My Best Life

Appanoose County: Puttin' on the Ritz

Here's a historic photo of the Ritz Hotel, an old theater in Centerville, Iowa, that has been covered up with aluminum siding for decades. Recently, some dedicated volunteers have taken off the coating and renovated the Ritz back to her former glory. The inside is next, and the community is looking forward to having a brand new 500-seat show space soon.

With the coming development of the Honey Creek State Resort, Centerville residents are taking advantage of the opportunity to showcase the rest of their community to the region by making trail connections, improving county infrastructure, and pumping up cross-marketing efforts.

I cannot tell you how impressed I was with the dedication to the ongoing projects we heard about. These folks have been hit with some pretty devastating economic blows in the last few years, and already have high levels of poverty to deal with. Nevermind all that, they are determined to make their place the best it can be. These projects are creatively financed and leverage absolutely unbelievable volunteer hours to get things done.

One of the highlights of our trip was an elegant dinner in the dining room at the Continental Hotel. The dinner rolls were so delicious that my friend Sam were convinced that they were deep fried. They certainly were tasty. And what a bargain! My dinner was only $15.00. Homemade pie was $2.49 a slice, but I was too full to think about that.

I can't wait to attend a play at the Ritz!

Davenport: Iowa's Front Porch

Davenport was our third stop on the Iowa Great Places Road Trip. First thing Tuesday morning, after spending the night at the Radisson near the river, we headed to the new sky bridge to see the incredible view of the Mississippi River from the observation deck. Afterwards, we were bundled on golf carts and given a tour of the reclaimed and soon-to-be-fabulous riverfront.

After the floods of 1993, many Iowa river towns had to make some big decisions which would affect the look and feel of the river's edge for the next 100+ years. Davenport, after much controversy, decided to proceed with its riverfront development using a more natural, accessible approach. Instead of walling the river off with a levee or flood wall, essentially cutting it off from the downtown business district and decreasing pedestrian access to the water's edge, Davenport city leaders decided to open up the riverfront. The casino that currently disgraces the water under the sky bridge will soon be relocated as a first step in reclaiming the river.

Turns out the real problem with flood water is not the somewhat predictable inflow of river water, but the devastating effect of the outflow. Mixed with sewer contents from the popped-open manhole and burst pipes, the nasty mixture leaves a lot of damage behind. Davenport solved this problem by installing a special sewer system that does not allow the outflow. Essentially, all the surfaces left grimy by a flood can be washed with a firehose and made as good as new.

The city presented its plans to us for the redevelopment of the river, including moving the casino, installing a new spray-park, playground and parking. Le Claire Park, the location of the best blues festival in the U.S., is also slated for a facelift.

The Davenport riverfront is literally surrounded by interstates and four-lane roads. They've asked Great Places' help with calming traffic along the River Road and for way-finding signage along the interstates, directing traffic toward the great amenities to be found below.

The chamber and other representatives from Davenport were wonderful to us. My favorite surprise at the end of the presentation was a serenade by a group of senior citizens. They were absolutely great.