CONTRIBUTED GRAPHIC A rendering shows various phases of the upcoming Main Street reconstruction project in downtown Marshalltown. On Tuesday, the Chamber of Commerce will host a Surviving Streetscape panel at the Orpheum.

A scheduled panel on the Main Street reconstruction process is intended to provide some insight, perspective and hint, tips and tricks.

The Surviving Streetscape Panel will be held at the Orpheum in the Black Box on Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Panelists will include Brooke Prouty and Steve Skaggs, and the moderator will be Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO John Hall.

“Business and building owners are concerned about what it will look like and wondering if it will really be worth it in the end. Will they survive? Will they have people who support them?” he asked. “We are intending to launch a number of resources and help the community navigate through it. It’s helpful to hear perspectives from folks who have gotten through it, the lessons they learned and if it was worth it.”

Prouty comes to the panel as the business specialist for Main Street Iowa, with a focus on economic vitality programming. Before, she was the Marion Main Street director during a seven-year streetscape reconstruction project and derecho disaster recovery.

Skaggs, a Nevada City Council member and former president of Main Street Nevada, oversaw the streetscape project and is engaged in the revitalization of Nevada’s downtown.

Hall said the event originally had three panelists, but there was a scheduling conflict. They are trying to recruit a third, but he added good perspectives will be provided from Prouty and Skaggs. Hall said Prouty was chosen because she is someone the Chamber has known for a long time, helped navigate Marion through a similar project and now assists communities to do the same thing. He said Marshalltown will be able to utilize her Main Street Iowa network. Skaggs was a natural fit, as Nevada is right down the road on Highway 30, and also had a recent similar project.

“They have gone through [Main Street reconstruction projects] recently,” Hall said. “We are not the first ones. There will be hints, tips and tricks to help make us stronger and get through this.”

The event will begin at 5 p.m. with the reconstruction plans on display. The panel will be held at 5:30 p.m. Hall said the panel is set up as a guided discussion.

“There are a number of questions they can give their thoughts and perspectives on,” he said. “We do want engagement the entire time and allow questions and answers.”

City Engineer Heather Thomas along with representatives from Bolton and Menk and Con-Struct Inc. will engage in conversations with attendees at 6:30 p.m. The Marshalltown City Council awarded a $7.1 million contract to Con-Struct for the project earlier this month.

“We want to show the business community we understand this will be tough and challenging,” Hall said. “We are not willing to just let these two years pass by and will do whatever accommodations we can make.”

He hopes business owners will walk away feeling supported, and with a feeling that the Chamber cares.

“We do care and we’re paying attention,” Hall said.

The project

The project will include full street and sidewalk reconstruction from Center Street to Third Avenue and on Center from State to Church streets. The water mains and storm sewer underneath the pavement will receive full replacement.

Also planned are new streetscape amenities, such as trash receptacles, bike racks, planter pots seeding areas, standing tables and benches, downtown lighting and back-in angle parking on the south side of Main Street, the west side of Center Street and the east side of Center south of Main. A gateway arch on the east end of downtown is also being considered.

Construction on the first phase, which will cover Center Street from State to Church, is slated to begin in April and should reopen by mid-August. The second phase will begin once the first phase is finished and should be done by the end of the year.

The project is a piece of the bigger Downtown Master Plan puzzle, which Hall said also includes infrastructure, private businesses and development, which can take many years. However, he hopes the reconstruction will have a positive impact on Marshalltown and what he described as a vibrant and iconic downtown.

“When you go to communities that have navigated through it, there is an air of excitement that follows a project like this,” Hall said. “There is a wave of business opportunities because of that public investment. That is something we hope to capitalize. We want to build up the downtown, bring in successful businesses and expand the ones we have.”