Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly greets well-wishers following his first State of the City address, given Jan. 26 at the Longbranch Hotel and Convention Center.
By Dave DeWitte
dave@corridorbusiness.com
MARION—Mayor Nick AbouAssaly described a city adjusting rapidly to growth and change during his first State of the City address, imploring citizens, businesses and city employees to follow Marion’s new city slogan and “reach higher.”
Mr. AbouAssaly urged Marion’s citizens to be engaged, its city staff and leaders to work harder and smarter, its developers to build special projects, and its businesses to keep an open mind and contribute ideas.
“If you are designing, planning, building or working on any project in Marion… reach higher,” he said during the Linn County League of Women Voters event, held Jan. 26 at the Longbranch Hotel and Conference Center. “Please don’t give us what’s good enough. Think about curb appeal. We expect your best.”
Mr. AbouAssaly won the office in November after serving on the city council, the city planning commission and the Uptown Marion district board. A member at Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman in Cedar Rapids, he made it a point to explain why he is passionate about Marion.
At age 9, Mr. AbouAssaly, along with his brother and sister, were placed aboard a jet bound for the United States to escape the civil war in their native Lebanon.
“The fear and chaos they left behind were replaced by uncertainty and tremendous change – but with that change came hope and promise of new opportunities for a better future,” he said.
At that young age, Mr. AbouAssaly said he didn’t realize he would come to love Marion so much that he would “become its greatest advocate and would commit himself to do whatever he could to help it prosper, and that his greatest opportunity and privilege would be the honor of someday serving as its mayor.”
The city has nearly doubled in population since his arrival, from just under 20,000 people to more than 36,000. It is growing so fast that the city is preparing to conduct a special census to get credit for the potentially thousands of residents it has added since the last census.
Marion continues to receive high rankings in livability and draw new residents, but Mr. AbouAssaly said that success also presents challenges. He emphasized the city’s efforts to manage and direct growth “in a manner that minimizes negative impacts on quality of life, identifies opportunities for enhancing it, and ensures future prosperity.”
Examples of that preparation and planning can be seen across the city.
In 2016, Mr. AbouAssaly said Marion will see construction “move forward in a big way” on the Central Corridor project, with a new roundabout to be built at Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, and a new stretch of Sixth Avenue from 13th to 31st streets. The Central Corridor will speed east-west traffic through Marion, and improve walkability in the downtown area.
Construction will begin in April on a “mini-roundabout” at 29th Avenue and 35th Street to improve intersection safety. Sections of construction on Tower Terrace Road could also begin to move forward, helping to connect 10th Street, Marion’s important north-south artery, with C Avenue, a north-south artery in Cedar Rapids.
A proposal could be offered to developers later this year to build a mixed-use uptown development that would include new space for the public library, Mr. AbouAssaly said, and progress is expected on a new YMCA on the city’s far north side at Tower Terrace and Winslow roads.
In Marion’s historic Uptown District, Mr. AbouAssaly said facade improvements will begin on seven buildings using a $500,0000 state Community Development Block Grant, while the ImaginArt in the Alleys project, seeded with $350,000 in grant funding, will get underway.
The opening of an Irish pub, Uptown Snug, and expansion of the Another Road Brewing, the city’s sole microbrewery, are also on the horizon, Mr. AbouAssaly said. Twenty-six new businesses have made Marion their home in the last 24 months, he added.
Eight businesses assisted by the Marion Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO) have invested $30 million in Marion in the last several years, he said, and Marion Iron has completed its relocation from Seventh Avenue to the Marion Industrial Center, creating significant redevelopment opportunities that will “have a transformative effect on our city.”
Acknowledging one of the realities of leading a city, Mr. AbouAssaly said the way Marion responds to challenges and differences of opinion will tell the world “who we are as a community.”
“Do we allow issues to divide us or do we listen to each other, try to understand each other and work together to find common ground wherever it exists and a way forward for the greater good?” he asked the nearly 300 in attendance. “We are all on the same team. We accomplish so much more when we work together.”
Editor’s note: Mr. AbouAssaly’s firm, Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman, represents the Corridor Media Group.
