Cedar Rapids moving forward with plans to transform greenway along Cedar River

CEDAR RAPIDS — The city of Cedar Rapids will refresh plans next year to revitalize the land that runs along the west side of the Cedar River with yet-to-be-determined amenities and recreational offerings.

In a bid to attract tourists and workers to Iowa’s second-largest city, Cedar Rapids next month anticipates beginning to search for a consultant to guide greenway planning efforts to spruce up the 130-acre space along the west side of the riverfront.

“The greenway’s going to provide economic benefit to the community,” Parks and Recreation Director Hashim Taylor said Tuesday in a presentation to the City Council’s Flood Control System Committee. “It will help attract and retain the next generation of workforce.”

Taylor said the city’s goal with transforming the greenway is to signal Cedar Rapids’ growth potential and change the face of the riverfront.

It also will provide a space for physical activity that contributes to the community’s health with expanding trail connectivity and providing an opportunity to recreate outdoors, he said.

“The greenway transforms the neighborhoods hardest hit by the flood of 2008 and provides a place for the community to gather and embrace the river,” Taylor said.

The greenway plan will cover three areas, running north from the Time Check neighborhood, to the central riverfront in Kingston Village and finally to Czech Village in the south.

The city will issue a request for qualifications in January, the council will approve a consultant in the spring and plan activities will wrap up in the summer of 2024 so the final document can head to a council vote.

Taylor said the refreshed plan will build on existing ones — such as the greenway plan crafted in 2014 — and leverage other projects that are planned or underway in the community.

In the north, for instance, the city is exploring the construction of a destination skatepark that would be in addition to the Riverside skatepark on C Street SW.

In the central segment, the city has already created amenities such as the McGrath Amphitheatre flood wall to provide permanent flood protection while offering a community gathering space and entertainment venue.

Additionally, the $81.5 million First and First West development is in progress, which will add a Big Grove brewery, Pickle Palace bar and grill, outdoor plaza, housing and hotel rooms in phases over the next several years.

The city also is pursuing a $14.6 million bypass channel through the 5-in-1 Dam on the river to create a white-water course and recreational options. A $1.5 million slice of state Reinvestment District funds already is earmarked to support the white-water park.

And in the south segment, work is underway on the Alliant Energy LightLine pedestrian-bike bridge connecting Czech Village and New Bohemia as part of the grassroots ConnectCR project.

To help bring plans to life for a Roundhouse park in Czech Village, the city is seeking $6.3 million in funds from Destination Iowa — the state tourism grants created using federal American Rescue Plan Act money.

Having an updated plan will make the city more competitive to seek resources to fulfill the plan, Taylor said.

The council earlier this year identified greenway planning as a top priority in a goal-setting session, eyeing it as an opportunity to attract private investment and rally community support around transforming the riverfront.

Council member Tyler Olson, who chairs the flood control committee, said he hopes the city continues to think big about how the greenway can be a local and regional attraction that draws people year-round, with activities for summer or winter.

“You don’t often get the chance to reprogram 130 acres in the middle of your city,” Olson said. “This is a huge opportunity for Cedar Rapids.”

The Army Corps of Engineers only funds flood protection on the east side of the river because of its cost-benefit formula — on the west side, the cost of adding flood control was greater than the value of the buildings it would protect, according to the formula.

But this endeavor speaks to the city’s commitment to protecting both sides of the river, Olson said, as this will invest millions on the west side in neighborhoods that were most directly affected by flood.

Areas such as Czech Village, Kingston Village and Time Check have seen a lot of progress in the last 10 years, Olson said.

“These projects are going to be like dumping gasoline on the fire,” Olson said. “They’re going to see an acceleration of all that the work that the city’s been doing and that the community’s been doing to revitalize those areas.”

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