Marion To Break Ground On City Square Project in 2024

For Marion residents wondering when the City Square Park area will begin its transformation, the city has an answer.

The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports that the city of Marion had originally planned to break ground on the $7.3 million Central Plaza project this fall. Now the reshaping of the Uptown Marion space will take place in the Spring of 2024. The Gazette reports that city manager Ryan Waller said that staff and employees of Rinderknecht Associates met to discuss the timeline for the project.

The city of Marion received $3 million through the Destination Iowa program earlier this year. Waller told the Gazette that money has allowed staff to make sure that the federal funding isn't jeopardized. Pushing the groundbreaking back to 2024 also allows the city to decorate for the 2023 holiday season.

RDG Planning and Design

The Gazette reports that the multi-million dollar project will include water features, art, seating areas, fire tables, and a refrigerated ice skating loop for the winter months. The Depot Pavilion in the park will be enclosed and house an event space, and a warming area for the ice skating loop. When completed, it would be Iowa's first refrigerated ice skating loop, although the city of Ames has one planned as well.

Want to keep up to date with the latest in local and music news? Download our app! It's completely free and not only will you be the first to know about breaking news, but we'll also keep you updated on concerts and other events coming to the area. Get the free app today.

Eastern Iowa Apple Orchards & Farms to Check Out This Fall

Now that September has arrived, fun fall activities are on the way! We put together a list of apple orchards, pumpkin patches, and farms here in Eastern Iowa that you can visit with the family these next several weeks. Here are 22 of the places we found:

Gallery Credit: Courtlin