Iowa CHILD Panel Releases Final Report

Cedar Rapids Pinpointed As Top Location For Rain Forest/Educational Training Facility

Former Governor Robert D. Ray, chair of the Iowa CHILD Panel presented a final report to Cedar Rapids City Council on Wednesday, February 9, 2000. The Iowa CHILD project and the panel's findings are a key action item for the Chamber's five-point strategic plan. Chamber of Commerce leaders have followed this project for over a year.

According to Chamber President Ron J. Corbett, this project has the potential to "dramatically change the face of our state and community. We capture Iowa's reputation as a leader in education with this learning laboratory and create a destination point for over a million visitors each year."

Acknowledgements

The Iowa CHILD Study Panel was able to complete its work thanks to the efforts of many people. First of all, the members of the Panel itself contributed their time and talents and worked diligently to review the proposed project and assess its merits. The members were LuAnn Acker, Robert Burnett, Richard Canella, Jolene Franken, Cheryle Mitvalsky, Lowell Norland, and Charles Pittman. The Panel relied on the expertise of many in education, economic development, and other fields who shared their views with us. Among those who were of particular assistance are the leaders of the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, who hosted the Panel during visits to those facilities. In addition to these experts, the Panel engaged the services of three consulting firms: Chermayeff, Sollogub, and Poole, Inc.; the Harrison Price Company; and the Office of Thomas J. Martin. Finally, the Panel appreciated the assistance of the Iowa CHILD Foundation, which shared with the Panel the work it has conducted on this project. The Panel also wishes to thank the many experts who provided advice and information; these individuals are listed in an appendix to this report.

Robert D. Ray
Chair, Iowa CHILD Study Panel
February 2000

Not long ago, Iowa was known for an economy based on agriculture and a stream of high school graduates with the best test scores in the nation. Today, at the start of the 21^st century, the state’s agribusiness is so technically sophisticated, it bears little resemblance to the traditional family farm. Moreover, Iowa’s economic base has expanded and diversified into financial services, telecommunications, and other high technology industries. The state’s economy has clearly moved into the kind of knowledge-based industries that depend on a highly skilled and flexible workforce, fully aware that learning while earning is a lifelong commitment.

Yet, as Iowa’s economy has embraced the future, the state’s role as an educational leader is being challenged. Others have leapfrogged over Iowa by identifying and adopting the kinds of innovations that sustain excellence. Yet, Iowa’s strengths in education are still respected, evidenced by school districts across the country that recruit the teachers trained in Iowa.

At this time of fundamental change, Iowans have an unprecedented opportunity, the kind of opportunity that comes once in a generation or a lifetime, to seize the initiative for educational excellence and economic development. The opportunity is the Iowa CHILD, a project dedicated to creating an extraordinary center for education built within a unique learning environment.

The Iowa CHILD project has two interrelated goals. The first is to create a multifaceted education facility dedicated to the advancement of education and learning, particularly at the primary and secondary level. The second is to build a major engine for economic development by creating an integrated complex of public attractions including a five-acre rainforest, a large aquarium, science exhibits, and a large-format, mixed-media theater and associated commercial facilities. The goals of education and economic development are interrelated not only physically in an unprecedented building complex, but also operationally through carefully and imaginatively designed programs for the proposed teacher and administrator training center, the proposed demonstration school, and related educational offerings. The achievement of these goals is intended to involve students, educators, and others statewide and to provide benefits that extend well beyond the metropolitan region where the project is located, to reach all of Iowa.

Benefits and Feasibility

Educational leaders and experts from across Iowa and around the country have helped create the Iowa CHILD, its goals and programs. With their input, the project has been designed to focus on four areas that are critical to success for education now and in the future. These are (1) an emphasis on learning and critical thinking so that students are prepared to cope with a lifetime of change, (2) the creation of classrooms that promote individualized and customized learning, (3) a focus on teacher training as the critical link between educational reform and innovation and student achievement, and (4) the participation of Iowa communities in the development and advancement of education.

These educators enthusiastically support the Iowa CHILD. They believe that the project “will become a catalyst for creating and sustaining systemic improvement in the effectiveness of public education” in every school district in the state. In addition, they believe the Iowa CHILD can become a national resource for educational excellence.

