Eastern Iowa is about rolling hills and steep valleys, scenic byways and heartland agricultural traditions—and most of all, rivers. “See the beauty…. sample the fun,” invites the Eastern Iowa Tourism Association, one of the Hawkeye State’s three regional tourism groups.
According to Carrie Koelker, executive director of the association, the Mississippi River is a natural magnet, providing significant recreational opportunities.
“It is an enormous engine that draws in delegates. We have small-town hospitality and also big-city excitement,” she says. “And no matter where you are going there is the wonderful hospitality of Iowa.”
Rivers are also providing the backdrop to a slew of new opportunities for meeting planners.
Dubuque
Iowa’s oldest city, Dubuque, is in the area where Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin meet.
It markets itself as “Rivertown reinvented.” America’s River Project, the revitalization that began more than 12 years ago, has included the 193-room Grand Harbor Resort & Waterpark and the adjacent Grand River Center, with 86,000 square feet of meeting space. On nearby Main Street, the historic 133-room Hotel Julien Dubuque, which reopened in fall 2009 after a $36 million renovation, has 14,000 square feet of meeting space.
The river area includes a winery, the 5-year-old Diamond Jo Casino and the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, which opened a $40 million expansion in 2010. In 2012 the museum completed a walkway that connects the facilities. According to Julie Kronlage, sales director at the Dubuque CVB, the river area is a great outdoor location for after-hours events.
“We had a great 2012 and look forward to another great year,” Kronlage says.
Groups can sail the 770-passenger Celebration Belle, which operates from both Dubuque and Moline, Ill., in the Quad Cities. Other cruise options include American Lady Yacht Cruises, the 377-passenger Spirit of Dubuque paddle-wheeler and the 110-passenger Miss Dubuque yacht. PageBreak
Quad Cities
Seventy miles south of Dubuque are the Quad Cities, encompassing Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa, and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois, each with a Mississippi riverfront downtown.
“We’re working hard to be the premier meeting location for a variety of niche markets,” says Lynn Hunt, vice president of sales for the Quad Cities CVB.
The Quad Cities Event Center on downtown Davenport’s riverfront encompasses the RiverCenter, with 100,000-plus square feet of space, and the 2,400-seat Adler Theatre. Two meetings properties are connected to the center: the 221-room Radisson and the historic Hotel Blackhawk, which reopened two years ago following a $40 million restoration.
Visitors can cruise on the Celebration Belle and the Twilight riverboat.
Davenport’s off-site options include the Putnam Museum; the Figge Art Museum; Modern Woodmen Park, home of the minor-league Quad Cities River Bandits baseball team; and the German American Heritage Center.
Bettendorf’s Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center has more than 24,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 514-room Isle Casino Hotel has an additional 15,000 square feet.
Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, Iowa’s second-largest city after Des Moines, will unveil the $120 million U.S. Cellular Center in June. It will be the state’s second-largest convention center, with 81,800 square feet of exhibit space, 12,400 square feet of ballroom space and 19,400 square feet of meeting space.
The downtown riverfront facility will have three components: a new convention center; an upgraded U.S. Cellular Center Arena; and the 236-room DoubleTree Cedar Rapids Convention Complex, formerly a Crowne Plaza.
“We are ready to show off our revitalized city and brand-new convention center, and to assist with creating memorable and fun events,” says Jennifer Pickar, director of communications and marketing at the Cedar Rapids Area CVB. “Bookings have been going very well, and 2012 was a fantastic year. We’re expecting 2013 to be another great year.”
Meanwhile, the 5,000-seat Riverfront Amphitheater will open this summer. Another attraction, the NewBo City Market, opened in October. Located on a reclaimed, flood-ravaged site in the New Bohemia district, it includes an 18,000-square-foot building with a community college teaching kitchen and distribution center, plus outdoor gathering spaces.
Two major attractions with venue space closed by river flooding in 2008 reopened in 2012. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, which is now three times larger and features a hall that can hold up to 250 for seated events, and the heavily damaged, 1,693-seat Paramount Theatre, which is home to symphony and performing arts performances and underwent a $34.5 million restoration.
