CEDAR RAPIDS — The city’s downtown skyline is poised to greet its first new office tower since the GreatAmerica Building went up in 1998. John Smith, board chairman of trucking firm CRST International and president of Cedar Rapids Real Estate Group LLP, has told the city of Cedar Rapids he wants to compete to buy [...]
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Demolition crews have begun the removal of the helix portion of the former First Street Parkade. The helix, which extends about 10 feet over a floodwall into the Cedar River, has required some creativity in order to prevent the pieces from falling into the river. Demolition of the ramp began July 5 and is expected [...]
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Sufficiently anxious is a group of downtown businesses about the simultaneous demolition of three parking ramps that it is proposing to build a temporary surface parking lot at the site of one of the ramps, the city’s First Street Parkade. In a letter to City Hall, Jim Craig, an attorney at one of the businesses, [...]
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The City Council agreed this week to build a new 500-to-550-space parking ramp across First Avenue East from the Five Seasons Hotel and Convention Complex. The ramp will be connected by skywalk to the hotel and complex. Mayor Ron Corbett on Wednesday said the city still has a few details to work out on the [...]
continue »By The Gazette Editorial Board —- Two news items this week involving the city of Cedar Rapids and the Federal Emergency Management Agency left us shaking our heads. FEMA gave the city permission to tear down its flood-damaged First Street Parkade, as part of the downtown convention center/hotel project. But there’s a catch. The city [...]
continue »Last week’s column on tearing down the First Street Parkade generated some interesting comments. Most were posted below the online version, which is where many readers who want to sound off on my column make their feelings known. E-mail comments have become rare. Folks like to have their thoughts instantly inserted into the conversation. Makes [...]
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I thought the First Street Parkade was a crumbling concrete wreck. Shows what I know. It turns out that the Parkade along the Cedar River is “historically significant,” according to FEMA and state preservation experts. And that’s mostly due to the “stunning visual impact” of its “unique spiral exit ramp.” You know, I can see [...]
continue »CEDAR RAPIDS — It really is coming down. The City Council now has hired engineering firm Howard R. Green of Cedar Rapids to provide design services in connection with the demolition of the aged, flood-damaged First Street Parkade. The cost of the Green contract is not to exceed $66,860. The hiring of Green is the [...]
continue »CEDAR RAPIDS — The First Street Parkade, which had been slated for demolition before the flood, will be coming down. The City Council last night voted to seek bids for the demolition. An engineering analysis of the parking ramp shows that it sustained possible structural damage in the June 2008 flood, according to a City [...]
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