The project’s economic benefits are substantial and derive from the project’s ability to generate over 1 million visitors annually to the rainforest and other attractions. The Panel received two projections for attendance, revenues, and net income. The lower estimates by the Harrison Price Company are shown at the end of this executive summary. The second estimate of attendance by the Office of Thomas J. Martin is over 30 percent higher. During each of the first 10 years of operations, both consultants estimated annual operating surpluses for the nonprofit components of the project ranging from roughly $200,000 to over $1 million.

During the construction and pre-opening period, $232 million will be spent in Iowa for construction of the entire complex, including retail, office, and hotel space, and another $27 million will be spent in the state for pre-opening activities. As a result of this activity, economic benefits will flow to Iowa. The multiplier effect of this activity will generate $540 million in new expenditures in Iowa for goods and services, $166 million of which will be new wages and salaries, resulting in the equivalent of over 6600 person-years of full-time employment. These expenditures will also generate $7.2 million in state and local taxes.

After opening day, the Panel finds that the nonprofit components of the project will create the equivalent of over 2200 new full-time jobs and $115 million annually in new spending on goods and services in Iowa. The project will also generate $4.6 million annually in tax revenues for local and state government. As a major center for education and research, the Panel believes the Iowa CHILD can spark other, related private development that will exploit proximity to the project, its programs, and its faculty and staff. These qualities will enhance the reputation of Iowa and Cedar Rapids, making the Waterloo/Cedar Falls/Cedar Rapids/Iowa City I-380 corridor a more attractive environment for existing businesses and those looking for new locations.

Project Merits and the Case for Support

The Panel concludes that Iowa wants to regain and sustain its status as America’s leader in education and believes that maintaining this preeminence will require bold action. The Panel has found that the challenges facing this state’s educators are daunting as they try to prepare today’s students for productive lives and, consequently, support Iowa’s economic vitality. In addition, the rate of change in the workplace shows no signs of moderating in the foreseeable or distant future, making the job of educators even more challenging as they must help students cope with an ever changing world.

Led by former Governor Robert Ray, a panel of eight eminent Iowans from across the state has weighed the merits of this proposed project. The Panel unequivocally supports the project. Given the merits of the project for both the State of Iowa and the City of Cedar Rapids, the Panel concludes that the Iowa CHILD merits the active and substantial support of these governments for the capital costs of the project’s nonprofit elements. The Panel also concludes that the Iowa CHILD merits the support of the private and nonprofit sectors and individuals for these capital costs.

The Risks of Inaction

The Iowa CHILD proposal was born out of a growing concern with the challenges faced by education in Iowa as well as a fascination with the abundance of life in the tropical rainforest and its pivotal importance for humanity. While a rainforest seems exotic, Iowa has always had a strong agrarian tradition that recognizes the ultimate interdependence of people and the land. The Iowa CHILD pays homage to that interdependence and the role that education in Iowa has played in supporting an economy based on natural resources.

Given the merits of this proposal, the Panel believes the costs of inaction are forbidding and unacceptable. With inaction, Iowa’s high school graduates will lose the chance to acquire more of the skills they will need to succeed in the rapidly changing world that they will enter. States with more vision and drive will advance, serving their citizens better and proving more attractive to the teachers Iowa trains and the business Iowa wishes to retain and attract.

With inaction, the Panel concludes that an opportunity to transform the tourism industry with an unprecedented public attraction of the highest quality will be lost. The Panel believes that the decision to support and create the proposed Iowa CHILD project is a defining moment for Iowa that comes perhaps once in a lifetime. Iowa must seize this opportunity before it is gone.

This report presents the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of a panel of distinguished Iowans who have studied the merits and feasibility of the Iowa CHILD project. Dedicated to the advancement of education in Iowa and the creation of a major engine for economic development, this proposed project integrates an elementary school and training center for teachers and administrators with major nonprofit public attractions: a large enclosed rainforest, an aquarium, science exhibits, and a large-format, mixed-media theater. The proposed on-site demonstration school and training center for teachers and administrators are integral elements of programs, many interactive, designed to serve the state as a whole. These programs will utilize the existing fiber optic network connecting all Iowa schools. Other proposed programs will bring primary and secondary students, their teachers, and others from around the state to the public attractions for visits of one day to one week or more for study and research. In addition to their science-based entertainment, the rainforest and aquarium will provide substantial opportunities for funded research. The proposed complex will also include for-profit retail, office, and hotel space.

