As Monica Vernon’s tenure as executive director of The District: Czech Village & New Bohemia winds to a close, she says her future plans are an open book. “in a lot of ways, it’s really hard to make the decision,” Ms. Vernon said. “I love The District. It’s definitely bittersweet.” Ms. Vernon announced July 20 […]
As Monica Vernon’s tenure as executive director of The District: Czech Village & New Bohemia winds to a close, she says her future plans are an open book.
“in a lot of ways, it's really hard to make the decision,” Ms. Vernon said. “I love The District. It’s definitely bittersweet.”
Ms. Vernon announced July 20 that she would step down as The District’s executive director, effective Sept. 21. She has served as District director since 2019.
In a CBJ interview, Ms. Vernon said her decision was largely motivated by a desire to spend more time with her family.
“It’s a perfect storm of things going on,” said Ms. Vernon.. “We have two daughters with due dates both being in August – one in Denver, one in San Francisco – and then a wedding for our third daughter in Los Angeles in September. When I realized that this spring, I wanted to make sure that with everybody so far away, I have the time and the freedom to travel a little bit more.”
Ms. Vernon isn’t leaving
The District altogether, though. For the foreseeable future, she will keep her position as administrator of the Czech Village-New Bohemia Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), a group that collects voluntary tax dollars from property owners in a district, then decides how best to spend that money for district improvements.
In the meantime, a committee has been formed to identify Ms. Vernon’s replacement, and a job description is being developed. Ms. Vernon said The District hopes to have a new executive director in place by late September or early October. If needed, assistant director Erica Ernzen would serve as interim director until a full-time director is in place.
Ms. Vernon also said she’ll be working on one of The District’s most popular annual events, Dinner on the Bridge Sept. 7 on the 16th Avenue Bridge of Lions, but she said she hopes new leadership is established before the annual Cider Stroll Oct. 13.
Longtime district ties
Ms. Vernon noted that her connection with The District extends several generations. Her grandfather owned a bottle works on Ninth Avenue SE, and her mother lived above that business growing up.
“he had been a corner grocer, and they were involved with the CSPS,” she said. “And then he did this bottling works. He had those soda machines that used to be at the theaters where a cup comes down and then some ice comes down and then the soda. That was one of his businesses. And they just took the remains of that down as they were clearing for Loftus Lumber.”
In addition, Ms. Vernon’s brother, Matthew Wolf, is the CEO at Iowa Brewing Company at 708 Third St. SE, and her great-uncle, Wesley Zeman, once owned an insurance firm along 16th Avenue SW in the Czech Village.
Ms. Vernon recalls the development of the New Bohemia district in particular.
“Before the (2008) flood, New Bohemia wasn't really anything,” she said. “We didn't even call it that. And Czech Village had all the makings of an even more vibrant place. Now, both are wonderful places. When you're there all the time, you just think, now we're going to get some more foot traffic, with hundreds more people living in the area. And with the dollars that are coming in from the state to redo the Roundhouse – there's just a lot of stuff to do down there, and it's exciting. I love to see progress. That's what I'm hooked on.”
Many changes during tenure
Ms. Vernon pointed out that
The District is currently home to 50 businesses, 40 restaurants, cultural organizations including CSPS and The Olympic South Side Theater, two museums (the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library and the African American Museum of Iowa, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and currently undergoing a significant renovation) and a number of aesthetic improvements, including 18 concrete flower boxes and vintage-style holiday lights.
Ms. Vernon also said she felt it was important for The District to assume the administrative functions of the SSMID.
“Previously, the people who administered the SSMID were not located in The District,” she said. “It’s a big difference for The District to administer it, because there's someone from The District office who's there every day and understands what is needed.”
Projects in recent years have addressed one of The District’s prime shortcomings – a lack of housing. Several residential projects are under way or completed, including a $23.7 million project by developer Darryl High at 116 16th Ave. SE to add 85 market-rate residential units; the $36 million NewBo Loftus mixed-use project by developer Dave Drown at 903 Third Street SE that will add 180 rental units, retail spaces, a rooftop patio and parking; the $9.8 million mixed-use Fulton Lofts project by developer Chad Pelley from 1218 to 1310 Third St. SE, which will add another 34 housing units; the Watts Group’s $20 million NewBo Lofts development, which will add two 55-unit buildings at 455 16th Ave. SE; and the Depot at 1120 Depot Lane SE, a $20 million mixed-use project from Ahmann Companies.
“We’ve been pushing hard to get more housing,” Ms. Vernon said. “We've had a lot of housing built, and it looks like we have quite a bit more to come. There’s still a need, among both a younger crowd and an empty nester crowd. It’s kind of on both ends.”
In the last two decades, The District has emerged as one of Cedar Rapids’ primary shopping, dining and entertainment destinations, establishing a unique identity in the process.
“It’s a different district than downtown,” she said. “It’s just a different place, in a good way. We need our central business district, and we think very highly of what they're doing, but we wanted to show that these (Czech Village and NewBo) are two prime historic neighborhoods.”
And yet another project will add the Novak Plaza, a new parklet near the Czech Village Clock Tower, in front of what’s become known as the Mocha Needs Mural.
Partnerships continue to emerge
The District has expanded partnerships with a host of organizations in Cedar Rapids, from government agencies to business leaders.
One such partnership developed with the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency has embraced the former “Mount Trashmore” landfill site on the fringes of NewBo as a recreational and tourist attraction.
“We had this idea that if you went to the top of Mount Trashmore 140 times, you would have reached the total elevation of Mount Everest, she said. “So we have this program where you pay $40, we give you a T-shirt and and a little app that counts your ascents, and then you get coupons to 25 or 35 different retailers and restaurants for reaching certain levels.”
As part of that program, SOKO Outfitters became a “base camp” of sorts for walking and outdoor athletic supplies.
“It’s worked really well for SOKO, because these people who need hiking boots might also be doing kayaking and other outdoor activities,” she said.
Other partnerships with the city, along with grants with Shive Hattery, helped The District recover from the 2008 flood and the 2020 derecho.
“The partnership with the city has made a huge difference,” she said. “I hope that that can stay strong.”
Future plans undetermined
Ms. Vernon has been active in local and state government. She served on the city council from 2008 to 2015, including a stint as mayor pro tem, and sought the Democratic Party’s Congressional nomination in Iowa’s First Congressional District in 2014. That same year, she ran for lieutenant governor of Iowa with gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch, and won the Democratic nomination for Iowa’s First Congressional District in 2016, losing to Rod Blum.
In 2017, she ran for Cedar Rapids mayor against Brad Hart, the eventual winner.
She also has a long business career in the Corridor, perhaps most prominently as founder of the Vernon Research Group, a privately-owned market research firm launched in 1987. Ms. Vernon was the company's president and CEO until it was purchased in 2013 by The Gazette Company.
And she taught for eight years as an adjunct professor in the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at The University of Iowa.
Ms. Vernon said she doesn’t plan to run for political office again, but said she hopes she can stay occasionally involved with activities in The District and throughout the community.
“Maybe I'll teach a class here or there, something like that,” she said. “When you have a lot of experience, maybe you have some things to share with people. And working with the SSMID will keep me active in The District, but give me still some flexibility. So that might be the best of both worlds. And at some point as I transition out of that as well, I would just want to make sure that’s a good transition. I'm hoping that someone is hired that comes in with an open heart and big eyes to look at everything. Whoever it is, I hope they do a whole lot better than I ever did. But I've gotten it to a certain level.”
