Iowa City Residents Worried Big Developments Will Happen Without Public Input
Developers and citizens came together to discuss the future of the 100 block of Washington Street in Downtown Iowa City last night. Save Washington Street Iowa City and Iowa Coalition Against the Shadow organized the meeting, concerned over a picture in the Iowa City Press Citizen that showed the block razed and replaced with a ultra-modern glass tower. The picture was from a study commissioned by the University of Iowa, the city of Iowa City, Frantz Community Investors, and Midwest One Bank. Midwest One is restoring their headquarters on the western edge of the block, the University of Iowa own the Jefferson building on the eastern end, and Frantz Community Investors owns the Kresge building in between.
If a building owner wanted to demolish a building in downtown Iowa City all they would need are the proper permits and to give seven days notice. Save Washington Street Iowa City is concerned that a major development might occur in the heart of downtown Iowa City without public input.
“Right now there is nothing in place to protect these historic structures”, said Rockne Cole of Iowa Coalition Against the Shadow (ICATS), “we really can’t expect the structures themselves to protect themselves.”
Kent Jehle, Executive Vice President for MidwestOne Bank, and Mike Frantz, Frantz Community Investors, both said that redevelopment without public input was not something they wanted to pursue.
“Our corporate image is the corner of Washington and Clinton streets,” said Jehle, “MidwestOne would not sell it’s property today for that project.”
“We want to understand what the community wants, “said Frantz, “ [The Glass Building] knocked us all on our heels a little bit.”
Historic Preservationist Alicia Thimble went over the history of Washington Street. It’s one of Iowa City’s oldest streets, dating back to the 1850s. The Kresge Building dates to the early 30s and the Brown Bottle building dates to 1898.
Creating a Historic District downtown would assuage the fear that a big project could happen without public input but political barriers are high. To create a historic district you would need two separate city council commissions to approve it — The Historic Preservation Committee and the Planing and Zoning Committee. Then approval from a simple majority of the city council. If property owners totaling 20 percent of the total land area that would become a historic district object there would have to be another city council vote with a super majority of council members approving the historic district.
“Everyone has a different perspective on what they want to see with downtown Iowa City, “said Cole, “The more voices we get, the more input we get, the better.”
