The Vision Iowa Board awarded Community Attraction and Tourism Grants Wednesday totaling just over $1.2 million. Board chairman Andy Anderson says the money will be split between four projects in Iowa County, Red Oak, Greenfield and Sheldon.
The biggest award of $1.1 million went to Sheldon – where community leaders are planning to build a six-million dollar recreation center on the campus of the Northwest Iowa Community College. A $428,000 CAT grant for Iowa County is designated for a one-point-one million dollar Nature Center Project at Lake Iowa. The center will include classroom and office space, an amphitheatre, a field lab, a severe weather shelter and restrooms.
Anderson says the award to Red Oak will help with a two-million dollar expansion and renovation of the town’s library. The Red Oak CAT grant is worth $420,000. In Greenfield, a $180,000 award will help finance a $480,000 sports complex that will include soccer fields, ball diamonds, a recreational path and parking.
The Vision Iowa Board also filed it’s annual report Wednesday. Over the program’s first eight years, $343-million have been awarded to 318 projects in 214 Iowa communities located in 92 counties.