Staffers from Iowa Economic Development will spend three days in Decorah this week studying the downtown area

The Iowa Economic Development Agency will be sending four staff members of the Iowa Downtown Resource Center to Decorah this week.

The staffers will be spending three days conducting a downtown assessment visit.  The team will tour the community and downtown, visit local businesses and interview stakeholders.  At the end of the process, the staffers will provide an honest assessment of the downtown with short and long range recommendations.

The visit follows the failure of the drive to get Decorah declared a Main Street Iowa community.  The IEDA agreed to give Decorah a discounted cost for the visit--$1,500--because of the opposition to the proposal.  The $1,500 cost is being paid through a donation.

The IEDA staff members will be walking in downtown Decorah on Tuesday morning, taking a tour to get their fist impressions.  A community session is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Tuesday at Whalen Cabin, with the Decorah City Council Chambers an alternate location because of weather.  Wednesday morning at 8:00, another community session--a breakfast--will be held for 30 to 40 community members.

When the work of the four IEDA staffers is complete, they will present their findings at 1:30 Thursday afternoon at City Hall.