Daily Reporter Staff

Great Places Citizen Advisory Board members and Department of Cultural Affairs will be in Spencer for a key step in the Iowa Great Places designation process.

The groups have set aside two hours beginning at 2:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 22, for Spencer's Great Places presentation.

"We're going to be at the Spencer Community Theatre to give a presentation and we're hoping to fill the auditorium with people," said Delray Bredehoeft.

Bredehoeft was Spencer's city representative on the local Great Places Committee. The grant application was written by Steve Hallgren of Northwest Iowa Planning and Development.

The visiting delegation also will tour Marquette/McGregor, Warren County and West Union Sept. 22-24. Iowa's newest Great Places will be identified Sept. 30.

Iowa Great Places is a program that calls on state agencies to partner with Iowans in a new way by combining state resources with local assets to make Iowa's communities, neighborhoods, districts and regions great places where people want to live, work and raise a family.

In developing their proposals, Iowans were asked to address seven unique and authentic dimensions that make places special: engaging experiences; rich, diverse populations and cultures; a vital, creative economy; clean and accessible natural and built environments; well-designed infrastructure; a shared attitude of optimism that welcomes new ideas; and based on a diverse and inclusive cultural mosaic.

"We're really excited that Spencer has been selected as the finalist for the Great Places designation," Bredehoeft said. "Certainly it's a good thing that can bring a lot of great things to Spencer."

City leaders learned about Spencer's finalist designation on Wednesday. Bredehoeft said the potential acknowledgment can be a source of community pride. More importantly, Bredehoeft said the application process encourages the community to sit down and take a look at its resources and finances.

"As we went through this, we identified some projects because Great Places also is a grant application, too," Bredehoeft said.

Spencer could receive a state grant of $250,000-$500,000. The city would disperse the money to about six different projects.

A Great Places designation also opens the door to other grants. Bonus points can be awarded in the application process to cities with Great Places status.

Spencer's proposal centers around enhancements for the Grand Avenue Boulevard and bridge, a Spencer Community Theatre remodel and expansion, a Parker Historical Museum remodel and expansion, efforts to fund improvements and use the 1914 old high school and 1937 auditorium, and expansion of the Spencer trail system.