Cedar Rapids council approves new action plan for Rockford Road area

Cedar Rapids officials are targeting the Rockford Road area including, and surrounding, the sports facilities in southwest Cedar Rapids to spur possible redevelopment efforts and private investment. And they’re doing it via a new “micro-area” action plan – the first of its kind for the city. The action plan, approved unanimously by the Cedar Rapids City Council Jan. 23, focuses on the Rockford Road area, bounded by Eighth Avenue SW to the north, 15th Street SW to the west, the CRANDIC railroad tracks to the east and 16th Avenue SW to the south. The area is designated as a “micro-area” because at just 82 acres or .13 square miles, it’s significantly smaller than other action plan areas – such as the Westdale Mall area, for example, which comprises 3.1 square miles. According to city documents, action plans are designed to “help the city prioritize public investment in a designated area” and “build engagement with community stakeholders: businesses, residents, and employers. Ultimately, the plans are designed to create a vision for the area with goals and action steps to reach that vision.” The Rockford Road area was chosen for an action plan, in part, because it includes a number of facilities that serve as regional attractions, including the ImOn Ice Arena, Kingston Stadium and Veterans Memorial Stadium, as well as the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center and Jefferson High School’s baseball field. More than half the area is owned by the city of Cedar Rapids or the Cedar Rapids Community School District.

The area has a history of stormwater management issues due to its high proportion of buildings and paved parking lots, but also offers opportunities for transitional land uses, particularly with the commercial and industrial areas on the east side of the area. “Existing zoning along the (Rockford Road) corridor presents an opportunity for a variety of uses such as entertainment, dining, or retail,” according to the action plan. The action plan process began in December 2022 and has since been developed through stakeholder engagement sessions in January 2023, an analysis of existing conditions and a draft plan completed in October 2023, and a stakeholder open house in November 2023. At the open house, visitors – including residents of nearby neighborhoods such as the Cleveland and Taylor neighborhood associations – were asked how they perceived the Rockford Road area, as well as opportunities they’d see for the future. Common terms used to describe the current area included “sports,” “aged,” “industrial,” “busy,” “trains” and “noisy,” while terms used to describe a future vision for the area included “inviting,” “events,” “enclosed,” “benches,” “trails,” “more trees” and “safe.” Through a SWOC (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges) analysis of the area:

• Strengths include an abundance of free parking, proximity to the downtown area, history with sports and veterans, area identity, and accessibility.
• Weaknesses include an aged and dreary image, building maintenance, poor quality sidewalks and streets, lack of street and pedestrian lighting, homeless encampments, and a lack of non-sports related entertainment and dining.
• Opportunities included embracing the area’s sports and veteran history, strengthening neighborhood identity, increasing accessibility and improving pedestrian amenities.
• Challenges included limited space for expansion, a possible lack of follow-through, funding challenges, parking on game days and events, noise from fireworks and other activities, and meeting the needs of young professionals and consumers.

Top priorities identified by stakeholders included installation of pedestrian comfort amenities, such as benches, shade trees and trash cans, along Rockford Road; an engineering study to determine if pedestrian crossing improvements are needed at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and Rockford Road; consideration of developing a sports facilities-inspired naming strategy for the study area; exploring enhancements to the space around the Lockheed T-33A aircraft public art piece near Veterans Memorial Stadium “to promote pedestrian interactions and sense of place”; and pursuing expanded public transportation services for the area, such as the 380 Express bus service or CR Transit. Council members expressed their support for the action plan. “The sports facilities (in that area) are in good shape, the best they've ever been in,” council member Scott Olson said. “What's not been improved is the area surrounding it, and making it more of an amenity. Across the country, if you go to all the new baseball parks, you go through housing, you go through restaurants, on your way to these facilities. Even though some buildings have been redone along there, there's a long way to go. I think good sidewalks, amenities, trees and lighting will (improve) the experience. There are thousands of people that come to this area because of our varying sports teams, so it's important that we upgrade (to) make this area something that makes an impression. If this area is improved, it improves the surrounding neighborhoods, and I think if we work together with the area associations, everybody wins.” “It's incredible the amount of traffic we already have over there,” Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell added. “And what's heartening to me is this is really driven by demand. It’s happening very organically. So it's probably past time, honestly, judging by the interest that we've seen in that area from the private sector.” The new plan will be incorporated into the city’s EnvisionCR comprehensive plan as officials work with developers and other interested parties to determine possible funding sources for the area improvements. Time frames for implementation of most of the action steps range from one to three years.