The Panel and Its Charge

Appointed by the Mayor of Cedar Rapids, the Iowa CHILD Study Panel was created to represent a diverse group of Iowans who collectively possessed the requisite qualifications to evaluate the Iowa CHILD project and were drawn from all areas of the state. These qualifications include a familiarity with and understanding of education, cultural institutions, economic development, and the environment and natural resources. As the Iowa CHILD project will also be a major nonprofit organization that will depend on earned revenues to support its operations, the Panel members were also chosen for their abilities to assess issues related to the marketability, capital and operating budgets, financing, governance and organization of the proposed project.

Former Governor Robert Ray of Des Moines chaired the Iowa CHILD Study Panel. The remaining seven members were:

The charge of the Panel, its purpose, can be seen as conducting a two-phased evaluation. The first phase was concerned with the overall merits and feasibility of the project. If the Panel found the project to have merit and to be feasible, then its charge was to assess whether Cedar Rapids was a feasible and viable location, whether state and local support for the project was merited, and how best to proceed with implementation.

The charge can be seen as finding the answers to a series of questions. The first of these questions address the basic merits of the proposed project.

The project is designed to be self-supporting; that is, the income it receives from visitors and other sources is intended to cover all operating expenses. The next charge of the Panel was to test this aspect of the proposal, and its potential given a Cedar Rapids area location.

Based on the benefits in education, economic development and other areas, the Panel was asked to determine whether the project merits the support of the State of Iowa and the City of Cedar Rapids. The Panel was also to consider what the nature of this support might be. The Panel was also asked to provide guidance on other elements that will be required for the project to be successful. These elements relate to finance, organization, and governance.

Major Activities of the Panel

As proposed by the Iowa CHILD Foundation, the Iowa CHILD project has two interrelated goals. The first is to create a multifaceted education facility dedicated to the advancement of education and learning, particularly at the primary and secondary level. The second is to build a major engine for economic development by creating an integrated complex of public attractions including a five-acre rainforest, a large aquarium, science exhibits, and a large-format, mixed-media theater and associated commercial facilities. Together, the project represents an investment in education and learning for people of all ages that provides an ongoing stream of paybacks to Iowa ranging from better trained teachers and improved teaching methods to thousands of new jobs and many millions of dollars of new business for Iowa companies.

The Iowa CHILD proposal was born out of a growing concern for the challenges facing education in Iowa as well as a fascination with the abundance of life in the tropical rainforest. Sponsored by a Des Moines businessman and graduate of Iowa public schools when they were heralded as the nation’s best, the project responds to the critical needs of Iowa business for an intelligent and literate workforce responsive to the unrelenting pace of change that successful companies now face. The most salient quality of the project is its capacity to intertwine a multifaceted program for educational reform with an unprecedented entertainment complex based on our endless fascination with nature and the living world. The project embodies one of the highest goals of education—the realization that there can and should be joy in learning.

The goals of education and economic development are interrelated not only physically in an unprecedented building complex, but also operationally through carefully and imaginatively designed programs for the proposed teacher and administrator training center, the proposed demonstration school, and related educational offerings. The achievement of these goals is intended to involve students, educators, and others statewide and to provide benefits that extend well beyond the metropolitan region where the project is located, to reach all of Iowa.

While the rainforest and aquarium are exotic elements, Iowa has always had a strong agrarian tradition that recognizes the ultimate interdependence of people and the land. The Iowa CHILD pays homage to that interdependence and the role that education in Iowa has played in supporting an economy based on natural resources.

As proposed, the project has the potential to become a magnet for students, educators, and visitors from beyond Iowa. The project’s emphasis on breakthrough developments in instructional and educational science and its creation of an educational facility allowing for direct, experiential learning in the rainforest and aquarium will provide unique opportunities appealing to a very broad range of educators. That same integrated complex of large rainforest, aquarium, and science exhibits will be an unprecedented public attraction that has the potential to restructure the tourism industry in Iowa.

