Urban Improvement and Shenandoah Iowa City of Energy

Many communities spend millions of dollars just trying to spruce up their downtown area.  In fact, they may even opt to use Spruce to spruce up their communities.  Larger communities aside it is evident that most smaller populations are shrinking.  Some faster than others.  Maintaining and growing their numbers increasingly requires innovative ways to catch the eye of not only individuals and families but also industry.  The community of Shenandoah, Iowa, has taken the charge to do just that.  Shenandoah is nestled in the southwest Iowa corner far from any interstate highway.  It's not even a county seat and yet it remains competitive and offers great business incentives.

 Downtown improvement was key in the minds of not only the City Council but also the Shenandoah Chamber and Industry Association as well as other public and private entities.  The first impression of any visitor is usually the one that sticks most prevalent in their minds when they think of your community.  For this reason and also for the sake of future growth the city of Shenandoah, Iowa, has taken on a tremendous change over the past fifteen years.  Many of the large scale projects involve using a useful method called TIF or Tax Increment Financing.

There are many out there that shame using TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds, but in smaller communities this is one of those innovative ways to manage improvement.  When responsibly handled, TIF funds can be a great asset in the arsenal of community improvement and urban revitalization.  In all fairness, Tax Increment Financing is highly criticized due to minimal oversight and misuse.  Again though, when properly managed it can be a great asset for communities already limited by State and Federal funding and are anxious to raise the standard for their downtown blighted areas.

Shenandoah Urban Renewal Project

Art in Back Parking Lot of Successful TIF Funded Hotel

It really takes a team effort for a community to address it's betterment.  It takes close watch on the expenditures the City Council undertakes.  It also takes smart spending especially when interest rates are low.  Debt by and large is not a good thing, but when considering community improvements certain debts become necessary and timing is everything.

Cosmetics are also important to a betterment project.  Art has always fascinated people and it can be a useful tool in raising the interest of a community.  A preferred method is to use local artists and perhaps school classes to depict, in art form, the history of the area and town.  This creates a pictorial historical view of the community for any commuter passing by.  Shenandoah has done this many times and even utilize the Wabash Arts Camp to supply the artwork.

Utilizing large areas with art is inviting and instills an automatic "value" on that area.  The photo to your right is the corner sight of the Sentinel, a local newspaper.  The building was brought down and in it's place became this parking lot, break area with gazebo and this beautiful mural of what stood there.  This is a productive use of space instead of standing empty buildings or an unkept lot.  The photo above shows the back parking lot of the downtown Shenandoah Inn & Suites.  This hotel is among Shenandoah's greatest successful TIF projects second only to the Shenandoah Safety Center.  The hotel also uses artwork for the enjoyment of it's patrons.  Improvements like this are clean and makes an area not painful for the eye to walk through.

Try depicting local history.  Does your community have a history of railroad?  Magnify whatever your history is.  For Shenandoah we've got deep roots with the railroad as well as with the Pioneers of the mid-nineteenth century.  Shenandoah has successfully tied the past to the future in pictorial form.

Shenandoah is also a historic nursery town.  Henry Fields and even Earl May had their beginnings right here in Shenandoah.  Both were highly competitive  and even took their field of play to the airwaves.  Both were radio transmission providers and personalities.

Among the greatest of current interest is the BioProcess Algae facility.  Bioprocess is an emerging renewable energy market that is blooming right here in Shenandoah.  It is currently the only algae production facility directly tied to an ethanol plant's (Green Plains Renewable Energy) output of 98% pure carbon dioxide.  This useful waste is necessary in the perpetuation of the growth of algae.  So promising is this industry that BioProcess Algae won a $6.4 million grant from the Department of Energy for drop-in biofuels for military jets and ships.

Green Plains Renewable Energy and BioProcess Algae have been great neighbors and additions to the Shenandoah history and landscape.  They represent not only great employment opportunities but also the future of energy production in the United States and expanding throughout the world.

People for Paws located in Shenandoah, Iowa

It takes great sacrifice on the part of the residents of any community to shoulder the burden of the price of progress.  In the energetic town of Shenandoah a new modern water plant is being constructed.  Though a heated topic among residents and the City Council most realize that the current aging 75 year-old facility needs to be replaced.  The city also realizes that in order to provide good clean potable water to residents and to current and future industry a new water facility must be erected.  This is a very costly venture, but in that priceless Shenandoah indomitable spirit the people shall rise above it and will have a new water facility to be proud of.

Interesting Art on South Face of Remodeled Public Library

Shenandoah is engaging.  It is evident that they care about their community and it's future.  Were it not so we wouldn't have people expressing frustrations or compliments about the decisions of local government.  Shenandoah has it's share of strife and contention.  Yet we know that it is the diverse cross section of our community that makes us great.  It makes Shenandoah a great place to live and raise a family.  It makes Shenandoah a comfortable home for industry new and old.