Riverside Park

'The city has only one piece of ground that we can really call a park, and that is located on the west side, along the river, and between 11th and 16th avenues, commonly known as Riverside Park. Since that piece of ground was deded to the city it has been utilized for all sorts of celebrations and thousands of people have enjoyed its dense shade and luxurious grass. …” - Alderman Joseph Pitlik, Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette, May 12, 1898.

The Cedar Rapids Evening Gazette called the six young men who created the Riverside Investment Co. in 1891, “a company of pushing, public spirited young men.” John Henderson, L.J. Wilner, F.A. and R.O. Simmons, M.J. Gates and N.W. McIvor purchased 70 acres of what was then known as the Major May property on the west side of the Cedar River and put it up for sale. The company reserved a 250-foot-wide strip of river frontage for industrial development and put the rest up for sale as residential lots.

In 1893, the city asked Riverside Investment for a particular 20 acres of land in their development for a public park, pointing out that the residents of Cedar Rapids had been using it as such for many years. Riverside Investment responded by offering the land to the city for $8,000. The tract between West First and C streets and between 11th and 13th avenues officially became Riverside Park in 1894.

Gathering Place

At the turn of the 20th century, it was not unusual to have a Fourth of July or convention parade that wound through downtown and then crossed the river at Third Avenue and continued on First Street West to Riverside Park.

There would be orators, music, games and dancing. Special rates applied for streetcars, and trains would often stop on the tracks by the park to disembark passengers who wanted to attend the festivities.

In 1898, a small cannon was even involved in the assembly of the Iowa Log Rolling Association. It was set up in the morning at Greene Square, firing a greeting to each trainload of attendees. Then, while the organization was forming a parade at noon, the cannon was quickly moved to Riverside Park to welcome the parade.

The Parks Commission in 1905 nixed the idea of selling Riverside to buy park land farther away from the city center.

The commissioners said, “Why should we now dispose of an inside park only in future years to either deplore the folly of such sale or be to the enormous expense of providing some such place of easy access to the masses of our citizens?”

During the city's semicentennial celebration in 1906, a granite boulder was dedicated in Riverside Park on June 14, Bohemian-American Day. That boulder, subject to being submerged by Cedar River floodwaters on a regular basis, was moved to the entrance of the park in 1949.

Carved on the rock in Czech are words commemorating June 14, 1906, as Czech-American Day and carved in English is “Semi-Centennial, Cedar Rapids, Ia.” Also recorded is the year 1856, when Cedar Rapids changed from a town to a chartered city. In the 1980s, the rock was moved to the corner of 16th Avenue and A Street SW.

The park, already shaded by many elms, acquired more as the park was developed. The city also added playground equipment in 1907 and set aside a portion of the park to build a fire station in 1910. In 1913, a tennis court and a set of swings were added to the park.

Slowly Shrinking

In 1920, the city vacated the 11th Street entrance of Riverside Park to accommodate the $4 million Penick & Ford plant and acquired the property of A.J. Rebec for a new entrance for $5,800.

Then, in December 1956, the City Council voted to sell six and a half more acres of the park to Penick & Ford for $135,000. Commissioner Don Gardner emphasized that the park still would have about 15 acres left after the sale.

A wading pool was added in 1957 for more than $2,000, and the former Fire Station No. 5 at 1115 C St. SW became the Riverside Recreation Center in 1958. It served area families until 1974. That year, the rec center transferred to the new Ambrose Center (formerly Buchanan School) and the building was converted into a police academy.

As a growing industry, Penford (formerly Penick & Ford) asked to purchase the Police Academy, and in September 1996, over the objections of history buffs, the city sold it for $145,000.

The park became the site for the City Market in 1963. A temporary location was set up at A Street and 14th Avenue until the new Riverside Roundhouse was completed in 1964. That was the 41st year of the market, and 40 stalls were available to vendors.

The park became smaller still in August 1970 when the new 16th Avenue Bridge roadway alignments cut across parkland just north of the roundhouse. According to the parks and recreation page of Cedar-Rapids.org, Riverside Park now consists of 11.02 acres, almost half its original size.

Riverside Skate Park's $235,550 worth of half-pipes, ramps and rails opened in 1999 to benefit local skateboarders. On opening day, stunt bike riders and skate boarders waited patiently through two official speeches, but by the third speech, patience ran out and they began heading for the equipment.