More cool building improvements in downtown Washington

There are quite a few building improvement projects in the Main Street Washington Downtown District that are either wrapping up or just getting underway.  All of them are making downtown a more attractive, business friendly, scene.

Zager Plumbing and Heating at 204 S. Iowa Ave. did a facade and entryway project that included a new retractable awning and exposing some of the transom glass block above the entry.  They received design assistance from Main Street Iowa, and received a matching grant of $2500 from Main Street Washington (which they received from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation).  Renoux Builders did the construction work.

Central Park Community Center, next to the new Washington Public Library on Washington St., also did a facade project that exposed some of the intact transom glass block above the entryway. Note the new street light and bench in front of the building.  This project has mostly been funded by an anonymous benefactor!  The Community Center is frequently a polling location in Washington.

Ann Williams' future Farm Bureau Insurance office on North Iowa Ave. is just getting underway.  The vinyl siding has been removed, and at some point cinder block was installed to replace the original brick facade. Main Street Iowa helped Williams develop a new look, and Matt Wood of Wood Construction is carrying out the redevelopment.  In addition to her insurance office, Williams is planning a large second story apartment.  This project also received a $15,000 grant from Main Street Washington (through the Washington County Riverboat Foundation).

Finally, note the changing of the seasons.  The Washington City Park Department oversees the installation of a seasonal metal cover for the iconic Central Park Fountain.  The custom metal cover was built by Evans Welding in Washington and was being installed with the assistance of Franzen Electric, also of Washington.  The Andy Ross family of Ross Auto do a lot of volunteer work to maintain the fountain throughout the summer months, and also get it ready to open in the Spring and ready to close up for the Winter.  During the winter, the Park Department installs a light display that resembles the water spray from the fountain.  Pretty neat.

City of Washington solicits proposals for downtown redevelopment project

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY IN HISTORIC DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON, IOWA
The City of Washington has issued a Request for Proposals on a unique development opportunity in beautiful, historic downtown Washington. The City is offering a site for redevelopment under favorable terms.
If interested, call or email David Plyman, City Administrator, to request a copy of the RFP at (319) 653‐6584 or dplyman@washingtoniowa.net

Proposals are due by December 16, 2010. The following 10-page RFP explains the opportunity in detail.

Downtown Washington RFP

The City's parcels are on S. Marion Ave., just off the town square. This area has recently undergone a major streetscape project, and there has been significant private reinvestment to buildings in the area.

Interested parties may also contact local economic development officials to confidentially discuss questions, ideas, or further opportunities:

Ed Raber, Director (this blog's author)
Washington Economic Development Group
205 W. Main Street
Washington, IA 52353-1722
office 319/653-3942 | cell 319/653-8605
wedg@iowatelecom.net
wedg.blogspot.com

Amy J. Vetter │Executive Director
Main Street Washington
205 West Main Street
Washington, IA 52353
(319) 653-3272 (o) │ (319) 863-3423 (c)
(319) 653-5805 (f) │ washms@iowatelecom.net

Bodywrx building historic rehab gets new windows, new cornices

The Bodywrx Fitness Center building on the east side of the Washington town square is starting to see some visible rennovations.

Last week, new windows were installed. This is after the steel false front was removed, and the cinderblocks in the window spaces were removed.  What an improvement!

Today, the first of two replacement cornices was installed. You can see from the picture that on the right, the bricks where the cornice goes are not nice and neat like the rest of the brick face. Builders used imperfect bricks to fill the space behind the cornice. The original cornices were removed many years ago when the steel facing was installed.

The new awning was installed about a month ago.

This project is making a big difference in the Main Street Washington downtown district.

Washington County laborforce surges, unemployment holds steady at 5.2%

Washington County's unemployment rate held steady at 5.2% in September, 2010.  This is the 2nd lowest unemployment rate in Eastern Iowa, behind Johnson County.  The real positive news in the County was that the laborforce surged by 2.5% to 12,500 in September from 12,200 in August. The number of employed persons in the County also grew by over 200 to 11,800.

