City of Boone Looking to Revitalize Downtown Area

Photo: BobHemphill / iStock / Getty Images

(Boone, IA) -- Efforts are underway to revitalize the downtown area in Boone.

Holly Stecker is the Main Street Iowa Executive Director for Boone.

"Where you start is a downtown building assessment and inventory," Stecker says. "And based on the inventory, we'll be able to determine our gaps and know where our focus is."

She says restoring some of the older buildings is a step-by-step process.

"The historic preservation can be very detailed," Stecker says. "But at this time we're taking a broad approach to 'what are the city ordinances and city codes?'"

Boone's first Main Street Iowa application was denied. So, it took about two years to get the Main Street Iowa designation.

"The goals indicate looking at the second story building facades and really increasing the second story housing for downtown Boone," Stecker says. "Presenting Boone as a livable, walkable downtown community."

Main Street Iowa has invested $2.8 billion in communities since it was approved by the state legislature in 1985.


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