Kalona downtown revitalization advances with $108k state grant

The City of Kalona received notice on June 9 of a $108,000 state Vision Iowa - Community Attraction and Tourism grant to support its $2.8 million downtown streetscape and stormwater project.

The project includes streetscape of 5^th Street and Avenue B, 4^th Street to 6^th Street Alley, and the Community Center Parking lot.  Specific components of the streetscape will include: storm water management, new energy efficient street lighting, ADA compliant street access, artistic quilt designs, way finding signage, plantings and landscaping, benches and street furniture.

The Vision Iowa funding was to help support the public art component of the project - 33 brick quilt blocks to be inset into the sidewalks around downtown. Local sponsorship for these quilt blocks raised almost $87,000, which was crucial in securing the state grant. The idea for the brick quilt blocks from downtown businessperson, Chamber President, and revitalization committee member, Lori Mostek.

This Vision Iowa grant is in addition to a November 2009 grant for $1,050,000 from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.


Planning for the downtown streetscape took several steps, each of which involved a steering committee and much public involvement.

• In 2004 when the City and Kalona Chamber commissioned the Iowa Dept. of Economic Development's Downtown Resource Center to conduct a Downtown Assessment.
• In 2006 the City hired Gary Lozano of RDG Planning and Design to update its Comprehensive Plan, with a special emphasis on the downtown. (Lozano later did the Washington County Comprehensive Plan update and Zoning Ordinance design.)
  
• In 2008, the City hired MMS Consultants of Iowa City to design a downtown revitalization project. Principals working on the project included Kalona local, Luke Newton, ASLA, and Kelly Beckler, P.E.
• In 2009, Katherine Ollendieck, of Advanced Development Services in Dysart, came on to the project to solidify the concept and to prepare the grant applications for the Washington County Riverboat Foundation and for Vision Iowa. This is Ollendieck's third successful Riverboat Foundation/Vision Iowa application from Washington County. The first two were the Wellman Parkside Activites Center and the Washington Free Public Library.

Construction on the Kalona Community Center parking lot, and some street and alley reconstruction has already started. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

The first big project in the downtown revitalization was the 2004 construction of the new Kalona Public Library.