Assessment team takes hard look at downtown

By Molly Moser

The Iowa Downtown Resource Center of Des Moines has released its report summarizing observations and recommendations for improving the city of Guttenberg. An assessment team of three downtown development professionals spent several days in the community during early December. The assessment visit and recommendations serve as a call to action and provide the community with current information for formulating strategies to address the serious issue of saving the downtown for future generations.

“The team gave a lot of valuable suggestions and insights from a visitor’s perspective that provide direction for organizations and city government,” said Guttenberg Chamber of Commerce director Emily Moser, who helped coordinate the assessment. 

“We believe the downtown is very important to the local economy, as a symbol of economic health, a symbol of public/private partnership, local pride, and community history, and of the quality of life for residents. Healthy downtowns typically represent healthy communities,” said Jim Engle, director of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center at the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Lisa Oetken, Mount Pleasant Main Street Director, and Joe Lawniczak, design specialist with the Wisconsin Main Street also contributed to the assessment. 

First and foremost, the assessment team found locating downtown Guttenberg a challenge in itself. With various dead ends because of the railroad tracks, the team observed that Schiller Street has become the main access route from the highway to downtown and suggested a pedestrian and vehicular ‘promenade’ to direct the attention of travelers. More cohesive signage was also recommended.

Often residents don’t notice things like weeds or overgrown vegetation, “but visitors always do,” states the assessment report, citing tree stumps and weeds grown through sidewalk cracks on River Park Drive. “In addition, the Hwy. 52 corridor is rather unsightly for most of the route through the city. Examples include business signage of every different style, height, size and setback; retaining ponds that look unkempt; a mix of paved and unpaved parking lots; overgrown and unmaintained lots; and very little landscaping or decoration. Some of these issues could be quick fixes, but most of the items here are long-term projects. Develop a plan or hit list to start beautifying this corridor.

“Along Highway 52, uniform signage, regularly spaced lampposts and trees, as well as consistent parking lot paving would improve the appearance greatly. The retaining ponds should be landscaped with native plantings and have benches available for those wanting to enjoy them. Vacant lots should be cleaned up and seeded or sodded. In addition, the RV parks should be landscaped to make them look more park-like and less like parking lots, at least at the perimeters,” the team recommended.

Downtown Guttenberg has many opportunities in the form of vacant storefronts and a genuine desire from area residents for a stronger retail presence. The report calls out at least $4 million in retail leakage, meaning that residents are spending that money on needs not met by local businesses. 

According to the assessment report, an empty building has a significant negative impact on the entire community, as does allowing residential activity in spaces clearly defined for commercial downtown use. “Vacant buildings don’t have to look like vacant buildings. By using creative signage or temporary window displays like art and historic photos, we can make empty spaces more attractive to potential tenants and to passersby,” said Moser. 

In addition to first floor availability, upper story vacancy is also a problem in many downtowns, and Guttenberg is no exception. “The team recommended we do a market analysis and an inventory of upper-story housing to see what kind of businesses could work in the downtown and to find out what we have available for housing within the downtown,” Moser told The Press.

A single upper floor apartment rented to a couple for $500-$1000 per month has been estimated to bring between $20,000 and $40,000 per year in impact on a downtown. “People want to live in the downtown, and you have a built in base for customers when you have people living in your downtown. Housing in the downtown brings money to building owners and to the community,” said assessment team member Oetken. “They’re really cool spaces – what better view would you have than the second story in your downtown?” 

While many projects suggested by the assessment team could be supplemented by grants, others could benefit funds generated by promotional events such as raffles, sale of limited edition items, and celebrations of Guttenberg’s downtown heritage. Guided historical tours of the downtown, ghost tours, upper story tours, audio tours, historical storytellers in storefronts during the holidays, and a tour of historic homes were among the ideas generated by public meetings during the December visit. 

“The City of Guttenberg has expressed an interest in the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Main Street Iowa Program as a tool to revitalize its downtown area. Although this Downtown Assessment Visit was not done specifically to promote or recommend the Main Street Iowa Program, this Assessment Team does believe that Guttenberg could be a candidate for Main Street Iowa status. We encourage Guttenberg to use the next year to find out as much as you can about the Main Street Program,” stated the team in their report, suggesting that residents and leaders visit nearby Main Street communities and invite a Main Street Iowa staff person or a nearby Main Street Director to make a public presentation. 

The next Main Street application round will be in 2017. The program brings a variety of downtown revitalization technical assistance services to Main Street communities, including staff and volunteer training, design and small business assistance, organizational technical assistance and help with promotional planning. It also brings with it focus and a model to activate volunteers to do good things. 

As with any project, communication and marketing will be essential going forward. “I think GD&T, GEIDC and the City have to work together to determine the things from this report we want to work on, and make an action plan so that we can use the assessment to positively impact our community and start to revitalize the downtown.”