Making Main Street: Ottumwa, Iowa

By Brian Barth

Tactical urbanism seems to have taken root in the Main Street movement, launched nearly 40 years ago by the National Trust for Historic Places to combat the decline of historic downtowns.

The Main Street Iowa program, which provides support to 50 local Main Street chapters across the state under the auspices of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, won a National Endowment for the Arts "Our Town" grant to conduct a major tactical urbanism project last year. Billed as a train-the-trainers event, representatives from Main Street organizations throughout Iowa were invited to a one-day downtown makeover, pulling out all the stops to show local residents what a vibrant downtown looks and feels like, then working backward to plot out a path to making that vision a reality.

Main Street Iowa's train-the-trainer program and living charrette pulled out all the stops to show Ottumwa residents what a vibrant downtown looks and feels like, then worked backward to plan a path to make that vision a reality. A play area, outdoor food court, theater, pop-up businesses, and a bike path sprang up in just eight hours. Photo by Patrick Blaydes, Better Block.

Ottumwa, Iowa (pop. 24,000), a former coal-mining town — and a charming, if somewhat dilapidated historic district — was chosen as the site. The Better Block Foundation, a nonprofit offshoot of the tactical urbanism-oriented firm Team Better Block, lead the "living charrette."

Local businesses were solicited as pop-up vendors in front of (and even inside) the many vacant storefronts, blighted facades were papered over with artwork, colorful planters were brought in, festive lighting was strung across dark alleyways, and a temporary bar was set up in the abandoned theater for the first live music event in decades. A kids' play area, outdoor food court, and another stage were installed in a vacant lot.

The streets were temporarily repainted with bike lanes and bollards, and street furniture was brought in. With the help of just over 100 volunteers, this was all accomplished in the span of eight hours on a Friday last October.

What would it take to make this dynamic vision a reality? Better Block sketched out achievable goals to move in that direction. Sketch courtesy Ottumwa Better Block After-Action Report.

Long-term results are already materializing, says Fred Zesiger, the executive director of Main Street Ottumwa. "We were at that point where we'd planned, planned, planned, and we had lots of pretty drawings, but there wasn't a lot of action going on," he says. "The event got a ton of publicity and we're already seeing new businesses open up downtown as a result."

The 300 block of East Main got a taste of planned improvements during the Better Block event — including bike lanes and vegetative "bollards." Photo by Patrick Blaydes, Better Block.

Four downtown properties have recently changed hands — an unprecedented level of real estate activity for Ottumwa, Zesiger says — and a bagel maker, one of the pop-up businesses from the Better Block event, has leased a formerly vacant storefront. The owner of a burger joint at a nearby mall has also been inspired to open a location downtown, as has another resident who previously operated a boutique out of her home.

Meanwhile, Main Street Ottumwa is encouraging building owners to turn their upper floors into residential units, and grants are bringing public art and permanent improvements to the streetscape.

Brian Barth is a freelance journalist with a background in urban planning.