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Washington Evening Journal
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Belle Plaine keeps building
BELLE PLAINE — Renovation of a historic building on Belle Plaine’s Mainstreet will add housing to a town that is short on that commodity.
A $475,000 Community Development Block Grant for upper story living from the Iowa Economic Development Authority will help Brian Bock construct five apartments on the upper floor of the Moore building.
As of July, the building had been cleaned out and gutted, said Belle Plaine City Administrator Steve Beck. New windows, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, electrical wiring and insulation has been installed.
The project, which also qualified for a $100,000 Community Catalyst Building Remediation grant, was expected to be completed this month.
The building will have retail space on the ground floor and five apartments on the upper floor, said Beck. “It’s an enormous building.”
Nearby, King Theatre’s renovations are nearly complete. Its owner, Zach Lahn, is also looking into a Community Development Block Grant to develop its upper story.
“Kate Robinson with Benton Development Group has helped us get those grants,” Beck said.
In March, Paul Mitchell of East Central Iowa Community of Governments told the Belle Plaine City Council that there were only 123 rental units in Belle Plaine as of December 2022. The city needs 42 more units to meet current population needs, he said.
“There’s a lot going on here,” said Beck.
A new investor came to the city council meeting this month to talk about opening a sports bar and golf simulator. He’s looked at other towns, but thinks Belle Plaine will be a good fit.
Beck helps developers find locations for their ventures.
“People come to me and they say, ‘I want to start a business in town.’” Beck talks with them about demand for the service or product and about financing.
“And we figure out what kind of grants will be available,” Beck said.
Most grants provide reimbursements and come with caveats. “So we try to go with stackable grants” so they can harmonize with one another, Beck said.
“A lot of people don’t have $800,000 to $1 million to buy a building and renovate it.”
Short term, the city is pursuing upper story residents and infill housing, fixing up older homes or building new on existing lots. “I want to keep the population density,” Beck said, and avoid sprawl.
Long term, the city has a housing development planned for the south part of town east of Highway 21. The property belonged to attorney Anders Norgaard, said Beck, and when he passed away, a new investor bought it. He’s waiting for the city to add infrastructure.
A new development requires that the city build roads, sewers and electrical systems. Infrastructure already exists for infill housing.
The city has identified a number of houses that are in disrepair or have been abandoned, said Beck. The city works with owners to try to get those houses occupied.
Owners can fix the houses, sell them or tear them down and offer the lots for sale, said Beck.
A couple of people, who no longer lived in Belle Plaine, gave their homes to the city, said Beck.
After getting title to abandoned homes, the city tears them down and makes the lots available for infill housing. The city tore down one house that had been empty for 30 years, Beck said.
A couple of years ago Belle Plaine High School started a construction program that will make new homes available. Students are finishing up a three-bedroom home at 1207 16th Street.
“We’re getting ready to do two more where the old Junior High was,” said Beck.
Not far from the high school project, a duplex and triplex are going up.
“I got on the City Council when I was in my 20s,” said Beck, who grew up on a farm between Belle Plaine and Marengo.
Main Street in Belle Plaine was falling down at the time, Beck said. Fewer than a dozen businesses were open there.
Bill Daily was city manager at the time. “We decided we did not want to lose our community,” said Beck. The town also resisted consolidation of its school district.
With planning and grants, the schools were rebuilt and Belle Plaine’s downtown began its recovery.
It all started with a $30,000 grant for period light poles, Beck said.
Since November 2019, Beck has been city administrator, working relentlessly to keep Belle Plaine growing.
“I think people want to live in a resilient community,” said Beck. The secret is to create an environment where it’s OK to dream, he said.
“Belle Plaine has always been able to pivot and recover quickly because of the … work ethic of the citizens.”
The 2020 derecho is a good example, said Beck. The damage was cleaned up quickly. “We had good plans.”
The town supports employers such as Iowa Mold and Engineering, Iowa Metal Products, Heartland Cooperative, Remington Seeds and Frontier Co-op.
Garling Construction has provided jobs in Belle Plaine for 50-plus years, said Beck, and Town and Country Wholesale has been there for a century.
“People can work here and live here,” said Beck.
The cost of living is lower in Belle Plaine than in Cedar Rapids. Taxes aren’t as high. The town has vacant historical homes. “Some of them are just begging to be fixed up,” said Beck.
“We are working very hard to revitalize our community,” Beck said. “We’re all in to make our small town the best place it can be.”
