The Solon City Council looks to expand the downtown district while maintaining the city’s unique feel

SOLON — Over the past decade, Solon officials have come together in pursuit of modernizing the community while maintaining the small town feel the city is known for.

In 2015, the Solon city government released a comprehensive plan to lead the charge on what the city would look like over the coming years.

This plan, created by the comprehensive plan steering committee, looked to determine how to develop downtown, residential, and community service areas.

City Administrator Cami Rasmussen said one of the biggest takeaways from this process was the potential expansion of the city’s Main Street area.

Solon’s Main Street runs in an east-to-west direction. However, with talks of adding to the downtown scene, city officials saw this as an opportunity to grow this area in all aspects, not just staying on that same latitude.

Through the comprehensive plan process, community members reached out to the members of the committee to come up with a vision for the future of the city.

“If this is an area that’s an eyesore for our community, and our community is telling us we need to do something with this area, what can we do,” said Rasmussen.

Fixing the “eyesores”

It wasn’t until 2020 that plans started to go into motion on how this expansion would look.

The area in question is a plot of land on the corner of East North and North Dubuque streets that consisted of three houses and a trailer park area for mobile homes. Rasmussen described this area as an “eyesore” for the community and claims that city officials always thought of this area when talking about downtown expansion.

One of the houses came up for sale, enticing the city council to follow through with its previous plan of downtown development. The council pulled the trigger on this purchase and set its comprehensive ideas in motion. After this purchase, the council targeted the trailer park land, which was at the time owned by one person who rented out three mobile units.

“We put some feelers out for the owner of the trailer lot a few times over the years,” said Rasmussen. “We said, ‘This is part of our downtown development expansion. Are you interested? And over the years, we just heard, ‘No.’”

Conversations were again initiated by the council in 2023 after the move of the Solon fire station. This time, the owner was very interested in the transaction, as long as the mobile home residents were given ample time to move from the area. Because this property has been a family property for many years, the city of Solon happily granted their wishes to make the moving out process as smooth as possible. Once all of the trailers were emptied, the demolition process was started, leaving just two houses left on the plot of land.

The second house was put up for sale and bought that same year, leaving just one property remaining on the strip. Rasmussen said that the city council felt as if they were now all in on this future land development., In 2024, Solon sent out a handful of “feelers” to the owner of that home in an effort to acquire the last property.

The city was met with a resounding, “yes,” and immediately purchased the final house. The last two houses were then demolished at the end of 2024, leaving a blank slate for the city to paint a picture on.

Ideal use of funds

Since 2020, Solon has spent roughly $615,000 on the four properties around East North and North Dubuque streets.

$140,000 on 123 E. North St. house in 2020.

$115,000 for the trailer lot on 111 E. North St. in 2023. Each of the three trailers were bought separately, $2,500 for the trailer and $2,500 for the moving fee.

$175,000 for the house on 111 N. Dubuque St. in 2023.

$170,000 for the house on 121 N. Dubuque St. in 2024.

Money for this project has come from resources found in the city’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds. The city aims to recoup these expenses through the development of this area, any future property taxes, and the sale of these properties.

“Our TIF dollars are designated for blight and economic development,” Rasmussen said. “This seemed like the ideal use for those funds.” What will take over this land along with an overall timeline of events has yet to be decided.

Solon Mayor Dan O’Neil says the creation of a growth committee is in progress. This group will consist of a couple of city council members to work with him, Rasmussen, and the rest of the city council in finding the best possible solution for the future of this land.

This committee hasn’t been pulled together yet, and O’Neil and Rasmussen are looking to fill in the remaining positions. Plans and ideas about the future of this land development will be created and proposed once the members of the committee are complete.

The creation of the city comprehensive plan is seen by many as a step towards the development of Solon, but some residents saw this shift happen a couple years prior. Big Grove’s impact In 2013, Big Grove Brewery started on Main Street in Solon.

Since then, the company has grown massively and has become a household name all over Iowa. It showed that something that popular can come from a smaller city like Solon and began a movement for the rest of the town to follow. Since then, many other developments and projects have happened in the downtown district that have improved the lives of many in the community. The revitalization of the Literary Hotel and additions of new multi-use commercial properties on Main Street have revamped Solon into a new direction of modern times.

“That [the addition of Big Grove] started the trend of taking old and run down, and making it new,” Solon resident Brian Brandt said. “Which is what I believe the city needs for the center out. A strong downtown is the heartbeat of a community.”

Balancing a small town with modernization

One of the biggest challenges seen in expanding the downtown area is balancing the “small town charm” with the need to improve on previous infrastructure. This charm is what brings so many people to Solon initially, drawing on a population that wants to live in more rural areas.

Since 2013, the Solon population has increased by 1,000 plus people. With this number showing all signs of its continuing rise, as population numbers have been steadily increasing since 2001, additional developments may be needed to sustain this growth.

“I am very pro-growth,” said Brandt. “Especially if it’s taking something existing and making it better, modernizing it.”

“There’s a lot to offer [in Solon],” said O’Neil. “But what other services would people want so they don’t have to leave town. How can we meet the needs of the community while keeping that small-town feel?”