425 2ND STREET SE, SUITE 804, CEDAR RAPIDS, IA 52401
(319) 538-7732
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Czech Village

Located near downtown Cedar Rapids, the Czech Village is a charming mixture of shops, businesses, and people that represent the ethnic history of the area. From the middle-1800’s to the early 1900’s, many newcomers to the Cedar Rapids area were immigrants from Central Europe, in particular the Czech Republic area of the then-disintegrating Austria-Hungary Empire. The Cedar River provided residents a source of food, ice and transportation, and the early settlers adopted the southeast bank. With time they started their own businesses, resuming many old country crafts and trades and maintaining their cultural traditions. When a bridge was built across the river, businesses and neighborhoods expanded to the southwest side and moved into what is today Czech Village. These included a coal yard, egg buying station, machine shop, bakeries, butcher shops, dry goods store and harness shop. Some of the these old businesses remain on their original sites, and the architecture of the early days is still apparent.

For much of its history, the Czech Village remained a tightly-knit community inhabited by multiple generations of the same families. The restaurants, butcher shops and family businesses were well-known, though local, “secrets”. The unique blend of commerce and housing, combined with ample public spaces and walkable streets, maintained a sustainable balance, and the growing historic significance and unique feel of the neighborhood gained it substantial local support.

The National Czech and Slovak Museum

Beginning in the 1970’s and continuing today, preservation efforts led by Village businesses and Czech groups began working to preserve the historical elements of the neighborhood while adding facilities to support growing local interest. In the 1990s the National Czech and Slovak Museum opened in the heart of the Village. The addition of this prominent national attraction enhanced local business opportunity and attracted housing and renovation investment, while strengthening the original character of the neighborhood and leaving its historical foundations largely unchanged.

By 2008, the Czech Village was fast gaining national prominence as a success story in local development and preservation efforts working together effectively. It served not only as a local model, but as an inspirational reminder of what neighborhood-based planning and development could achieve.

The Challenge
The NDCCR Role
The Challenge

When the floods hit in June of 2008, the Czech Village was among the hardest hit areas of the city and was submerged in over 8 feet of water. All of the businesses in the neighborhood, and many residential structures, were damaged. Given the intimate nature of the area and the leadership provided by residents and business owners, the floods affected not only the physical character of the neighborhood, but undercut the human and financial sources that had driven its revival. For most, the devastation was so far-reaching that there is not even money to replace their core possessions and home, let alone re-invest in the community.

Heavy damage to civic infrastructure further complicates the situation in the Czech Village. Streets, sidewalks, water services, electrical systems and other critical utilities were damaged, if not destroyed, by the flood waters. While basic services were quickly restored and repaired, there remain a variety of major infrastructure projects to complete, in addition to upgrades and the complete replacement of some services that will be necessary to comply with new flood plain rules that have not yet been issued. Long term local government investment is also dependent upon decisions regarding potential levy building, which will require local government investment not just in contributions to levies, but also in adapting civic infrastructure to accommodate construction.

Further complicating matters in the neighborhood is the extensive loss of multi-family and rental housing. While individual homeowners have been provided with some options for reinvestment and support, and other options will be available in the future, few such programs exist for investment-driven housing. Multi-family and low-income housing is more often subject to insurance claims for replacement, and those replacement funds are often linked to requirements that rebuilding occur where future flooding is not a concern. Where rebuilding is allowed, building designs capable of offsetting future flood concerns add substantial cost to such projects — costs which are often difficult to reclaim through reasonable rental rates. In order to ensure the diversity of housing options necessary to preserve the character and past success of the neighborhood, approaches must be found to make replacement of multi-family and low-income housing economically feasible.

Czech Village at the peak of the 2008 floods

Additionally, the very character of the Czech Village, and the key to its past success, is deeply steeped in the historical nature of the neighborhood and the public spaces that surrounded it. Preserving that character will involve preserving the historical buildings and open spaces throughout the area. Historical preservation, however, is expensive even in the best of development situations. Conducting such preservation in post-disaster situations, when resources are difficult to obtain and competing, immediate needs make the “luxury” of preservation harder to justify, can be difficult if not impossible. Furthermore, the extent of rebuilding necessary in preservation efforts often involves a degree of structural work that requires upgrading buildings in ways not normally required. Even if owners are committed to restoration, they often find that reality of costs and requirements involve a commitment far beyond the budgets provided.

The Recovery

Despite the level of destruction experienced, the city, residents and local businesses have expressed a firm commitment to not only rebuild, but to preserve the unique character of the area that made it such a coherent and livable neighborhood for so long. There is little doubt that the commitment, and eventually the resources needed, exist to see the project through to completion. But the success of these efforts will require patience on the part of the community, the dedication of political and governmental bodies to allow the process to unfold comprehensively, and carefully constructed plans and community-wide partnerships at all levels to ensure that the vision is not only developed, but pursued and maintained as the many uncertainties in the redevelopment process continue to introduce challenges while the process unfolds.

