The Iowa caucuses are over, and it will be another four years before the Hawkeye State resumes the media spotlight as the first major event in the presidential electoral process. But there is still plenty going on.
In the east, Cedar Rapids, the state’s second-largest city, is getting the state’s second-largest convention center. Dubuque is benefiting from a decade-long port revitalization, and the Quad Cities is expanding its meeting facilities.
The region showcases the heartland’s agricultural traditions, provides year-round outdoor activities, has impressive scenery that includes the northeast’s steep hills and valleys, and offers unique attractions. And with the Mississippi as the state’s eastern boundary, there are lots of opportunities for water recreation and riverboat excursions.
Dubuque
Dubuque is where Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin meet.
“We are located on the bluffs of the mighty Mississippi. Add our history—we are Iowa’s first formed community—and groups find something different every time they visit,” says Julie Kronlage, sales director for the Dubuque CVB.
Adjacent to its historic downtown, the Port of Dubuque has been undergoing a revitalization called the America’s River Project.
“It’s definitely having an impact. We get lots of state association business, and we’re looking at a strong 2012,” she says.
America’s River Project debuted with the 2002 unveiling of the 193-room Grand Harbor Resort & Waterpark. The adjacent Grand River Center, with 86,000 square feet of meeting space, followed in 2003. The area also includes Diamond Jo Casino and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, which opened a $40 million expansion in June 2010.
On Main Street, the historic 133-room Hotel Julien Dubuque reopened in fall 2009 after a $36 million renovation.
Groups can sail aboard the 770-passenger Celebration Belle, which operates out of both Dubuque and Moline, Ill., in the Quad Cities farther south. Other cruise options include the 377-passenger Spirit of Dubuque paddle wheeler.
Midway between Dubuque and the Quad Cities on the Mississippi is Clinton, home of the meetings-friendly Wild Rose Casino & Resort.
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities include Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and on the Illinois side, Moline and Rock Island. All have downtown riverfronts.
“We partner with our communities to offer a tremendous value to meeting planners and an incentive product that offers substantial savings,” says Lynn Hunt, sales vice president of the Quad Cities CVB. “We look at each meeting or event to see how we can incorporate the Mississippi River, our PGA golf course and our world-class attractions so that the experience is memorable.”
Downtown Davenport serves up what was rebranded a year ago as the Quad Cities Event Center. It encompasses the RiverCenter/Adler Theatre, with 100,000-plus square feet of rentable space and two adjacent hotels: the connected 239-room Radisson Quad City Plaza and the restored historic Hotel Blackhawk.
Bettendorf features the two-year-old Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center, with more than 24,000 square feet of meeting space. It is connected to the 514-room Isle Casino Hotel, which manages the center.
Davenport’s off-site venues include the Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre and the Figge Art Museum. Its newest museum, the German American Heritage Center, recently unveiled a new ballroom holding 100. With a range of spaces on the Davenport riverfront, another popular gathering site is the Modern Woodmen Park, home of the minor-league Quad Cities River Bandits.
World headquarters for John Deere and a number of company operations and attractions, Moline, Ill., features the i wireless Center, which includes an arena and the adjacent 162-room Radisson on John Deere Commons. Rock Island is home to the QCCA Expo Center, with a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall.
For Quad City cruises, groups can utilize the Celebration Belle and the Twilight riverboat.
Cedar Rapids
Located on the Cedar River, Cedar Rapids is 100 miles east of Des Moines, the largest city and state capital, and 20 miles north of Iowa City.
Last August saw groundbreaking for downtown’s $120 million Cedar Rapids Convention Complex. It will have three components: a new convention center; an upgraded former U.S. Cellular Center Arena, which will reopen in November; and the renovated former 236-room Crowne Plaza Five Seasons, which will become a Doubletree property.
Slated for a spring 2013 grand opening, the complex will feature 129,500 square feet of new convention space and a similar amount of renovated arena space. The hotel will have 19,500 square feet of meeting space.
According to Jennifer Pickar, director of communications and marketing at the Cedar Rapids Area CVB, the center is being sold for dates beginning in summer 2013.
“We are really excited about all of the developments taking place. The transformation is under way,” she says. “Cedar Rapids is affordable, convenient and full of rich history and culture. We are truly a city that has risen above adversity and come out stronger than ever,” she says, referring to the 2008 flood that was the worst in the city’s history.
A few yet-to-reopen flood-damaged attractions will debut this year.
Currently in temporary facilities, the new National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library opens July 14. It will include a 55-seat auditorium, three galleries and a reception hall seating 400. The former damaged museum building was closed.
