Marshalltown’s Linn Creek District, located in the heart of the community, will look substantially different by the end of 2026 as a series of projects partially funded by Destination Iowa grants are expected to wrap up and be fully operational this year, including the Apgar Family Water Plaza and the Emerson Bridge.

City Parks and Recreation Director Kelsie Stafford told the T-R the water plaza is progressing steadily with the color coating aspect set to go out to bid earlier this week and more concrete work yet to be done.

“With the cure time and the finishing touches with the coating and all of the benches and things like that getting placed, hopefully all of that will go smoothly, and we’re looking at an early summer opening,” she said.

The bridge was placed at the Linn Creek crossing near Kwik Star and the Marshalltown Football League (MFL) fields last summer, and despite an early snow around Thanksgiving, there are still only a few more concrete pours left to complete along with the decorative bridge railing.

“We’re getting all of those panels mapped out and those are being fabricated right now. So as soon as that’s all laid out and ready to go, we’ll get that installed,” Stafford said.

Most of the Ann C. Keyser Trailhead work is finished other than a few concrete pours and furniture installation, and the Parks and Recreation department will add more landscaping this spring. The skatepark will not move as a result of the trailhead project.

Stafford feels that the district, once the projects are completed, will boast a uniquely Marshalltown gathering space with ample exercise and recreational opportunities and connections to areas like the MFL fields, the Little League fields, the YMCA/YWCA and the Aquatic Center.

“Hopefully we’ll draw community members. It’ll be a place for them to go and just be with family and friends and get some exercise and recreate or whatever they like to do best,” she said. “But it will also be really cool to just show off how innovative Marshalltown is with RAGBRAI coming through, they’re gonna be riding through that area, so it’ll be really cool to show off these projects in July when they’re rolling through. Not only is it great for the community, but it will be cool to show off all the work that we’ve been doing too.”

Arts + Culture Alliance (ACA) Executive Director Amber Danielson added that the team behind the projects is excited to create a centralized hub in a growing district, with goals to develop it in a similar manner to downtown and 13th Street.

“I really feel like it’s just the beginning for the area. There’s been a lot of private investment. Now there’s a lot of public investment, so that public-private partnership, I think, is gonna catalyze even more development in the area,” Danielson said.

She noted that the Linn Creek District has been a target for development dating back to plans from almost 20 years ago. The Destination Iowa grants provided a total of $2 million for Marshalltown projects, including the Water Plaza, Emerson Bridge, trailhead area and the Martha-Ellen Tye Playhouse renovations, and Stafford said it will also help to build momentum for the ongoing efforts to finish the 34-mile Iowa River’s Edge Trail (IRET) between Steamboat Rock and Marshalltown.

“Iowa is a cycling and biking state. We referenced RAGBRAI earlier, so we really hope to see the cycling tourism grow in Marshalltown, too. And with the Iowa River’s Edge Trail spur, it’s gonna be amazing,” Stafford said. “So yeah, more to come.”