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Editorial: Ready to move in 2025
Op-Ed · January 15, 2025
After a strong showing in 2024, the West Branch area appears ready to tackle 2025 with even more gusto, likely bringing big benefits to the community.
Allow us to present our annual hopes for the coming year:
• First off, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum announced on Monday that the $20.3 million renovation would begin on Jan. 20. After nearly four years of Timeless Values | Modern Experience campaign fundraising by the Hoover Presidential Museum, the first renovation project in more than 30 years is finally upon us.
This is exciting news as the Foundation and its big-name supporters have to date brought in about $18.6 million and are running full-throttle toward pulling in that final $1.7 million. We feel confident they will get there.
In the meantime, we want to encourage residents and anyone who visits West Branch to notch up their support of local businesses. Depending on the enterprise, some rely heavily on the foot traffic drawn off Interstate 80 to see the museum.
While the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site remains open, no doubt the museum’s closure will reduce local visits and that will impact our retailers and residents. No doubt Main Street West Branch will join us as we encourage locals to eat, shop, and explore a bit more in the next year and a half. We want to see all local businesses thriving when the museum reopens in Summer 2026.
This renovation project will bring long-term benefits to West Branch and the surrounding region while giving a new generation a fresh look at the 31st president and Great Humanitarian.
• Widening the Wapsinonoc. The City of West Branch spent 2024 bowing to the demands of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to widen Wapsinonoc Creek and reduce the chances of downtown flooding. Now, it’s well past prime time for FEMA to allow the city to get off the federal hamster wheel so it can get down to work.
FEMA may want to take pride in itself for getting the project “just right,” but it is lucky West Branch did not suffer another ultra-heavy rainstorm or upstream snowmelt (possibly yet to come in the spring) while dragging out the 90-day approval process for each tweak in the design.
One cannot help but wonder what might happen if some fed-up local leader, in the middle of the night, brought in an excavator under the inspiration of what Chicago Mayor Richard Daley did to Meigs Field in 2003. The fine may likely be smaller than the burdensome inflation that is needlessly increasing the cost of this project.
The city has talked about widening the Wapsinonoc for decades. It got serious about the project in October 2018. That was more than six years ago. This is not the first time FEMA
has wasted time and taxpayer dollars, and it is ridiculous.
• Nordex reopening: The company that absorbed Acciona Windpower North America, Nordex Group, announced in 2024 that it landed a new contract for 25 wind turbines. A few weeks later, the company announced it would hire about 100 more employees to fulfill that contract and build nacelles that produce up to 5 to 5.5 megawatts each.
This may lead Nordex to also expand its West Branch assembly plant.
This is all good news for West Branch and investments in clean energy. Wind power still struggles to turn a profit and reduce environmental impact on wildlife, but every private enterprise that invests in it creates new chances for innovation and cost reduction.
Back in 2008, the City of West Branch and Acciona struck a deal for Tax Increment Finance rebates. As long as Acciona maintained at least 110 employees, it would get the rebates. But those rebates were put on hold in 2013 after Acciona mothballed the plant.
On news that Nordex would reopen the facility, the city says it wants to renegotiate. If so, we would encourage a similar outcomes-based structure to that deal: Give Nordex the benefits after it produces results, not before. Whether that is hitting hiring goals or energy production, Nordex needs to show that it can still meet its obligations after 12 years of the assembly plant sitting idle.
We believe it can, but taxpayers want results more than promises.
• James Townsend’s Traveler’s Rest. This stop on the Underground Railroad is serving as the home to the current owner, Peggy Herman. Herman wants to see the historic inn preserved, and the City of West Branch and East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA) want to accommodate.
In fact, ECIA has acquired a combined $100,000 in federal grants to get it fixed up, but estimates say they need another $40,000. The city may provide $20,000 in its next budget, which is currently in the works, and local family foundations may inject another $10,000.
The UGRR map in Iowa includes railroad “stations,” established routes, and “presumed” routes. Traveler’s Rest is just north of one of the eastern established routes, so it is likely that sufficient research and paperwork could cement West Branch’s place on that map.
Year’s ago, Traveler’s Rest was moved from its historic foundation a bit to the east, close to the city’s easternmost border. Neither the previous nor the current properties offer enough space for tourists to park and visit.
To preserve this piece of history, we need to establish the inn’s importance, refurbish the home, and relocate it.
Iowa Freedom Trail’s David Holmgren said a Quaker farmer near Springdale, Lawrie Tatum, served as a station agent and conductor on the UGRR. He was also a financial guardian for Herbert Hoover and his siblings after the deaths of their parents. It is not a strong link, but perhaps it is strong enough to justify moving the inn to the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.
There, it can receive the appropriate oversight and maintenance, as well as public exposure and sufficient parking space for visitors.
This is the year to begin what may be a years-long process, and we hope those interested will provide their support to make this noble endeavor happen.
The museum renovation and UGRR project would further develop the historic roots of West Branch. Widening the Wapsinonoc would improve the quality of life and business atmosphere of the downtown. And Nordex reopening would bring both jobs and another reason to further develop our housing stock.
All of these endeavors would enrich the lives of West Branch and benefit the region. We hope to see progress on all of them in 2025.
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