Grand Junction 2020: "Blueprint for the Future"

Grand Junction 2020 is designed as an umbrella group for economic development and planning with an immediate mission to revitalize Grand Junction, Iowa.

The goal of Grand Junction 2020 is to generate enough initial growth in the community to move the population to 1,000 from its current population of 824. The long-term goal is to continue to enhance the community so it will reach a more sustainable population of 2,000 (or 2,020) by the year 2020 with enough school-age children to sustain its self-contained Pre K-12 school district with Rippey and Dana—the existing East Greene Community School District.

Presently, the school district is under pressure to reorganize with Jefferson-Scranton with the first step being a whole-grade sharing arrangement. Interestingly, in the discussions between the two school districts, there has been no mention of the status of Paton-Churdan, the third—and by far the smallest—of the three school districts in Greene County into any short-term whole grade sharing or long-term reorganization.

Keeping the school district intact will help attract new residents to the community—especially families with school age children—and make the community more attractive to existing residents with families, residents with no children, new Baby Boomer retirees, other retirees, and existing senior citizens.

Should a reorganization be inevitable, East Greene and Grand Junction should work to insure that at least a Pre-K through 5th grade school—most likely a new school building—remains in Grand Junction. Related to that topic, any future discussions involving the City of Jefferson and Jefferson-Scranton school officials should also include consideration of building new school district infrastructure in Grand Junction at the corner of Highway 144 and Old 30 to house a district-wide middle school (grades 6-8) and keeping the current elementary facility in Rippey.

Most notable about the year 2020 is that it follows by one year the town’s sesquicentennial (150th birthday) in 2019, and could serve as a starting point for the next phase of Grand Junction’s future to be taken up by a new generation of leaders.

Grand Junction 2020 breaks down into three key areas:

*Industrial and Business Development

*Main Street Revitalization

*Residential Growth

Each of these key three development areas is conducive to the town’s future sustainability, and each is predicated on a key geographical component of the town.

Industrial and commercial development is targeted to two areas north of the Union Pacific railroad tracks that bisect Grand Junction (west to east). 1. Commercial growth is proposed for a corridor along the south side of U.S. Highway 30, 2.) Industrial development is planned for the area north of U.S. 30 extending to and beyond the town’s northern borders, primarily along a corridor flanked by Iowa Highway 144 and the Union Pacific north-south railroad line. A very strong anchor to [further] industrial development is the new Grand Junction LDC ethanol plant opened by the Louis Dreyfuss Corporation in May 2008, which added 60 good-paying jobs to the area.

Main Street revitalization foremost embraces the historic business district section between 10th Street and 14th Street with a particular focus on the area between the library and the post office, but also incorporating key points eastward along Main Street and Old Highway 30 to the Historic Bridges area—the eastern entry point to Grand Junction—and all the way from Main Street west and then south on Highway 144/Old Highway 30 to the southernmost entry point to Grand Junction (Star Motel and former Miller’s Standard Station). For reference points, 11th Street with City Hall on one side and the Watts Office Building and Peoples Trust and Savings Bank on the other side should be regarded as our core, or central reference point, for all discussions of Main Street revitalization.

New residential development should primarily focus in areas that extend south and east from existing residential neighborhoods in South Grand Junction and Central Grand Junction: 1.) An area south of City Park and Elizabeth Street; and 2.) An area south of the existing town border that runs parallel to Hager Street, east of 15th Street, and north of the county road as it extends eastward from Elizabeth Street. This is primarily the agricultural land parcel north and east of Mt. Calvary Cemetery. Secondarily, development should be considered for 3.) the existing area in North Grand Junction in the vicinity of 18th Street North where it intersects with Second Street, which continues east past the city limits as 217th Street and then curves north as V Avenue and crosses the small tributary that flows into West Beaver Creek one-half mile to the east. This are--extended beyond the city limits-- should also be considered for residential development potential. These are farmlands both within and outside of the city limits.

Further, if any school construction should occur near the Highway 144 corridor near the existing Karber Field athletic facilities and swimming pool, then 4.) the city should look at developing new residential areas on the west side of town.

Another point to keep in mind if that Grand Junction is to really develop to its full potential, the city, county and area economic development officials need to advocate converting Highway 144 from two lanes to four lanes from its current four-lane existence in Perry all the way to Grand Junction and the 144-30 intersection with the possibility of extending north of town to help develop the 144 industrial corridor alongside the existing Union Pacific rail line that runs north from Grand Junction, currently anchored by the LDC Grand Junction ethanol plant. This should be done as overall master plan with the widening of Highway 30 from four lanes from its current 4-to-2 lane dropoff at Ogden to Carroll.