Downtown’s severely damaged, city-owned Paramount Theatre, home to symphony and performing arts, is slated to reopen this fall following a $34.5 million restoration.
The city’s meetings hotels include the Cedar Rapids Marriott, The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, Best Western Plus Longbranch and Clarion Hotel & Convention Center.
Amana Colonies
Tagged “the Handcrafted Escape” and popular with tour groups, the Amana Colonies are a major tourist attraction about 20 miles from both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. Its seven settlements were inhabited by the German Pietists religious group from the 1850s to the 1930s.
“The Amana Colonies stand out for their unique history, for the quality that Amana products are known for and the great food,” says Sarah Tarnowski, assistant director of the Amana Colonies CVB. “Groups enjoy having a step-on guide take them through each of the villages, making stops at historic sites and shops.”
Attractions include a golf course that can take up to 120 for functions, seven museums, a dozen galleries and studios, four wineries, a brewery and two theater companies.
Iowa City/Coralville
Home to the University of Iowa, Iowa City and the adjacent community of Coralville are less than 70 miles west of the Quad Cities.
Iowa City became the territorial capital in 1839 and was the state capital from 1846 to 1857, when the state government moved west 120 miles to the more central Des Moines. The Old Capitol building is now a museum and a central feature of the university, which boasts such attractions as the Museum of Natural History, the Medical Museum and the Athletics Hall of Fame.
The university augments meeting space with facilities that range from the Iowa Memorial Union to the multipurpose 15,000-seat Carver Hawkeye Arena.
“The area offers big city amenities wrapped up with small town charm at affordable prices, and with such a convenient location right off of I-80,” says Anissa Wolfe, sales director at the Iowa City/Coralville Area CVB. “People enjoy university sports and day trips to Amana Colonies and Kalona [an Amish community].”
According to Wolfe, 2011 was a good year for meetings and conventions, and the city will greatly benefit as the host of the 2012 Olympic Wrestling trials in April.
“From this event alone we are expecting big things. In the past, it has attracted over 8,000 people with 85 percent coming from out of the area,” she says.
With 60,000 square feet of event and exhibit space, the largest convention property is the 286-room Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. It was the first anchor tenant of the growing 180-acre Iowa River Landing District, which this fall will see the unveiling of a 150,000-square-foot health care clinic, a 100-room Homewood Suites and an operation of Iowa-based Backpocket Brewing.
Last fall, the new 472-seat Coralville Center for the Performing Arts opened as part of a mixed-use project, and last summer, Celebration Farm, a new event facility with an amphitheater and event-ready barns, opened in Iowa City.
In the heart of downtown near the city’s historic pedestrian mall, the 234-room Sheraton Iowa City, with 12,000 square feet of event space, recently completed an $11 million renovation. Under the same ownership is the adjoining Hotel Vetro, with an additional 15,000 square feet of event space.
Iowa City’s former 90-room Quality Inn Hotel, which has 9,000 square feet of meeting space, was recently reflagged the Clarion Highlander Hotel & Conference Center.
Waterloo/Cedar Falls
Along the Cedar River are neighbors Waterloo and Cedar Falls, a metro area known as Cedar Valley.
Waterloo, the largest city of the two, is headquarters of Northeast Iowa’s Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, which promotes 100-plus sites and attractions and the story of American agriculture in a 37-county region. It can assist with arranging group tours.
The city’s largest facility, the Five Sullivans Convention Center, has 40,000 square feet of function space and is attached to a 228-room Ramada. Another major property, the Isle Casino Hotel, has 6,600 square feet of available space.
Waterloo’s museums include four in its Grout Museum District that together offer 10,000 square feet of event space. They are Bluedorn Science Imaginarium, Grout Museum of History & Science, Snowden House and Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.
Overlooking the river, the Waterloo Center for the Arts can handle gatherings for up to 250.
The John Deere Waterloo Tractor and Engine History Museum is being planned for the city.
Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa, featuring the 20,000-seat UNI-Dome, the 7,018-seat McLeod Center and the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, which has banquet facilities.
“We have a beautiful historic downtown that is one of our main draws. It has lots of unique shops, dining, nightlife and galleries,” says Kim Burger, manager of the Cedar Falls Tourism and Visitors Bureau.
Among other venues is the Park Place Event Centre, with 24,000 square feet of meeting space.
Cedar Falls will get a new hotel this summer with the opening of the 113-room Hilton Garden Inn Hotel & Conference Center, which will have a 5,000-square-foot banquet facility.
Tony Bartlett has been writing about the travel industry for more than 20 years.
