Iowa’s Great Places program announced grants this morning of $250,000 for  Marion’s Lowe Park amphitheater project and $297,000 for Iowa River projects in Iowa City, North Liberty and Coralville, the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs announced this morning.

The awards are among $1.2 million in new Great Places grants.

The Lowe Park grant leaves volunteers with about $185,000 to raise to cover the project’s $1.7 million cost. Supporters launched a campaign last week to match a $150,000 grant from the Hall-Perrine Foundation. The grant will also fund development of the park’s sculpture trail.

Coralville’s $145,000 grant helps fund the the selection and installation of 10 permanent outdoor sculptures by Iowa artists. The works’ themes will be tied to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

Iowa City and North Liberty will share $152,000 to  “build on previous initiatives that have fostered community consensus around creating a riverfront park system and moving development out of the floodplain,” according to the grant announcement.

Other grants announced today:

• Tama County:  Otter Creek Lake and Park – $75,000
• Turkey River Recreational Corridor:  Clermont & Elkader City Trails – $92,747;  Elgin City Trail – $57,253
• Villages of Van Buren stone building renovation: $165,658
• Hamilton-Webster counties regional wayfinding and marketing: $76,597
• Danish Villages Jens Jensen Prairie Landscape Park: $90,000; Little Mermaid Trail and park improvements: $111,410