Flood Recovery

A rendering of the new Public Works building, set for completion in 2014. (image courtesy Neumann Monson Architects)

Public Works facility open house to feature images of new building

$35 million facility expected to open in 2014 6

City Hall on Tuesday unveiled a picture of what the city’s new Public Works Facility will look like once it is in place in 2014. The image comes as city officials prepare to hold an open house on Wednesday, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., on the second floor of the existing Public Works Facility, 1201 [...]

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The Iowa River rises around Hancher Auditorium early Saturday Morning June 14th, 2008.  (Dan Gottschalk/Freelance Photographer)

UI to hold forum on Hancher, School of Music plans

Funding, construction times, other details of projects to be discussed

The University of Iowa next week will give an update on the rebuilding of Hancher Auditorium, the School of Music and the Art Building facility, as well as Iowa Memorial Union repairs and flood mitigation. The forum will be at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 7, in the large auditorium of Art Building West, 141 N. Riverside [...]

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A rendering shows the plans for the renovated buildings. The home on the left will house a business with a two-bedroom apartment upstairs, while the one on the right will serve as a one-room bed-and-breakfast. (Ruth L. Fox Landscape Architecture & Planning)

Bed-and-breakfast among planned uses for New Bohemia properties

Challenge grant awarded toward buildings' renovation 6

CEDAR RAPIDS — At face value, the two flood-damaged buildings in the middle of the New Bohemia district might seem unworthy of repair. But businessman Jon Jelinek saw things differently, and now the homes will be restored with the help of a $50,000 challenge grant through Main Street Iowa. “It’s going to complete that side [...]

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pianokeys485

University of Iowa pianos moved away from flood, but still sustain water damage

Burst pipe at rented building cited in heavy damage to six pianos

Six University of Iowa pianos moved to rented space in 2008 to avoid floodwaters have sustained heavy water damage from a leaky toilet and sink pipe at the building where they’d been moved. University spokesman Tom Moore told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that an Iowa City police officer noticed water coming from the building a [...]

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City of Cedar Rapids workers prime a pump to pump rain water collecting on the "dry side" of a 500 foot long tiger dam built along Cottage Grove Parkway SE on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2009, in southeast Cedar Rapids. The dam was built to protect homes from potential flooding of Indian Creek. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Indian Creek watershed management effort begins

Flood control efforts could provide model for larger Iowa waterways

For local government officials and other stakeholders, Thursday was the first step toward the future of Indian Creek. It’s also developing a model for tackling larger Iowa waterways. “It’s to listen to them, about what they want for their watershed and what they’re thinking about,” said Stacy Langsdale. Langsdale, of the Army Corps of Engineers’ [...]

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A flood sensor installed by the Iowa Flood Center is bolted to a bridge over Clear Creek Monday, March 28, 2011 near Oxford. (Brian Ray/The Gazette))

Iowa Flood Center doubles number of flood sensors statewide

Sensors provide real-time monitoring data of water levels 5

The Iowa Flood Center has doubled the number of its flood sensors across the state. Center engineer Dan Ceynar told the Iowa City Press Citizen the online database fed by the 100 sensors provides real-time monitoring of water levels in Iowa’s rivers and streams. Using an internal cell modem, the sensors update the database every [...]

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Hancher Auditorium on the campus of the University of Iowa as seen looking west over the Iowa River in Iowa City on Wednesday, July 9, 2008. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

FEMA awards large sum of University of Iowa flood money

Hancher Voxman Clapp gets $74.2 million, Studio Arts Building awarded $32.5 million

Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, today said the University of Iowa’s building replacement projects for Hancher Voxman Clapp and the Studio Arts Building, all damaged in the 2008 flood, will receive funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The Hancher Voxman Clapp Building was awarded $74.2 million and the Studio [...]

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The First Christian Church on Third Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids is among the buildings the city's Historic Preservation Commission is considering including on a list of endangered properties. (David Scrivner/The Gazette)

Cedar Rapids panel compiling list of endangered properties

Historic buildings may be razed 12

Liz Motsinger sees the odds stacked against her. The 55-year-old Marion woman is almost single-handedly trying to save a historic church from demolition. “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone,” Motsinger said, quoting Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” song, known for its lyrics: “They paved paradise [...]

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Floodwaters surround buildings at 3rd St. SE and 11th Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids on Thursday evening, June 12, 2008.  (Jonathan D. Woods/The Gazette)

Matyk Building restoration brings back historic look to New Bo neighborhood

The historic building was constructed in 1893 as a dry goods store 2

CEDAR RAPIDS — The painstaking restoration of a century-plus-old building is reaping visual rewards. Owner Michael Richards has been working on the exterior of the Matyk Building, 1029 Third St. SE, to return the structure to its historic look. “It’s really tedious to get paint off of brick,” said Richards, who removed the building’s whitewash [...]

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Floodwaters inundate the University of Iowa Theater Building (bottom), the UI Museum of Art (center), the New University of Iowa Art building (top right), Iowa Advanced Technology Labs, and Iowa Memorial Union (top left) Monday, June 16, 2008 in this view looking south along the Iowa River in Iowa City. (Brian Ray/The Gazette)

UI talks with FEMA, still no word on art museum

FEMA said there wasn't enough damage in the 2008 flood to pay for its replacement

IOWA CITY — University of Iowa officials had a conference call with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials this week to discuss the university’s appeal regarding the flood-damaged UI Museum of Art. But FEMA officials gave no indication of when they might make a ruling on the UI appeal, which asks the agency to reconsider its [...]

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