CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG TV9) — People will some day be able to live inside this historic city-owned building that sits across downtown in Cedar Rapids.
At a city council meeting Tuesday, members turned down a committee’s recommendation to go ahead with a plan that called for opening a magnet school there.
Instead, the city council decided to move forward with the plan from Hobart Historic Restoration, it includes apartments and office space. It wants to have the Knutson building restored and renovated by fall of 2017.
Developers say the plan is to immediately stabilize the building before winter. Plans include a new roof and structural repairs.
“This building is deteriorating so time is wasting,” Co-owner BJ Hobart said.
Hobart Historic Restoration’s emphasis on immediately stabilizing the historic Knutson building is one reason the city looked favorably to its proposal. Especially because the building has set empty since the 2008 flood.
“We’re absolutely going to bring it back to where it was 100 some years ago…. With a lot of care and a lot of work,” Hobart said.
The plan is a mixed use building that calls for office and storage space.
As well as 12 high end apartments.
City council members say that’s another reason they picked the proposal. The city says there’s an increasing demand for residential units in downtown Cedar Rapids.
“Not just by millennials but often times maybe baby boomers, their kids have moved out and maybe they want a downtown living,” Mayor Rob Corbett said.
A majority of the city council approved the Hobart’s plan, despite a different recommendation from the selection committee.
Developer Steve Emerson’s proposal for the Knutson building included a magnet school, but hinged upon the Cedar Rapids Community School District receiving a $12 million federal grant.
“The biggest concern among council members it that if the grant didn’t come through would we be back to square one with the Knutson Building?” Corbett said.
But not all on council voiced this concern.
“I don’t think they would have come forward and been in favor of this proposal if there was a chance they didn’t feel they were going to get the money,” Councilman Justin Shields said.
Shields says he favored the magnet school proposal because he feels it’s a needed part of the city’s education system.
“There’s no doubt in my mind it would have filled up and had waiting lists to get in… that’s just the way these schools are,” he said.
The school district says it’s still going forward with applying for the federal grant. It should hear, either way, by September 30th.
If the district gets the grant, the city says it’ll work with the district and developer Steve Emerson to find a different building or site for the school.