Linn County's newest building to honor Culver

CEDAR RAPIDS - Linn County's new Community Services Building will honor former Gov. Chet Culver.

The building under construction at Sixth Avenue Court and 12th Street SW won't be named for Culver, but supervisors agreed at this morning's work session his name will be on the structure “as a way of saying thank you,”  as District 3 Supervisor Ben Rogers, D-Cedar Rapids, put it.

Culver, defeated by Terry Branstad in his re-election bid last November, launched the I-JOBS program to help local governments recover from the June 2008 flood.

The$14.6 million Community Services Building – that's its official name – was allocated $5 million in I-JOBS funds. The county tapped I-JOBS for $13 million to rebuild or replace buildings lost or damaged in the flood.

Without that aid, “there probably wouldn't be any of those buildings,” said District 1 Supervisor Lu Barron, a Cedar Rapids Democrat.

Support for dedicating the building to Culver, a Democrat, was unanimous and bipartisan.

“I think it's a great idea,' said District 4 Supervisor Brent Oleson, a Republican from Marion. “Whether you agree or you don't agree with I-JOBS necessarily, this governor made that the centerpiece of his administration and went all-in for Cedar Rapids.

“You could see the dedication that Gov. Culver had,” said District 5 Supervisor John Harris, the board's other Republican. “I think it's appropriate.”

The building, set to open by early fall, will house county services displaced by the flood, including veterans' affairs and Options, the workplace program for the developmentally disabled.

The Culver dedication will be officially adopted at Wednesday's formal session.