IOWA CITY (June 6, 2008) Community and University leaders presented a concept plan for The Stories Project during a public forum Friday morning. Upon completion, the $90 million project will be located on a 25-acre lot south of Interstate 80 in Coralville’s Iowa River Landing development. “The plan we’re presenting today is the result of almost two years of discussion with local residents,” said Jim Fausett, Coralville Mayor. “More than 100 people have volunteered their time to bring this concept forward,” he added.
"This notion emerged from the pack because it emphasizes values important to our community: language, literature, and literacy,” pointed out Josh Schamberger, President of the Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’ve worked hard to come up with a project that balances fun and seriousness and quite candidly, one that balances tourism and creative credibility.” Consultants estimate that as it matures The Stories Project could draw 500,000 visitors per year to Coralville.
The current plan calls for an environmentally sensitive, 125,000 square-foot complex with three different but closely related pieces supported by a cluster of shared commercial amenities. Stories could become operational about three years after planning is completed and funding is obtained. Its first component, called The Stories Center, is designed to engage visitors with the literary imagination and will employ eye-popping techniques such as “flying video screens” and holographic projections, as well as live actors and storytellers. The second component will be called the Hall of American Literary Achievement. Planners expect the Hall to become a nationally prominent display facility designed to honor and to encourage the study of the greatest American writers and their most memorable works. Like the Baseball Hall of Fame or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Hall of Achievement will select distinguished individuals for induction in the Hall each year. The Iowa Language and Literacy Institute is slated as the third component. The Institute will combine a research organization and a related experimental school that will provide opportunities to develop and test improved methods and materials to help young students learn to read.
Because the Stories Center and the Hall of American Literary Achievement will draw tourists to the destination, the project includes amenities to make their stay more comfortable and interesting. A commercial cluster will feature a large book store. Also in the works are a restaurant, a gift shop, and a “build-a-book” factory where writers of all ages can print and bind their own stories.
"We all know that language, literacy, and stories permeate our community far beyond the University walls,” said UI President, Sally Mason. She added, “Indeed, we are ‘The Writing Community.’ The Stories Project will help tell that story to the world.”
“We’ve come a long way in the last two years,” said Schamberger. “But today’s plan is really a beginning and not an end. We’ve laid out our dream, our vision. If we were scientists we’d call the plan our hypothesis. Now we need to test it.” In remarks introducing the plan, Kelly Hayworth, Coralville City Administrator, outlined the principles that generated the current vision and suggested that these same principles would guide further evaluation. “We have four planning criteria,” he said. “The project must grow from and add to recognized strengths of the community. The project must be culturally significant and credible. The project must be economically viable and the project must help increase the wealth of the community.”
“I think we have a plan that allows distinct voices to sing in harmony,” observed Christopher Merrill, Director of Iowa’s International Writing Program and UI’s liaison to the project. “We’ve known from the beginning that the project needs to draw many visitors to the area if it’s going to succeed economically. At the same time, we’ve agreed from the outset that it needs to have cultural significance if it’s going to be worth doing. It’s been fun to work toward keeping these two voices in balance and in tune. Exciting things can happen among Stories, local writers, and writers from around the world.”
“We’re delighted to have the chance to be part of this,” said Carolyn Brown, Co-founder of the Iowa Language and Literacy Institute. “Our new Institute was created to find effective ways to give all children access to literacy and education. We know that children learn to read better when they’re engaged in language and reading experiences at an early age. The Stories Project will be a perfect place to expose children and their families to the power of well-told stories.”
In speaking of immediate tasks, Schamberger noted, “Our intentions have been to dream big and check the facts. We’ll be doing lots of fact checking as we continue to plan over the next 18 months.” Jobs just ahead include refining the concept plan to get a more precise estimate of the capital costs and putting together a plan for meeting them. “Assuming the capital cost is something like $90 million, we’re almost surely looking at a patchwork approach to financing,” said Hayworth. “We’ll explore opportunities for federal funds as well as opportunities arising from competitive State grants programs. We’ll also seek corporate and other philanthropic support,” he added.
“We’ll be busy checking the estimated operating costs and revenue projections, too,” said Schamberger. “Right now we believe that the operating budget will be just over $6 million per year and our current projections indicate that we can cover about three-quarters of that with direct earnings. The expected opportunity to earn 75% of our operating budget is contextually very favorable news. However, at this point, it looks like the project will require an operating subsidy of something like $1.5 million annually.” Schamberger added, “Like most organizations of this scale, we’ll need a professionally managed fundraising program that will seek large, sustaining gifts from around the world. It would be unrealistic—and ultimately counterproductive—to expect this level of support from local donors.”
Revenues to area businesses would go up considerably with half-a-million annual visitors, Schamberger emphasized, noting potential increases in sales of meals, and hotel rooms as well as increases in retail sales. Planners also expect that additional visitors will increase opportunities for other local events, festivals and attractions.
“We’re determined to do this right,” said Hayworth. “Today, we want to invite community members to tell us what they think. We hope they agree with us that this can be something very special, something that is unique, something that is home grown and, yet, something that is nationally significant.”
Additional contacts:
City of Coralville: Kelly Hayworth, Administrator 319.248.1700 or khayworth@ci.coralville.ia.us
Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau: Joshua Schamberger, President 319.337.6592 or Joshua@iowacitycoralville.org
University of Iowa: Christopher Merrill, Professor and Director, IWP 319-335-2609 or christopher-merrill@uiowa.edu
Iowa Language and Literacy Institute: Carolyn Brown, Co-founder 319-321-1203 or cbrown@iowa-institute.org
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