In smaller communities, it is not uncommon to find buildings along Main Street that are underused. Some are only partly occupied with offices, some are used merely for storage, and still, others are vacant. This sends the message that the community is not a vibrant place where people want to be. It says to visitors and potential businesses that the community is not open for business.

Keosauqua is not unlike other communities in that it, too, has several underused buildings. However, the community is well-positioned in that there is a pathway forward for key buildings along Main Street and that some property owners are interested in revitalizing their buildings.

Keosauqua is a community under transformation. The forthcoming return of the Hotel Manning has pushed the community to address its housing needs, to recommit itself to supporting local restaurants, and to push for more amenities that will attract and retain talent. The three Lee family properties – located at 110 Main Street, 701 1st Street, and 705 1st Street – represent yet another catalytic opportunity for the community. With the appropriate investments, the three spaces are ripe for a mix of uses, including commercial/retail, community, and residential uses.

When the Lee family properties are revitalized, the buildings will be preserved while maximizing their use. Community members and visitors will experience enhanced amenities, and the investment in the properties will be a statement of the family’s love of Keosauqua. Additionally, the revitalization will open up a mix of revenue streams for the family, including potential tax benefits if any of the spaces are donated for use by a nonprofit. Most importantly, though, the reuse will be an economic development driver for the community – a regional opportunity to support entrepreneurs and small businesses while keeping (and drawing) money in the community and allowing residents to shop locally.

Of course, the reuse of the Lee family properties will rely on broad support. The family will need to make the initial resource investments and partner with the City to make the enhancements. The City should offer financial incentives, and the Engage Keosauqua group should offer assistance in finding potential tenants for the buildings. Finally, larger employers, such as HillPhoenix and the school district, should partner with the family to develop potential housing components of the buildings.

As has been mentioned, a cultural center is a top community need and desire. It is a community development tool that will keep residents in the community and enhance their quality of life and also a tool that will draw visitors to the community, bringing with them new dollars to Keosauqua. The creamery presents an optimal space for the cultural center due to its location, size, and rich history.

If the creamery becomes a cultural center, preservation of the creamery will be taken to the next level. It will become both a functioning and historical space; in some ways, it will become a mini-museum. The creamery will become a second crown jewel, along with the Hotel Manning, for Keosauqua. Together, the two will bookend the impending downtown revitalization. The creamery in particular will highlight the marriage between agriculture and history in Keosauqua. Like the Lee family properties, the creamery will function as an economic development driver in town, most notably as a space that celebrates the community’s arts, culture, and agricultural past, present, and future. Perhaps the most exciting outcome of the creamery becoming a community space, though, is the opportunity for different generations of community members to unite in a shared space, leading to stronger social connectivity in Keosauqua.

For this to be successful, it will take the collaboration of the building owner, the City, Van Buren County, Engage Keosauqua, and the Villages Folk School. The building owner will need to donate, sell, or lease the building, while the City and County will need to assist with financial incentives. The City also will need to help secure another building for storage purposes. Engage Keosauqua will need to take a leading role in the capital campaign, and the Villages Folk School will need to either partner with a new entity or support a new nonprofit in crafting and running cultural center programming.

Keosauqua’s 1st Street is bookended on its southwest end by the new City Hall location, which is situated at the intersection of 1st Street and Highway 1. Moving northeasterly, the Keosauqua Public Library and the historic Twombly Building serve as anchors until reaching the other end of 1st Street, where the old creamery is located.