The 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is the area’s newest hotel.
The destination’s top meetings hotels include the Cedar Rapids Marriott, The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, Best Western Plus Longbranch and the Clarion Hotel & Convention Center. PageBreak
Amana Colonies
Twenty miles west of both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City are the Amana Colonies, a group of seven villages that were home to a self-sufficient German religious group, the Pietists, from the 1850s to the 1930s.
Tagged the “Handcrafted Escape” by the Amana Colonies CVB, the destination is a major tourist attraction.
Highlights include a golf course, seven museums, a dozen galleries and art studios, four wineries, a brewery and two theater companies. The Amana Colonies has been listed as a National Historic Landmark since 1965.
Iowa City/Coralville
Iowa City and adjacent Coralville are 30 miles south of Cedar Rapids and less than 70 miles west of the Quad Cities on Interstate 80.
Home to the University of Iowa, Iowa City was the state capital from 1846 to 1857, and the Old Capitol is now a museum and part of the university. Campus attractions include the Museum of Natural History, the Medical Museum and the Athletics Hall of Fame. Its meeting capabilities range from the Iowa Memorial Union, with 25 meeting rooms, to the 15,000-seat Carver Hawkeye Arena.
According to Anissa Wolfe, director of sales at the Iowa City/Coralville Area CVB, 2012 was a good year for the area.
“The Iowa City/Coralville area stands out as a meeting destination because it offers a wide variety of amenities and is in such a convenient location off Interstate 80,” she says. “We are able to execute an excellent experience at an affordable price point,” she adds.
The largest convention property, the 286-room Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, has 60,000 square feet of space. It was the first anchor tenant of the growing 180-acre Iowa River Landing District, which has retail, office, residential and entertainment areas.
The Homewood Suites Coralville at Iowa River Landing will open in February, while the Residence Inn Coralville opened last July.
Meanwhile, the 472-seat Coralville Center for the Performing Arts opened last fall.
Downtown Iowa City is home to the 234-room Sheraton Iowa City, which has 12,000 square feet of event space and 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. PageBreak
Waterloo/Cedar Falls
Ninety miles west of Dubuque are Waterloo and Cedar Falls, a metro area along the Cedar River known as Cedar Valley.
Waterloo, the larger of the two cities, is the headquarters of northeast Iowa’s Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, known for agricultural sites and attractions.
“Waterloo is easily accessible from every location in the Midwest and just minutes from Waterloo Regional Airport,” says Beth Keeney, marketing and communications director at the Waterloo CVB. “Attendees can enjoy spectacular attractions and entertainment, excellent lodging and dining options, fantastic shopping and outdoor recreation, with over 100 miles of paved recreational trails.”
Waterloo’s largest convention facility, the Five Sullivans Convention Center, has 40,000 square feet of function space. A 228-room Ramada is attached to the center. Another major Waterloo property, the 195-room Isle Casino Hotel, has 6,600 square feet of rentable space.
Of Waterloo’s many museums, four in its Grout Museum District combine to offer 10,000 square feet of event space: the Bluedorn Science Imaginarium, Grout Museum of History & Science, Snowden House and Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.
According to Keeney, the $20 million downtown Riverfront Renaissance Project added several components in 2012: the RiverLoop Amphitheatre, the Arts Mall and Mark’s Splash Park, which is near the Waterloo Center for the Arts.
Another Waterloo attraction, the John Deere Tractor and Engine Museum, is expected to open this spring.
The museum is part of the $50 million TechWorks redevelopment under way in downtown Waterloo. It will also include a John Deere regional training center, a hotel and office space.
With a historic downtown, Cedar Falls is home to the University of Northern Iowa. Among its facilities are the 20,000-seat UNI-Dome, the 7,018-seat McLeod Center and the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. Other venues include the Park Place Event Centre, with 24,000 square feet of meeting space.
Its newest hotel is the 113-room Hilton Garden Inn Cedar Falls, with roughly 5,600 square feet of meeting space.
Tony Bartlett has been writing about the travel trade industry for more than 25 years.
