Ten years ago, flooding forced evacuation of the paintings, sculptures and other works of art in the University of Iowa’s Art Museum. Rod Lehnertz, the university’s vice president for finance, says constructure on a new art museum is slated to start this fall.
“And bring our great collection back to the heart of our campus,” he says.
The new museum is expected to reopen in 2021. The university’s art collection is valued at half a billion dollars and includes works by Jackson Pollack and Grant Wood.
The Iowa Flood Center that was established after the 2008 floods has created flood maps for every major stream in Iowa. Hundreds of remote sensors, providing real time information on water levels, have been installed. Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth says that data has helped shape flood control projects across Eastern Iowa.
“We have more information today than we can ever imagine and we know so much about the Iowa River, all the creeks that enter that,” he says.
Local officials and researchers hope the data will help them predict it and prepare for the next major flood event.
(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)