Committee says entertainment/education complex would fit well in Cedar Rapids

Officials say the proposed Iowa Child development center will be the most striking building in Cedar Rapids. It’ll be a school, aquarium, a domed rain forest and hotel, all rolled into one. At a meeting last night, former Governor Robert Ray said Cedar Rapids is the right choice for the center.The center would be 20 stories high and cost 280-million dollars. Ray chairs the statewide committee that’s planning the facility. He says the project is expected to bring many millions of dollars into the eastern Iowa economy.A study finds the Iowa Child center could attract between one-million and one-point-eight million visitors a year. Ted Townsend is president of the Iowa Child Foundation. He says the center may have to be paid for through a variety of sources — including state tax dollars.The state legislature is considering a “millennium fund” that would help pay for projects like the Iowa Child Center.