A plan to put a grocery store back in Correctionville, Iowa is considered a shot in the arm
for the small town. The project itself got a big boost Tuesday.
The Woodbury County Supervisors agreed to give backers a $25,000 grant to help with the construction. The money comes from local option sales tax dollars.
County leaders also agreed to a $125,000 loan for the project.
"It's saving a small community," explained Woodbury County Supervisor Larry Clausen.
He and the rest of the board did not hesitate to contribute to Correctionville's project.
Correctionville City Council voted to put $50,000 into the store through a loan, too.
The town's been without a grocery store for three years. That's when their last one caught fire. It never reopened.
"If you don't have a place to shop for groceries, it all goes out of," said volunteer Mike Smith.
Or in some cases, never comes to town. Brad Knaack, one of the directors of the non-profit raising funds for the project, told supervisors a few families have chosen not to build homes in Correctionville because it didn't have a grocery store.
"If you don't have businesses, it's tough to have people want to live there. It's kind of like a high school. If you have a high school it's kind of like the driving force behind a town. It's the same for a grocery store," said Knaack.
So he, Smith, and a half-dozen other volunteers raised money to build a brand new store. They expect it to draw people from many miles away.
"Cushing, Anthon, Washta, Pierson," said Knaack.
Also, Little Sioux Park, which attracts 280,000 visitors to Correctionville every year.
Keeping costs down has become a community effort. People in town are rolling up their sleeves to help.
"I just hate to see our town fall apart," said Gaylen Knaack, Brad's father.
"When we poured concrete we had over 30 people coming to help," added Brad.
It's just better to be involved than sit back and let someone else do it."
A grocery store built by the community for the community
The total cost of the project is around $450,000. They are $40,000 away from their goal.
They hope to have the project, called The Mercantile, finished by the beginning of next year.
This is the second such project Woodbury County leaders have supported.
Moville, Iowa also received a grant to rebuild after fire shut down that town's only store.
Their new one, Chet's Moville Market, has been running for three years.
Though the two towns are only 15 miles apart, the county's economic development director says there won't be any competition between them.
"Correctionville is a sufficient and significant distance, and they can serve a significantly different population," said Woodbury County's Rural Economic Development Director, Rob Marqusee.
Marqusee said several other communities have approached the county with similar projects.
While they're not all feasible, we could see another one in the works in the near future.
