Downtown Boone, Looking north on Story Street.
(Boone, IA) -- Efforts are underway in the City of Boone, northwest of Des Moines, to revitalize its downtown core.
"Where you start is downtown building assessment and inventory, and based on the inventory, we'll be able to determine our gaps and know where our focus is," said Holly Stecker, newly named as Main Street Iowa Executive Director for the City of Boone. She says the move to restore many of the older city block-style buildings will be a step-by-step process.
"The historic preservation can be very detailed," Stecker said, "this time we're taking a broad approach to the city ordinances and city codes."
Stecker says it took about two years to obtain the Main Street Iowa designation and join the program, after the city's first application was denied.
"The goals indicate looking at the second-story building facade, and really increasing the second-story housing for downtown Boone, and presenting Boone as a livable, walkable downtown community."
Strategies to achieve those goals are now being planned. Main Street Iowa has been around since 1985, after being approved by the state legislature.
Since then, the voluntary program has invested $2.8 billion in buildings in Main Street Iowa designated communities all across the state.
Boone is home to the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad, the Mamie Eisenhower birthplace, and is near the Seven Oaks skiing complex and Ledges State Park to the south.