Marshalltown IA Downtown Master Plan

The Downtown Plan will work to rediscover and revalue the city's heritage and culture to create a 21st Century destination that will bring in new populations, vitality, and reinvestment. Image: rehabilitation is ongoing in the city's historic district.

Marshalltown Iowa is the county seat for Marshall County and a prosperous community of about 28,000 people located in central Iowa. In the summer of 2018 it was hit by a category EF3 tornado with winds of 145 mph which caused severe damage in multiple areas of the community, including the city's historic Main Street District and surrounding residential neighborhoods. The city and its partners identified development of a new Downtown Master Plan as one of the key actions to guide the recovery effort and reclaim and grow the Downtown's importance and role in the community's economic and social recovery.

CDG is working as part of a larger multidisciplinary team to provide transportation and placemaking recommendations - including orientation to walk and bike connectivity as key components of movement within a revitalized Downtown District, and expression of the community's arts, culture and architectural heritage as important contributors for Downtown's future identity and success.

An important facet of CDG's work revolves around engagement with members of the city's Spanish-speaking community (approximately one quarter of the city's population is of Hispanic origin) - including members of the local Hispanic business and investment community.

The project started in December 2018 and will be completed in early summer 2019.