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IDEAS

The proposed district should be built to give people a reason to visit downtown Grimes

1. The “Governors District” would cover about a 15 to 20 square block area.

 

2. Main Street should become the “Grimes Village”, complete with specialty shops.

 

3. Main Street should have the old street lights and cobblestone cross walks.

 

4. Each of Iowa’s 40 governors could be enshrined in plaques in the sidewalk going down each side of Main Street (like Hollywood’s walk of stars).

 

5. The light poles throughout the “Governors District“" could display canvas banners of each of the governors as well (portrait, party affiliation, date of service, etc).

 

 

6. A “Governors Museum" should be created. One idea is to convert the current community center to this museum. The State Historical Society of Iowa could be the curators.

 

7. The area of the district with the two water towers could become “Water Tower Square”

 

 

 

 

8. A themed mural could be painted on the newer Grimes water tower

 

9. The older Grimes water tower could be freshened up to look as it did when it was first installed.

 

10. Create signage for the “Governors District”.

 

11. The “Governors District” will need a full-time director hired. This person would be responsible for the on-going events that will be held to draw people to the area for events such as:

  • Farmers Market

  • Car shows

  • Art festival

  • Antique shows

  • Governors Days (maybe a replacement to Funtastic Days)

  • Music events (bands, concerts, etc)

  • Holiday festivities – especially kid themed events

  • Etc.

If ideas such as the ones listed above are implemented, the City of Grimes WILL be become a destination. This will drive millions of dollars into the city as well as into the newly formed “Governors District”.

 

For this idea to work, everyone needs to be involved: the City of Grimes, business owners and homeowners within the district. Infrastructure needs to be improved at the city level and current property owners will need to consider how they plan on fitting into the district. Special overlay zoning will have to be created as well as updated building codes that make sense for the district and are not a burden for the property owners to implement.

 

It is imperative that our ongoing efforts be built upon prior planning and visioning that has gone on by the Grimes Citizen Visioning Advisory Team.

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