Group wants to spread the word about city being ‘great place’

A Washington committee has been formed to gather ideas to help continue the progress the community has made during the past 10 years.

The Great Places Committee is in its infancy and is beginning to seek comments from community residents on how best to develop innovative and entrepreneurial cultural and tourism efforts in Washington.

Some 42 communities in Iowa have been designated as Great Places making them eligible to apply for grants to implement community improvement projects.

The average grant is $210,066.

The Iowa Great Places application is a grassroots process. Ideas come from community members up through the Great Places Committee, which will be submitting an application to the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs for Iowa Great Places designation, making the city eligible for grants for projects identified by the public.

The committee, chaired by Millie Youngquist, will be using several ways to gather comments. One method involves the weekly Farmers Markets. Each Thursday, chalkboards will be posted in several locations around the market with questions like, ”What's missing in Washington?” The chalkboards will be posted until the markets end Oct. 15.

'Being designated as one of Iowa's Great Places by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs would have many benefits for Washington,” Youngquist said. 'In addition to the grant opportunities mentioned, we would be part of a statewide network of other vibrant communities and passionate community leaders, have access to professional development, technical assistance and access to other state and local resources. Our designation could be used in signage and marketing materials to promote our community. We already know that Washington is one of Iowa's 'great places”, we just need to let others know about us.”

The committee will use other ways to solicit ideas like online surveys and possibly town meetings before developing its application for designation.