Despite the seriousness of the project’s goals—education and economic development, the Iowa CHILD sponsors believe the project can and should be fun, understanding that learning takes place most easily when we are intrigued and engaged. Moreover, as was suggested by someone after a presentation in Atlantic, Iowa, the Iowa CHILD offers the people of Iowa an opportunity to rally around an educational and fun project.

Proposed Educational Program

“Traditional methods of change in our schools are generally slow and incremental, incapable of creating the bold, new and fundamentally restructured institutions needed to address 21^st century issues.” Dr. Jamie Ferrare, Dean of Education, Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa

The proposed educational program comprises six major elements. Collectively these elements are intended to create and sustain systemic improvement in the effectiveness of education in Iowa. This effectiveness in dramatically enhanced by placing them within a rainforest ecosystem and integrating all six educational offerings with the programs of the rainforest, aquarium, and other public attractions. The six elements are:

1. A statewide teacher/administrator training and development center. The center will work in concert with Iowa’s universities, colleges, community colleges, and area education agencies to create a “leadership academy” offering teacher preparation and continuing education programs focused on leading edge thinking in educational science and brain research. This research is breaking new ground in our understanding of how learning occurs by, for example, applying the ability to identify and map the areas of the brain that are active during learning activities to the question of how best to teach children. The teacher/administrator training and development center is the primary, formal education component of the Iowa CHILD project.

2. Working with local school officials, the Iowa CHILD will develop a demonstration school serving approximately 250 pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students. This school is designed to apply and test state-of-the-practice and innovative instructional methods.

3. For visiting classes and teachers from across the state, the Iowa CHILD will provide facilities and advanced instruction during on-site visits ranging from one day to one week or more. This instruction will utilize the rainforest, aquarium, and other Iowa CHILD resources to provide “hands on” immersion training and direct, experiential learning opportunities.

4. In close coordination with educational and community leaders from all areas of Iowa, the Iowa CHILD will provide individual programming and instructional materials tailored to meet the particular needs of each local school district.

5. Through the use of such advanced, interactive information networks as the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), the complete Iowa CHILD complex will be used as a “virtual Iowa schoolhouse” providing educational programs to students, teachers, and administrators statewide.

6. The rainforest, aquarium, science exhibits, and mixed-media theater will be used to support schools statewide through technical services. These will deliver materials that bring added life and vitality to diverse subjects by providing demonstrations that engage the visual, auditory, and other senses to reinforce and enhance basic instructional methods.

These major elements of the educational program are intended to provide substantial benefits to everyone associated with education in Iowa. These include not only benefits to pre-kindergarten and primary students, but also secondary students who have direct contact with the Iowa CHILD project (and indirectly to the parents of these students). Teacher and administrator training will extend benefits to those responsible for delivering educational services and, again, to the students who receive these services.

“Great teachers learn from great teachers.” Jan Drees, Director, Downtown School, Des Moines, Iowa

The training center for educators will focus on breakthrough developments in instructional methods as well as proven state-of-the-practice educational science. The training programs will be jointly developed with Iowa’s universities, colleges, and community colleges involved in teacher education as well as the state’s area education agencies, providing mutual benefit to all parties involved. The knowledge embedded in these training programs will be conveyed to teachers and administrators as they are embarking on their careers and, through continuing education programs, to educators throughout their careers in Iowa. By training hundreds of teachers and administrators annually, that is, those who will be responsible for bringing education to schools throughout the state, the center will have an impact on students statewide.

The proposed school will work deliberately to demonstrate and refine the latest advances in educational research and development. Ties to the proposed training center and to other centers of educational excellence, ranging from nationally known educational research centers to schools with established reputations for success, will be used to test the best ways to apply the lessons from this broad range of experience to Iowa classrooms. The knowledge gained from the Iowa CHILD demonstration school will be made available to all schools and all teacher education programs in the state.

“The fourth graders of Story City think the Iowa CHILD will be a wonderful school, so they wanted to help. Please accept their gift of $25.00.” Letter from fourth grade students, Story City Elementary School, Story City, Iowa, to the Iowa CHILD Foundation. [Note that all gifts to the Iowa CHILD Foundation have been declined to date.]

