Cranes, barrels and progress

Gazette Editorial Board

--

Construction cranes, barricades and orange barrels litter virtually every street in downtown Cedar Rapids, it seems. They can be annoying to pedestrians and drivers. But they also represent a remarkable flurry of major post-flood projects that will change the face of downtown.

Within about two years, the new U.S. Federal Courthouse, Central Fire Station, Convention & Events Center, main public library, public works building and amphitheater will be completed, and the Paramount Theatre restored and expanded. Toward the downtown's fringes, the NewBo City Market, Physicians' Clinic of Iowa medical pavilion and Hall-Perrine Cancer Center are among those in the mix. Other projects, such as Theatre Cedar Rapids' building renovation and TrueNorth's move to the former library, are already in place.

And this list doesn't include the city's ongoing efforts to restore and build new housing in core neighborhoods.

Dan Thies of OPN

Architects, involved in many of projects, estimates as much as

$1 billion is being reinvested in the downtown. Farther down Interstate 380, about $1.5 billion is going into Coralville, Iowa City and the University of Iowa.

Thies also notes that in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City Corridor, there will be more construction completed within the next five to seven years than would occur over several decades of “normal” economic conditions - despite our devastating 2008 flood that arrived as one of the worst national economic recessions on record unfolded.

The bulk of investment so far is public money from federal, state and local sources. Not everyone is happy with how it's been used. Critics rightly have questioned, for example, decisions affecting historic properties.

Yet overall, this community and the Corridor are moving at a remarkable pace compared to other disaster recovery sites across the nation. It's re-energizing our local economy and hopefully paving the way for even greater private investment and growth.

n Comments: thegazette.com/

category/opinion/editorial or

editorial@sourcemedia.net