Marion ‘setting the standard,’ Mayor AbouAssaly says in State of the City address

Since being elected to his first term in November 2015, Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly has outlined a theme for each of his State of the City presentations – each pointing to key milestones in the city’s growth and development. And while the previous versions have been aspirational, this year’s theme – “Setting the Standard” – marks a noteworthy turning point in Marion’s history, Mr. AbouAssaly said in the 30th annual State of the City address March 5 at the Radisson Hotel Cedar Rapids. In his remarks to an estimated 530 attendees, Mr. AbouAssaly – noted that the city of Marion identified a goal in 2014 of making Marion “the best place in Iowa to grow a family and raise a business.” “(That) could have easily become another consultant’s recommendation, collecting dust on the shelf,” Mr. AbouAssaly said. “Instead, we’ve made this phrase the guidepost for our city’s evolution and a central feature of an ambitious vision that has moved the needle significantly by inspiring us to see beyond the routine tasks of managing city operations and providing basic services. Our brand is a daily reminder that there’s a higher and more profound purpose in our work – that we have the amazing opportunity to achieve beyond our perceived potential to shape a premier community where people and businesses want to be.” In his keynote address, interspersed with several videos and a healthy dose of humorous interludes, Mr. AbouAssaly expounded on Marion’s successes in several key areas over the past year, including community engagement, quality of life, growth and development, government, community-building and collaboration. Regarding growth and development, Mr. AbouAssaly noted that the population of Marion – Iowa’s 13th largest city, and one of the state’s fastest-growing in recent years – has increased about 60% since 2010 and nearly 20% since 2010. In a recent two-year period, he said, Marion added 2,200 new households from 170 Iowa communities, 43 states and five countries. Connected with that rapid growth, he said, Marion has added 1,231 single-family homes, 649 multi-family units and 176 senior housing units in the past eight years, and 11 new subdivisions are in active construction. In addition, Marion has seen more than $48 million in private investment since the inception of the Uptown Main Street District in 2013, and Marion’s total valuation has increased by nearly $2 billion in the last eight years, according to the Linn County Assessor’s Office. Several new tenants joined the Marion Enterprise Center on the city’s east side in the past year, and development continues in the Central Corridor, Tower Terrace Road, Highway 13 and Eastown Crossing areas, “even with the unfavorable conditions for costs of construction and borrowing.” Among the highlights of that development: A new Holiday Inn Express, now under construction at Highways 13 and 151. To support the city’s growth, Marion has spent more than $100 million in the past ten years on capital and infrastructure, not including city facilities, Mr. AbouAssaly said. Much of that investment has focused on the Central Corridor, Tower Terrace Road and Alburnett Road projects. The pedestrian bridge over Seventh Avenue on the city’s west side is due to be completed this year, with the addition of decorative columns to create an “entryway feature” for Marion. And the city’s newly-completed Fire Station #1 has won several architectural design awards. The city is also evaluating a series of redevelopment proposals submitted for the former public library block in Uptown Marion. “While we don’t yet know how the process will turn out,” Mr. AbouAssaly said, “it’s hard to miss the excitement among our team members over the potential the redevelopment of this highly-visible block provides for raising the bar significantly with a new community landmark.” Mr. AbouAssaly also noted that the city adopted uniform, community-wide design standards in 2023 and placed a one-year moratorium on development of certain uses in the city’s high-growth commercial corridors. “This moratorium is intended to provide us with a window to update the city’s comprehensive plan and ensure development takes place in the most meaningful manner,” Mr. AbouAssaly said. “Some were quick to characterize the moratorium as an impediment to growth, but in truth, its limited nature still allows most development to proceed while we work to ensure that future developments will happen in a manner that adds the most value and is congruent with the expectations of Marion’s residents.” Among other key city developments highlighted in Mr. AbouAssaly’s Marion State of the City address:

• Community engagement – Residents have engaged in the projects such as the Uptown Artway, the Klopfenstein Amphitheater for the Performing Arts at Lowe Park, the Marion YMCA and the streetscape and plaza projects in Uptown Marion. And they continue to engage in steering committees for the city’s comprehensive plan update, Central Plaza Development, Reforestation Plan and Indian Creek Master Plan. “Engaging the public of all ages and levels of the process maintains a proper focus on the people we serve, ensures that we are investing public dollars in the public’s priorities and ultimately earns invaluable buy-in and support for the city’s work and direction,” Mr. AbouAssaly said.
• Quality of life – In its first year of operation, the city’s new public library had more than 132,000 visitors who attended 925 public programs, and 4,700 new library cards were issued. Later this year, a new $400,000 mobile library will hit the streets, bringing services to underserved neighborhoods and senior facilities. The city’s newest park, Draper Park, will open this year, dedicated to the city’s railroad history and housing the refurbished caboose that’s being relocated from City Square Park. New emergency rooms for both Mercy Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital are set to open later this year, and the city is “laying the groundwork” for a new aquatic center to replace the aging city pool.
• Government – The city adopted its first formal Emergency Operations and Continuity of Operations plans in 2023 to ensure preparedness for responding to large-scale hazards and natural disasters. A new, 144,000-square foot public services maintenance facility will be completed this summer, and a $1.2 million records management system is providing real-time, searchable access to police data. And a new Resident Connect Transparency Hub offers access to incidents, accidents and citations. “The bottom line,” Mr. AbouAssaly said, “is that we can explain the reasons for our decisions, and this makes our work more transparent and earns respect and credibility,” noting that a recent community survey showed that trust in Marion’s government increased 10% in two years, even in a time of growing government distrust.
• Community-building – Participation in city-sponsored events, from Christmas in the Park to the Marion Arts Festival, continues to rise, propelled in part by the city’s new Seventh Avenue festival street. And later this month, officials will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the new $7.3 million Central Plaza project. Mr. AbouAssaly noted that more than $850,000 has already been raised toward a $1.3 million public fundraising campaign to support the project, and while much of the project will be finished this year, the refrigerated ice-skating loop won’t open until winter 2025.
• Collaboration – The city continues to work with both public and private entities on projects such as the YMCA and Prospect Meadows, as well as teaming with the Marion and Linn-Mar school districts on several initiatives, including a joint equity statement. And city leaders are teaming with the cities of Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha, as well as the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, on the Mayors’ Collaborative Growth Initiative, designed to bring more residents and workforce participants to the area.

As he’s stated countless times, Mr. AbouAssaly offered an unambiguously positive outlook for the city’s future.

“By reaching higher, expecting more, dreaming bigger, working smarter and making the extra effort when others think they’ve done enough, we have built a community that believes in its own potential and is excited about its future,” he said. “We all have a role to play as part of Team Marion. And together we can accomplish so much more.” The Marion State of the City event ended with a flourish, as Mr. AbouAssaly unveiled a multi-tiered cake to share with attendees, complete with fountain-style sparkling fireworks. Sponsors for this year’s presentation included Alliant Energy, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, Mercy Medical Center, MidAmerican Energy and Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC. The League of Women Voters, who had sponsored the event for several previous years, did not have the capacity to sponsor this year’s event, Marion officials said.