Cedar Crossing is the way to revitalize Time Check Neighborhood

As the owner of Pierson’s Flower Shop & Greenhouses in northwest Cedar Rapids, I want to share why the time is now for Cedar Crossing to help revitalize a historic Cedar Rapids area.

If approved, the proposed casino will be built on the west side of Cedar River and provide flood protection, economic development and a chance to rebuild the Time Check Neighborhood, a name that refers to when railroad employees were paid with postdated checks in the late 1800s to help pay for groceries in neighborhood stores.

This year marks 17 years since the flood that devastated our city — and hit Time Check the hardest. Thousands of homes, families and businesses are now gone. The proposed Cedar Crossing site has been off the tax rolls since the flood. Despite the efforts of the Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit that I lead as president, to preserve history and encourage growth, Time Check needs additional investment and development.

Cedar Crossing will help us further foster a neighborhood that is safe, welcoming and supportive of all who live, work and play here. It will create a new chapter for our city and a chance for us to complete the redevelopment of one of Cedar Rapids’ oldest neighborhoods.

We should not let this opportunity pass us. This area deserves the same attention and restoration that other thriving neighborhoods in our city have now enjoyed for years.

Al Pierson

President, Northwest Neighbors Neighborhood Association

Cedar Rapids