Industrial and Commercial Development

Future industrial and commercial development in Grand Junction needs to focus on two key areas:

1. Industrial development along the north-south UP and Iowa Highway 144 corridor, incorporating the existing property within the City of Grand Junction corporate limits from U.S. Highway 30 North to First Street East, the city’s northernmost border. These existing city limits stretch along the blocks platted but never developed along the north side of First Street East over to a point where Second Street East meets what would be an extension of 15th Street North, running north from U.S. Highway 30. The city limits continue from there eastward to 17th Street North (platted but not developed) and down to where 17th Street would intersect with U.S. 30.

Currently this area is served by 11th Street North which runs parallel to the north-south UP tracks and is accessed from U.S. 30 and one intersecting east-west street, Second Street North, which connects with Highway 144 to the east, but that intersection is not within the city limits. 11th Street north ends at First Street EAst which extends east from that point for two blocks and then ends.

The City of Grand Junction should also consider extending its borders northward to expand this industrial development corridor to bring it within closer proximity to the LDC Grand Junction ethanol plant and the recently created East Greene Bioenergy Park just south of LDC GJ.

2. Expanded commercial development that builds upon Grand Junction’s healthy commercial corridor that runs alongside the south side of existing U.S. 30 from Rueter’s Red Power, one-half mile to the west of the 144 and UP intersections, to Casey’s, Ferg's/My Thye's, Thorpe Auto Sales, and Janco Motel on the opposite side, or east, of the 144 intersection. The area along U.S. 30 from 15th Street west to 11th Street is ripe for commercial development as is the area from Rueter’s east toward the 144 intersection. The 15th-to-11th Streets segment is especially ripe for a new stand-alone supermarket, such as a Sav-A-Lot (limited assortment chain from Supervalu Inc.) or a Hometown Foods (Panora, Guthrie Center).

The area south of U.S. 30 and along 11th Street is also ripe for industrial and/or heavy commercial development, keying off the success of Mid-Iowa Concrete Products and Neese Inc., located on either side of Division Street.

It is imperative that city and economic development officials designate a corridor on the northside along existing U.S. 30 for the future acquisition of land for the inevitable expansion to a four-lane highway from Ogden to Grand Junction, and then Grand Junction to Jefferson, and eventually from Jefferson to Carroll, making U.S. 30 four lanes from Ames to Carroll. City and development officials should begin discussion immediately with officials at the Iowa Department of Transportation to determine how much land would be needed for the additional two lanes that would go through Grand Junction.

This four-laning of U.S. 30 is also key to stabilizing and expanding Grand Junction through a strong industrial-transportation alliance in the future.

Main Street Revitalization

The establishment of the American Museum of Railroad and Highway Heritage is imperative to any significant turnaround of Grand Junction. The museum is the cornerstone to Main Street revitalization and would bring a renewed focus and energy to Grand Junction, and capitalize on its inherent strengths—most notably its vibrant railroad and highway heritage, its current highway-railroad positioning, and future transportation potential.

The construction of the museum would be a huge undertaking with costs estimated as high as $3 million. The open space on the west side of the block north of Main Street just east of 12th Street (opposite the alley to the east of Peoples Trust and Savings Bank) is the perfect site for the proposed museum.

This is the historic space at the corner of 12th and Main occupied since the founding of Grand Junction in 1869 by the legendary Hillman Building--three storefronts--and the Oddfellows Lodge building which was the fourth storefront (with upstairs lodge facilities). For many years, K&R Ceramics occupied this storefront.

Because of the museum’s significance, it is explained in greater detail in Appendix A.

The museum with roughly 3,000 square feet of exhibit space would serve as key attraction for individual visitors and group tours with the ultimate goal of casting a wider net to attract people from all over the country, and perhaps internationally.

It is not logical to expect that a town of Grand Junction’s size could attract the type of businesses it had up until the 1990s such as a hardware store or clothing store. The museum, however, would be the impetus to attract other retail businesses: sit-down restaurant, coffee shop similar to a Prairie Blue in Jefferson, antique store, a gift shop, perhaps even an art gallery.

The new museum could also be the central component to a redesigned Main Street, keying off our beautiful arc lamps, exigent curbing/paving, and beautiful tree-lined eastern entry point on East Main, and interesting (and historic) 144/Old 30 curve at the western entry point.