One of the most valuable educational aspects of the Iowa CHILD project is the ability of the rainforest and aquarium to serve as learning laboratories for visiting students from all parts of Iowa. Built into the physical and program structures of the project is the idea that educational and learning opportunities will be created for students who can be immersed in a living environment and who can directly experience lessons in unique and compelling ways. Special classroom space has been designed within the rainforest setting for use by visiting students, and accommodations will be available so that extended stays of a week or more will be possible.

While visits to the project will be a powerful teaching and learning tool for Iowa’s educators, the Iowa CHILD will also work to export tailored educational programming to any and all school districts in the state. By coordinating with local educators and community leaders, the Iowa CHILD will work to match the broad array of the project’s potential educational offerings with the needs that any Iowa community has defined. This will be particularly valuable to the over 60 percent of Iowa school districts that now experience declining enrollments. As enrollments decline and budgets are increasingly constrained, these districts find it more and more difficult to develop new curricula and coursework. By matching its capabilities in a broad range of subjects, the Iowa CHILD can provide new materials to these districts, helping teachers maintain the freshness and vitality of their courses. Whether done in concert with a visit to the project or as a standalone effort, these tailored services can benefit all Iowa schools. By providing a benefit unavailable in any other state, the Iowa CHILD should also help to retain teachers in rural and more urban school districts.

One resource that the project will exploit is the existing fiber optic network that already interconnects each Iowa school. By tying the rainforest and aquarium into this network and taking advantage of other communications technology, the staff and facilities of the project’s public attractions will become part of a “virtual Iowa schoolhouse” offering interactive programming that reaches into classrooms across the state. This can be particularly helpful to rural school districts, often faced with decreasing enrollments and strapped for resources. These districts will be able to tap into the teaching and educational resources of the Iowa CHILD on the same basis as every other school district in the state. As a result they will be able to share in the leading edge technologies and the innovative offerings available through the “virtual Iowa schoolhouse.” These capabilities will create a valuable opportunity to distribute the benefits of the project broadly and significantly increase the flow of information and knowledge to rural schools.

By working with the project’s teacher and administrator training center, educators from Iowa’s school districts, and others, the Iowa CHILD will exploit opportunities to make lessons now based on the printed page and other standard educational tools come alive. There will be untold opportunities to use the project’s biological collections, science exhibits, ongoing research, and faculty and staff to reinforce, enhance, and extend the lessons now being given to Iowa’s children in physical science, math, environmental studies, and other topics.

In the longer run, all of these educational offerings are intended to provide Iowa’s children with a superior education and leave them well prepared for a lifetime of learning. This is not only highly consistent with Iowa’s historical role as a leader in American education, but also critical to the viability of Iowa’s economic future. As the state evolves from its agriculturally dependent past to the more diversified economy of the 21^st century, lifelong learning will be the cornerstone of any viable and vibrant economy. This idea of education as learning is woven into the fabric of all the educational programs of the Iowa CHILD.

“I think this venture is the most creative proposal I’ve heard for making Iowa a destination point for tourists.” Dr. Nicholas Tormey, practicing psychotherapist, Des Moines, Iowa

The economic development goal of the project will be realized through the creation of interrelated, learning-based public attractions operating as a combined nonprofit entity. The signature facility will be a five-acre enclosed rainforest containing an extensive biological collection of tropical plants and animals. Integral with the rainforest is a large-scale aquarium generally comparable in size to the aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Throughout the rainforest and aquarium will be science exhibits, many interactive, offering added information and enhancing visitors’ experiences. The third major component will be a large-format, mixed-media theater capable of presenting two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and virtual reality films as well as presentations using computer-controlled, multi-media projections on the screen, lectures, and other special events.

Ancillary to these major attractions will be three types of commercial development. Retail, office, and hotel space will be physically incorporated into the public attractions.

As proposed, the public attractions are expected to generate a substantial volume of economic activity. Following an initial period of higher attendance, annual attendance is projected to stabilize in a range of up to 1.8 million visitors annually with the most likely level of attendance of 1.4 million annual visitors. These visitors will generate an estimated $24 million in operating revenue for the Iowa CHILD project, providing operating surpluses ranging from $0.5 million to $1.2 million during the first 10 years of operation.

