The long-awaited downtown event plaza on the north side of the courthouse along Main Street, a joint venture between the city of Marshalltown and Marshall County, is officially complete and ready to host its first Live After 5 concert tonight with the rock cover band Jake Kimble and Kick performing under the Marshalltown Central Business District (MCBD) Mobile Bandshell.

It is one of the most noteworthy aspects of the larger downtown reconstruction project, and for MCBD Executive Director Danielle Lekin, seeing the original renderings come to fruition is a dream come true as the area is complete with flower beds, stands to set drinks and food on, and string lights that give the plaza a unique feeling after dark.

“This space is just gorgeous. You can’t be in this space and not be proud to be part of this downtown community on the broader scale,” she said. “I’m just so proud of this project and all of the effort from the vendors and the contractors and (Public Works Director) Heather Thomas and how hard she’s worked on all of this. I think this just shows what those partnerships can bring to a community.”

For her part, Thomas is equally excited to see the project completed in time both for Live After 5 and, of course, next week’s RAGBRAI overnight stop with the expo area set up around the courthouse.

“A project like this takes a lot of work, coordination, and in some cases, sacrifices. Thank you to the business community for enduring, to the public for their continued support of those impacted, and to the construction team for their continued efforts,” Thomas said.

Marshall County Buildings and Grounds Director Lucas Baedke expressed a similar sentiment.

“I am extremely excited to have the project ready for everyone to be able to enjoy. I hope people can celebrate the centerpiece of our town and take pride in the work that has been done to make our downtown beautiful,” he said.

According to Lekin, all of their upcoming events, which include the Live After 5 concerts, Ridiculous Day next Saturday, Rally Around Downtown in August, Haunt the Block and Holiday Stroll, will be focused around the event plaza.

“This is now the focal point, the crown jewel of downtown Marshalltown, and we plan to highlight that to its fullest,” she said. “It’s been such a labor of love watching this project take shape… This space is beautiful. As you know, we have RAGBRAI coming next week. We have thousands of people coming to our community, and in a conversation with the RAGBRAI staff, they said ‘What you have done to your downtown is amazing. You don’t even need any additional decorations.’ And so that’s a really nice thing to hear for our community.”

Con-Struct Inc. is the general contractor on the downtown project, and CLK Landscape Construction of Grimes performed the landscaping work. The Live After 5 concert and the arrival of RAGBRAI do come with a caveat, however: spread out, sit close to the stage and protect the new sod as much as possible.

Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.