Home > Down to Business > News > State Certifies Grant Wood Cultural District in Downtown Cedar Rapids
State Certifies Grant Wood Cultural District in Downtown Cedar Rapids
The Cedar Rapids Downtown District is pleased to announce that the State Historical Society of Iowa has approved certification of the “Grant Wood Cultural District.” Formal announcement of the new district included a sign dedication ceremony Monday July 12th at 1:15PM at Five Turner Alley, the home and studio of Grant Wood from 1925-1935.
The newly certified Grant Wood Cultural District is a well-recognized, walkable, mixed-use area of the City of Cedar Rapids and Linn County in which a high concentration of cultural and historical facilities are located. The proposed district will compliment the existing New Bohemia/Czech Village Cultural District and will include a natural chain of sites beginning with the Masonic Library and 5 Turner Alley east of the Cedar River, past the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art and new Cedar Rapids Public Library location, Paramount Theatre, Orchestra Iowa, Mays Island and over to the west side of the Cedar River where the proposed Amphitheatre will be located.
Aligned with the JLG Downtown Vision and Neighborhood Reinvestment Action Plans, the new Grant Wood Cultural District will:
· Establish and promote an arts and culture district
· Identify incentives to attract and support downtown businesses
· Further promote downtown as a destination
· Assist in the creation of a comprehensive inventory of properties with historical and cultural significance
A true collaborative effort, the Grant Wood Cultural District received resolutions of support from both the City Council and Linn County in late 2009. A sampling of other partnering organizations that assisted Downtown District Development Committee and staff with in the application process and/or wrote letters of support included: Iowa Cultural Corridor Alliance, City of Cedar Rapids Historic Preservation Commission, Theatre Cedar Rapids, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids’ Arts & Culture Liaison Peggy Whitworth, Neighborhood Development Corporation, Cedar Rapids Convention & Visitor’s Bureau and Cedar Rapids historian Mark Hunter.