ORANGE CITY, Iowa - After a fire destroyed a main street cornerstone and historic landmark, a northwest Iowa community is working on a project that could rise from the ashes. Just over a year ago, the Hawkeye building burned down in downtown Orange City.
Since then, there's been a hole where numerous businesses once stood, but developers are hoping it won't stay that way for long.
“After the fire we sought private development of this project and private development wasn't going to happen so we really felt we needed to come together as a community, as a development corporation and create a vision for the community," said Orange City Development Corporation Vice President Marty Guthmiller.
The Phoenix Project, as it's called, entails a new two-story building, with retail space on the ground floor and condominiums on the second floor, as well as underground parking on the lot of the old Hawkeye Hotel. "The planning's been going on for several months actually and the initial response every time we talk about it has been very positive," said Beltman. "The community wants us to move forward. The fire was a devastating event for our community, but I think people are healing from that and we're looking forward to what opportunities lie ahead of us."
The street level will contain retail space, with residential condos on the second floor.
Orange City does not own the property yet, but is hoping to show its plans to the public, then put the purchase up for vote next spring. The new building would be funded by the sale of the condos, city funds, and possibly bonding.
The development corporation also has several other projects they are introducing at the meeting.
"We'll also be talking about some other projects in town such as a privately developed Dutch Village, and event center, performing art center and an education center," said Guthmiller.
It would be run in conjunction with the Blue Mountain steakhouse, and possibly include a small hotel, restaurant, tea house and bakery.
Marty Guthmiller, chairperson of the project's task force, says every day the space sits empty the city loses possible tax revenue.
"There's a cost to doing nothing and you have to weigh the cost of additional property taxes, which I prefer to refer to as an investment, versus the cost of doing nothing," said Guthmiller, who presented the plan at Thursday's town meeting.
The Phoenix Project task force held public meetings to get feedback from the public on their initial plans. They also discussed other plans that could improve the viability of Orange City's economy including a possible Dutch village with shops and a hotel, also an event center, performing arts center, and education center.
The immediate focus remains on the Hawkeye Hotel, though.
"Certainly the Hawkeye Center is going to determine the future of some existing merchants on Main Street, and we've been told that ‘should you develop the Hawkeye Center, we are going to stay in the downtown area. Should you not, we're not sure,'" said Guthmiller.
The consensus at the meetings seemed to be that Orange City is ready to rise from the ashes and look towards the future.
"The response was very overwhelmingly positive that [we should] go forward, keep on going, and keep [the residents] informed," said Beltman.
A possible bond could go up for a vote by March of next year. If that is passed, construction of the new Hawkeye Center could begin next summer.
To help pay for other projects like the Dutch village and event center, Orange City is looking at private investors and even possible funding from the Vision Iowa Board.