It is encouraging to see people re-entering the laborforce, and crisp increases in hiring or rehiring around the County resulted in over 200 more Washington Co. people being employed.

Of the estimated 600 Washington County unemployed persons, only 215 were drawing Unemployment Insurance benefits.  For 20 of those receiving Unemployment benefits, their last payment occurred in September, while 29 received their first Unemployment benefit payment.

The State and County data is from the Labor Market and Economic Research Bureau of the Iowa Workforce Development.

Commercial development - Pizza Ranch - begins on Washington's east side

Construction work has begun on the first commercial development project adjacent to the year-old Super Wal-Mart store on Washington's east side.

The first project is on approx. 2 acres in the Wiley Subdivision on the south side of Hwy 92 (Washington St.) and Wiley Ave., adjacent to Super Wal-Mart. Phase I of the project includes a 5,200 s.f. Pizza Ranch with a drive through. This is a larger location for the successful Pizza Ranch, currently located in leased space next to the regional Iowa DNR office in the old Hy-Vee store.

Phase II on the 2 acre site is planned to include 12,250 s.f. of retail/restaurant custom space.

Jeff Hazelett, of Dalhaze Development and broker at Washington Real Estate, handled the land acquisition and concept.

MMS Consultants of Iowa City did the site design. Delong Construction of Washington is doing the site preparation, including utility extensions and storm water detention area. The Pizza Ranch was financed by Midwest One bank, and a SBA 504 loan through Iowa Business Growth Company.

Greg Wiley has three additional prime commercial lots adjacent to the new Super Wal-Mart, which opened in the fall of 2009.

Paved Bike Shoulder on Wayland Road moving ahead

The Washington County project to pave about 7 miles of Wayland Road(W-55) south of the City of Washington, Iowa is moving along quickly toward completion this fall. Construction started last week.

The 4' paved shoulders will include a rumble strip close to the edge of the motor roadway to improve safety for motorists on this hilly and winding road through the picturesque Crooked Creek (and Skunk River) valleys in southern Washington County. The outside 3' of the paved shoulder will provide an excellent lane for biking, with safe separation from motor vehicles. The Wayland Road has become a popular route for bicyclists.

View Wayland Road Paved Bike Shoulders in a larger map

The project will provide safer biking access for several subdivisions south of Washington, plus improved access to popular County Parks, Sockum Ridge and Fern Cliff. The paved shoulders will end at 320th St. where Wayland Road becomes flat south into Wayland, IA.  32th St. is paved to the east and west, providing good access to other amenities in the region.

The project has been financed with a $500,000 safety grant from the Iowa DOT, a $250,000 grant from the Washington County Riverboat Foundation in June, plus another $250,000 of local County funding.

The shoulder project is being done by L.L. Pelling Co. of North Liberty, IA.

Montchevre grand opening for anaerobic digester

BELMONT, WISCONSIN - Montchevre Betin, award winning goat cheese producers hosted a grand opening celebration for a new anaerobic digester on October 8, 2010.

The digester utilizes the waste stream from its 100,000 s.f. Belmont, WI cheese plant to make bio-gas, which is then burned to generate electricity.  Alliant Energy is purchasing all of the power from the digester, which is enough to power 200 homes.  The digester was designed by Eric Fessler, P.E., of Procorp Enterprises, LLC in Milwaukee, WI.

In addition to many dignitaries from Wisconsin, Washington Economic Development Group director, Ed Raber, and board director Tom Davey of US Bank, were on hand to congratulate Montchevre on their accomplishment.

Established in 1988, Montchevre has many Amish goat milk producers in Southeast Iowa and Northern Missouri which they serve with several milk routes. In 2009, Montchevre opened a milk transfer station in Washington, Iowa to support its Wisconsin operation. We hope that Montchevre will further expand into cheese production, including a digester, in Washington in the future.

Their cheese is really great!  Montchevre recently won two gold medals in the 2010 Wold Championship Cheese Contest.