It goes without saying that all past, present and future efforts in promoting the Linocln Highway need to have Grand Junction--a world class "brand" for both the Lincoln and rail national rail heritage--at the forefront.

The town has been presented a significant gift with the development of Historic Bridges/Lincoln Highway Welcome Center at the Old 30/New 30 intersection at the town’s eastern border.

With a renewed sense of purpose and hopefully a growing population (see points above and below), a revitalized and re-energized Main Street/Downtown area would attract other services: insurance, financial, medical, etc.

That being said, here and now, the community should open discussions with officials at McFarland Clinic in Jefferson and Ames and the Greene County Medical Center to establish a medical clinic on Main Street in Grand Junction to service the residents of Grand Junction, eastern Greene County and western Boone County. Outreach should also be made to the dentists in Jefferson and Perry to also establish services in Grand Junction.

The establishment of a supermarket should be made a priority. City and development officials, however, need to look at whether a limited assortment grocery would fare better on Highway 30 (south side) or on Main Street. Both have advantages, so a strategic plan needs to be put into place with regard to how best serve the residents of Grand Junction and surrounding areas and thus guarantee success for the new store owner/developer.

Further, with continued emphasis on the ongoing centennial celebrations, it might be wise to reach out in the immediate future to another convenience store company and urge them to take a look at Grand Junction because of the growing interest of travel on the original Lincoln Highway and in noting 1.) it’s particular location as an entry point just 10 miles from the heavily trafficked four-lane U.S. Highway 30 (and US 169 intersection) and 2.) the gateway to such a significant historical portion of the Lincoln Highway, considering that the original Lincoln spans the entire width of the United States from coast to coast, and in Greene County it runs from Grand Junction to Jefferson and to Scranton—essentially traversing the three largest towns in the county.

The logical place for a new convenience store, noting that Casey’s is just off Highway 30, is on Main Street, most likely at the eastern or western end. The old Ferguson’s Texaco corner at 13th and Main would be one of the most viable locations.

The first significant centennial of the Lincoln is 2013 and then other significant 100th year anniversaries of the Lincoln will follow in succeeding years, such as the “first in the state/first in the nation” paving of the Lincoln across Greene County—which was widely supported by the business and community leaders of Grand Junction.

There has been some incremental improvement on Main Street with the repainting of the service station property on the nortthwest corner of Main and 13th, which lends this property to some historical valuation from its Lincoln Highway/Old US 30 era as it was for many years a service station (mostly DX, operation by Karl Martin and later years by Patty Kersey but the affiliation of her gas supplier is not clear, but it may have been the Coop), with its last usage in the 1980s. Discussion has been underway recently about another business planning to open on Main Street, most likely a sit-down restaurant.

Residential Growth

South Junction Estates: Originally, Grand Junction was platted to extend four blocks beyond the current developed street, Elizabeth Street. In later years, when the proposed plats did not sell there, the land reverted to agriculture and the corporation limits were redrawn to place this land outside of the city limits. The proposal would be to convert this land back to residential and create average size lots with news homes priced in the median price range ($60,000 to $100,000) of home prices in the area. These homes would be targeted to families looking to move up from their first or “starter” home and would primarily be first, new-home buyers. Many would come from the pool of owners of existing older properties in Grand Junction and other communities.

The name “South Junction Estates” stems from the fact that the farms and farmland to south of Grand Junction are located in the southern half of Junction Township which is often featured in plat maps and atlases as “South Junction Township.” Junction Township is actuall the size of 1 and 2/3 townships with Washington Township (Rippey area) being 1 and 1/3 townships--when measured in comparison in size to all other townships in Greene County. [Note: Originally, in 1854 Greene County had just two townships--Washington and Jefferson. The existing townships were created in subsequent years out of the two original townships.]

A key selling point to the developer and prospective home buyers in South Junction Estates is close proximity to the City Park on Elizabeth Street, the junior-senior high school two blocks north of the park between 12th and 13th streets, the swimming pool on 9th Street, the ball park across 13th street from the school, three churches on Hager Street, and easy access to Highway 144 via Elizabeth Street. The park itself could be used as a gateway to South Junction Estates or the park could be extended on the opposite side of South Junction Estates with the street access alongside this “new” park on south side of the street.

