CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — To longtime market-goers, nothing will replace the Riverside Roundhouse, but construction is underway on a new “roundhouse” where homes once stood along Czech Village.
The city held a ceremonial groundbreaking last week for the LightLine Loop, a $13.84 million project that includes the roundhouse, a festival street, pedestrian promenade, gateway signage, a new 18th Avenue SW connection, 100-plus space parking lot and improvements to A Street SW.
A few homes remaining on C Street SW are just yards away from the new roundhouse, where construction began even before the groundbreaking.
Related: Cedar Rapids sets stage for new roundhouse
The Riverside Roundhouse is shown after the 2008 flood, before it was dismantled to make way for a new location for the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, seen in back. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Used for farmers markets, festivals and other gatherings, the Riverside Roundhouse opened in 1963, and was dismantled after the 2008 flood, when the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library moved to its spot on higher ground.
The new, smaller version will be located in the development off of 18th Avenue SW, where more than 100 homes stood before the record flood of 2008, and will feature bathrooms inside and out; arched doorways; a catering kitchen; rentable space for parties and will be usable year-round.
It will not be designed for produce trucks to pull up to market stalls, however, as the former roundhouse was, though officials said it could still potentially be used for farmers markets.
The Buresh Immigration Clock Tower can be seen in Czech Village through arches in the new “roundhouse” under construction in Cedar Rapids. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Materials from the original roundhouse, which survived the 2008 flood, were stored in a farm field, with hopes that it could be reconstructed in Czech Village. City officials have said those components have deteriorated and will not be used in the new design.
The LightLine Loop project is funded in part by a $3 million Destination Iowa Grant and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.
Sidewalk tile advertisements next to the former Sykora Bakery, many of former Czech Village businesses, will be removed as a water main is replaced.
More: Cedar Rapids plans to remove Czech Village pieces of the past
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