Second Street SE, a grocery and restaurant on Sixth Street SE and Richards' family plans to open a laundry on Ninth Street.

Those are encouraging signs, signs New Bohemia Village is achieving the vision established before the flood. That makes Pruden optimistic about the future of the village.

“It's something new,” she says, “a unique mixture of old and new built on the long-standing tradition of those who established this neighborhood, this community, and a new generation of creative individuals.

“The spirit continues,” she says.