Post flood damage in the Czech Village

Following the floods, the community came together to engage in the Neighborhood Planning Process. This process of community meetings provided the framework for any future development in Cedar Rapids as a whole, and individual neighborhoods in particular. Within the Czech Village community, a high percentage of residents and businesses desired to remain and rebuild, pending governmental decisions on re-zoning, flood plain planning and flood control. The priorities that emerged from the process in Czech Village include historic preservation, redevelopment of mixed use affordable housing, and the rehabilitation of flood damaged homes.

Future planning in the Czech Village depends upon decisions yet to be made by several government entities. The development of new flood plain maps by FEMA is scheduled to be completed in the not too distant future. Local development efforts are largely contingent upon the boundaries of the 100 year flood plain, as zoning, investment and insurance criteria will be dictated by by this decision. Homes within the flood plain will be subject to a variety of new rules, some of which may prevent rebuilding. A Voluntary Property Acquisition program is in place to assist homeowners affected by these decisions, but many payments can not be determined prior to flood plain designation. Homeowners, in the meantime, are faced with uncertainty and theinability to finalize insurance claims and rebuilding plans.

Businesses are likewise affected by these future decisions. While some have re-opened and are willing and capable of assuming the financial challenges the risk of being designated within the flood plain may carry, many are not in such a position. Private investments needed to promote additional development will simply not be made on any large scale until the flood plain designations are made. Likewise, the city itself is limited in its ability to respond, as the ability to fund and insure roads, utilities and other necessary infrastructure, as well as to plan for potential flood control projects, depend upon the extent of the flood plain and the financial costs associated with the designations. Additionally, upon receiving the designations the city will be required to adapt established planning to match the flood plain development criteria, which will include potentially time consuming re-zoning and refinancing efforts prior to the initiation of new development programs.

The City of Cedar Rapids has worked with the Corps of Engineers to establish temporary planning arrangements, and to determine basic redevelopment and construction guidelines within the expected flood plain, to the extent that likely future of some areas can be determined. Within these guidelines, there will be projects to encourage redevelopment in the Czech Village as well as efforts to support existing organizations like the Czech Village Association. New ideas that are not dependent upon the flood plain designation are being explored to use the unique character of Czech Village, such as Summer festivals and ways to use the river as an amenity.

The NDCCR Role
NDCCR is limited by the same factors in its approach to assisting the residents and businesses within the Czech Village with the redevelopment of their neighborhood. However, even prior to the flood plain determination, we can identify clear needs that must be addressed if rebuilding is to be successful. The loss of individual and multi-family housing will present a significant challenge for the city and local residents. The strength of the Czech Village neighborhood will be difficult to regain without the presence of residents committed to its long-term success. NDCCR is currently working with local homeowners, businesses and developers to identify properties suitable for redevelopment and to lay the groundwork so that such development will occur quickly when necessary designations are made. This includes not only assisting in the identification of historical and residential structures that might be preserved, but helping to develop plans and assemble property and investors to provide new, neighborhood-appropriate construction where needed.

Likewise, NDCCR will coordinate with the Czech Village business community to monitor redevelopment efforts, and to help identify crucial supporting services and business opportunities that will need to be replaced to re-establish a strong economic core. Such needs may include office space, retail storefronts, parking and urban infrastructure, as well as parks, multi-family housing and public services necessary to attract residents and customers. Where barriers to private investment and insurance are raised by future flood plain designations, NDCCR will work to attract and complete needed development independently, and re-introduce developed properties to the private sector free from such impediments. Likewise, NDCCR will lend its expertise to city staff and planners to assist in the identification and attraction of government and private funding needed to complete such work, and to development comprehensive local programs to ensure consistent and targeted delivery of required services.

While much uncertainty remains in the development of specific solutions, the future of the Czech Village is not entirely shrouded in doubt. NDCCR is confident that with thoughtful planning, foresight based upon experience, and the development of city-wide partnerships between residents, the business community, private investors and government decision makers, the Czech Village can continue to see careful progress in the short-term, and will see a strong resurgence in the long-term.

Neighborhoods

  • Cedar Lake
  • Cedar Valley/Rompot
  • Czech Village
  • Ellis Park
  • NewBo District/Oak Hill Jackson
  • Taylor Area
  • Time Check

Our Projects

710 7th St SW

710 7th St SW

1712 Hamilton St SW

1712 Hamilton St SW

605 K Ave NW

605 K Ave NW

516 B Ave NW

516 B Ave NW

520 B Ave NW

520 B Ave NW

1201 3rd Street SE

1201 3rd Street SE

626 A Avenue NW

626 A Avenue NW

807 5TH Street SE

807 5TH Street SE

630 A Ave NW

630 A Ave NW

1113 6th Street SE

1113 6th Street SE

609 1st Ave SW

609 1st Ave SW

615 G Ave NW

615 G Ave NW

NDCCR

Neighborhood Development Corp. of Cedar Rapids
225 2nd Street SE, Suite 250
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
(319) 899-3845

RESOURCES

City of Cedar Rapids

Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance

Affordable Housing Network

NewBo District

Czech Village

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