Hager Heights: The farmland area behind the developed homes along East Hager Street has always flooded in rainy weather because of its low-lying elevation and the fact it serves as a runoff area for the higher elevations that run along Greene County 228th Street, which is parallel to Hager Street. The most low-lying area adjacent to the city limits that runs behind the blocks on the south side of Hager Street would be the site of a 2- to 3-acre lake, approximately from a line drawn from 16th Street to 20th Street. The lake would serve as the design anchor for a series of broad, winding streets through the development—bounded by the east-west city limits on the south and 228th Street to the north. The lake itself would serve as a buffer between the established residences (old Grand Junction) and these new homes on homesites larger than in old Grand Junction or even South Junction Estates.

Homes built here would sell in the $120,000+ range and be targeted to more affluent buyers who might be looking at Grand Junction as a good bedroom community or possibly retirees originally from the area or elsewhere who might want to move back but still live in a nice home rather than an apartment. These homes would sit on ¼-acre to ½-acre lots. Access would be from off 15th Street (marked by a lighted, brick entryway defining the area as “Hager Heights,” to connect with the town grid of streets) but also with an entry off of the county road, 228th Street, which is the continuation eastward of Elizabeth Street.

NOTE: Ownership of this land has changed hands in the last 20 years or so several times but is presently owned by Jan Scharingson, a resident of rural Grand Junction and a longtime high school English teacher with deep roots in the community as her father was Jack Carter, a GJ native and well-known local businessman until he moved to Ames in the late 1960s. Jan and her brothers and sisters all attended St. Mary’s Academy until the school was closed in 1962. [Jan '64 and Susie '66 are EGHS graduates while the younger Carters--Barb, Chuck, Joanne, Dick and Annette--finished up over in Ames.]

Northdale: While South Junction Estates and Hager Heights would appeal to home buyers in the upper and middle price ranges, Northdale would be a more mixed income area with smaller, tract-style homes with smaller yards and mutli-family buildings designed as both rentals and condominiums. This area would be designed to feed off the proximity to the highway for more blue-collar commuters and to the industrial development planned for the area just to the west of Northdale. Home prices would range from $40,000 to $70,000.

Westview: If a proposed Jefferson-Scranton and East Greene school district reorganization should take place in the next few years, the current Grand Junction and Dana residents specifically, should make the case for a new school facility to be built opposite the current East Greene football field on Highway 144 or in that general area—keying off the access of both Highway 144 and Old Lincoln Highway (230th Street). The residents of the district should also make the case that a JS and EG merged district should take a new name. Most appropriate and most utilitarian would be to name the district Lincolnway Community School District. Thus, the new Lincolnway district should be served by a new 6-8 grade middle school to be built in the vicinity of the Old 30-144 intersection with access off each roadway. More about this topic is addressed in Appendix B. Elementary students from the east side of the county would continue to use the existing elementary school at Rippey; Jefferson and Scranton students would attend the elementary school in Jefferson; and all students would attend the existing high school in Jefferson, with plans formulated to build a new gymnasium adjacent to the high school, replacing the one at the existing junior-senior high school as that school building will be phased out.

Should a new school building be built in this part of Grand Junction, the demand for new housing would be very high. As such, a proposed development targeted to the higher range of home buyers of Northdale and the lower range of home buyers of South Junction Estates (roughly $60,000 to $90,000) would be the key demographic here. Multi-family housing would prohibited here but lot sizes for single homes would be smaller, so that families would allow for children to play freely from yard to yard and home to home—building a cohesive “Westview” community. Key attributes here besides the proposed future school facility are the adjacent EG football and track facility and the Grand Junction Municipal Swimming Pool. A connotation of “Westview” is that it would be west-facing—toward Jefferson—the inevitable direction of the elementary students who attend classes in Rippey seven miles to the south and middle school in Grand Junction (or similar arrangement of elementary in Grand Junction and middle school/high school in Jefferson).

If a new school were to be built here, and the existing 1915 school structure on 12th Street be razed, the remaining portions of school property should be turned over to developers to create a Grand Junction Gardens (working title) mixed-use facility of condominiums, senior housing, and assisted living targeted to former residents who attended high school and/or elementary school—essentially all the graduates of GJHS from the late 1940s and 1950s, and all the EGHG graduates since 1960. The 1939 gymnasium-auditorium and the 1954 classroom addition could be used by the proposed GJ Gardens and/or the town of Grand Junction for a community center or to a possible private owner/developer for business purposes.

--Compiled by Alan Robinson, March 4, 2011