The last bit of state “Vision Iowa” grant money was awarded today to a project in Storm Lake. “Well, Governor, it’s all gone,” was the announcement from Vision Iowa board chairman Michael Gartner, marking the end of the 225-million dollars in state money that has been handed out to 13 community attractions like sports arenas and museums.
“We’re really pleased with the way it went,” Gartner said. “For this to be the final project, it’s particularly fitting. It’s a small town. It’s a wonderful project. It’ll be both a destination project for people coming to Iowa as well as something that makes life a whole lot better for the people in Storm Lake, Buena Vista and northwest Iowa.” Storm Lake gets the final eight million state “Vision Iowa” grant. The project in Storm Lake includes an 80 room lodge, a water park, a redesign of the city golf course, condominiums, and a 65-foot-tall lighthouse. Storm Lake Mayor Jon Cruse calls the effort “Project Awaysis.”
Cruse says it’s the biggest economic development project ever in Storm Lake and should bring 30 million dollars into the community each year. He also predicts nearly seven-hundred full- and part-time jobs will be created. “That’s awesome,” he says. “We look forward to making Storm Lake a shining example of how a rural Iowa community can revitalize itself and become a destination for everyone.” The Mayor invited Governor Tom Vilsack and the board that handed out the state Vision Iowa grants to attend the project’s groundbreaking. He told the group, though, that they’d have to haul away the dirt they turn over with the ceremonial shovels because “we don’t want it going into our lake.” Vilsack called it an “absolutely terrific project.”
Vilsack says he had promised Storm Lake leaders he’d do everything he could do to ensure the project got state support because he says “it is everything that’s good and right about small communities, about our state.”
Vilsack says the 225 million dollars worth of state Vision Iowa grants levied nearly two billion dollars worth of investments, and created thousands of good construction jobs.