Czech Village/New Bohemia to participate in new Urban Neighborhood District Program
State officials announced Monday they had selected Cedar Rapids' Czech Village/New Bohemia area to participate in Main Street Iowa's new Urban Neighborhood District Program.
Jan Stoffer, a board member for the Czech Village/New Bohemia Urban Neighborhood District, said the Main Street program will lend expertise and assistance to help the neighborhood bounce back from last year's flood.
Floodwaters rose as high as the ceiling in some Czech Village businesses, about half of which have since reopened.
Stoffer is optimistic about the future of the only commercial Czech district in the United States.
"When the district was threatened with complete demolition, our community as a whole came forward and said 'no, this is too important to our history, to our identity, to who we are, and we need to save it,' and Main Street's going to help us do that," Stoffer said.
Besides its Czech restaurants and businesses, the neighborhood also has attracted artists. Leaders are looking not only at developing businesses in the area, but housing and overall revitalization.
Terry Poe Buschkamp, an urban neighborhood district consultant with the Main Street Iowa program, said before the floods, groups on both sides of the Cedar River had researched the possibility of applying for the new program but had difficulties working as a cohesive unit.
"When the waters subsided, the two districts realized the need for cooperation and are now united with shared goals, vision, governance and promotion," Buschkamp said.
The state designation qualifies the area for close to $100,000 worth of state assistance in helping to upgrade and market the area.
Neighborhood organizations that join the state's Main Street program must demonstrate a shared goal of preserving Iowa's historic buildings and business districts and improving the local economy.
Before receiving the designation, they are required to secure funding and outline short-term and long-term goals of their strategic plans. Local representatives also have to attend training sessions before they are allowed to apply.
The other two commercial areas chosen for the Urban Neighborhood District program included Davenport's Hilltop Campus Village and the 6th Avenue Corridor in Des Moines.
This story appeared in The Cedar Rapids Gazette on Monday, May 18, 2009.
