A new signature “Cedar Rapids” sign is now in place on Mays Island in downtown Cedar Rapids.
The large, block-lettered sign was installed Friday, June 13. It was funded by the Downtown Cedar Rapids Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), and its orange color represents Downtown CR’s orange and blue color scheme.
The new sign is part of Downtown CR’s plan to “activate” Mays Island for more community use. Under the plan, Mays Island, an historic centerpiece of Cedar Rapids, will undergo a significant transformation in 2025, supported by $75,000 from the Downtown District. The initiative aims to activate the island with new amenities, programming and public spaces designed to encourage community engagement and highlight the island’s unique position within the city.
Plans include not only the new Cedar Rapids sign, but enhanced green spaces, art installations and improved accessibility as well.
Downtown CR program director Jennifar Bassett said the new sign measures nine feet high by 27 feet long.
“It’ll be interactive,” she said. “People can touch it, climb on it, take photos in front of it, that kind of thing. We want people to be able to hang out at Mays Island, at Greene Square Park. Just really teaching people in the community about other things to do in downtown Cedar Rapids.”
Downtown CR executive director Caleb Knutson said he was surprised when he came to Cedar Rapids for his job interview and saw that the Mays Island green space was essentially vacant.
“On my walking tour with Jennifar, we walked by and I asked ‘what’s going on here? Why are there only geese here? This is a great empty spot,’” he said. “And she just chuckled and said ‘oh yeah, we’re working on that.’ That space is just really awesome, and what we’re going to do with it – I hate to use the word activate, because it’s such a cliched word, but we’re really going to activate that space with programming, encouraging people to host events there, little concerts, festivals, things like that, just to get people out and about. That’s incredibly important. The pandemic really changed how people work, how people interact. It sped up the workforce by 10 to 15 years. We’ve got to be just as innovative at that speed-up, making sure that there’s something for everyone.”
