Attn: long term residents of CR; need some history plse! (condos, YMCA)

[CasketKitten]

I am working on a book that is set in CR.

The first time I ever remember laying eyes on the city, it looked nothing as it does now. Back in the early to mid eighties, it was quite....shall we say, flatish? I recall only the grain towers from Quaker Oats and Purina. I recall the office tower for Quaker.

Of course now, I doubt my memories in terms of describing the business district of that era. I stayed there briefly in the fall of 1987 at a pretty low ebb in my life. I recall a lot of old buildings and stores. A few walkways between some buildings. I recall a lot of being cold as I pounded the pavements looking for work.

I finally gave up, got on a bus and went to DSM.

Also, need some help, post card images are helpful here! in describing the place from 2005-2008. When did a lot of the current tall buildings and such come in, after the flood?

Any tips, pics and memories shared would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

[exbubba]

You need to be aware of the drastic changes made during the great flood that nearly destroyed all of downtown. Currently renewal is ongoing and the trend to downtown living has begun downtown. Most of the dynamic young businesses tend to get swallowed by larger out of state enterprises. The same larger businesses are still the drivers.

[smpliving]

Since the 2008 flood, CR continues to undergo changes. CRST trucking (owned and operated locally for 60 years) is moving their headquarters to downtown where they are currently constructing an 11-story building along the river, across the street from Alliant Energy. Bankers Trust, which constructed a 3-story building that replaced the old YMCA on 1st Avenue will also moved additional offices into the new CRST building, increasing their space downtown by 50%. It is the largest independently owned bank in Iowa, started by three men in banking in CR. Many smaller restaurants have sprung up downtown. Additional businesses are being built or rebuilt downtown. Everytime I go downtown, I see something new. You will see a lot of road construction repair going on currently due to the passing of a 1-cent tax option. Westdale Mall is gone and currently undergoing construction of stores and restaurants with condos planned on upper levels of some of the buildings.