Based on the $59 million in expenditures for food, lodging, and other items these visitors will make each year at the Iowa CHILD complex as well as elsewhere in Iowa during their visits, a range of economic benefits will flow to Iowa. Each year, these include $115 million in new expenditures for goods and services, $35 million in new wages and salaries, and the equivalent of over 2200 new full-time jobs. These impacts are all dependent upon the existence of the Iowa CHILD and will not occur in the absence of the project.

In addition to the measurable economic impacts, the proposed project generates a range of benefits that are harder to quantify. Learning-based attractions of the type proposed by the Iowa CHILD Foundation have been the most successful cultural facilities built in the U.S. in recent years. The scale of the proposed attraction provides the kind of critical mass that can become an impetus for additional economic development as new activities exploit the opportunities created by the proposed project.

The project will have a substantial impact of the quality of life for the metropolitan region where it will be located and for the state as a whole. Quality of life, as evidenced by museums and science-based attractions, has become a standard criterion in business location and relocation decisions. The ability to attract and retain a qualified workforce from production workers to senior executives can be measurably affected by the quality of community life an area provides. This can be particularly true for senior managers and executives who frequently operate in a national labor market.

Proposed Organization and Governance

The central organization for the proposed project will be the nonprofit Iowa CHILD Institute, modeled after the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Audubon Institute in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Iowa CHILD Institute will own and operate the core cultural facilities, that is, the rainforest, aquarium, science exhibits, and large-format, mixed-media theater. The Smithsonian Institution and Audubon Institute have demonstrated success in overseeing a collection of cultural, scientific, and educational institutions and have shown the substantial advantages of integrated ownership and management.

Governing the Iowa CHILD Institute will be a board of 15 to 20 members selected to represent the corporate, educational, and philanthropic leadership of Iowa. The chief executives of the local and state governments making substantial contributions to the capital funding of the project will be represented on an ex officio basis. Given the very real potential of federal funding for educational and other research, the board will also include a small number of nationally known experts in education, tropical studies, and other core areas of interest. The board will be reimbursed for its travel and other out-of-pocket expenses, but will otherwise receive no compensation.

To assure that the Institute remains focused on its mission, the board will create two committees from its membership. The Executive Committee will work closely with the full-time professional chief executive and operating leadership of the Iowa CHILD Institute to assure that the overall management is effective. To assure that the overall project adheres to its educational mission and maximizes the potential for synergy within the project, the Education Committee will be charged with overseeing all Iowa CHILD educational programs and offerings.

Day-to-day operations of the Iowa CHILD Institute will be the responsibility of a chief executive who will report to the governing board. The chief executive will direct a professional staff responsible for managing the core cultural facilities.

The Iowa CHILD project will include a public school on site and integrated with the public attractions. One option for organizing this demonstration school meriting consideration would be administration by the area education agency. The school created by the Iowa CHILD project will serve the surrounding region and will select students by lottery.

While the formal administration of the school will be separate from the rest of the Iowa CHILD, the school’s faculty and staff will work closely with the staff of the rainforest, aquarium, and science exhibits as well as the teacher/administrator training center. This coordination will serve not only the immediate needs and objectives of the school, but will also support the training center, the “virtual Iowa schoolhouse” and other educational offerings of the overall Iowa CHILD project.

The Iowa CHILD proposal has been developed and sponsored by the Iowa CHILD Foundation, an Iowa-based, nonprofit charitable corporation, funded by Ted Townsend. In the spring of 1996, the Foundation commissioned an initial feasibility and master planning study by A.T. Kearney. This work involved visits to over 25 schools, museums, zoos, rainforests, aquariums, and science centers. During that initial effort, a panel of experts from these facilities also met to review and critique the conceptual plan for the project. Out of that initial work came plans for the “world’s ideal environment for early childhood education.”

A second phase began in early 1998 when the architecture and design firm, Cambridge Seven Associates, developed a plan for an integrated facility housing a school, training center for teachers and administrators, rainforest, aquarium, and science exhibits. Based on the experience of comparable facilities, the Cambridge Seven work incorporated development and operational activities and included estimates of capital and operating costs. The plan also incorporated a large-format theater and ancillary commercial development. In parallel with this design work, the Office of Thomas J. Martin, an economic and management consulting firm, was engaged to test and refine earlier assessments of the markets, revenues and financial feasibility of the project. As was true of the earlier work, this second phase of planning assumed that the project would be located in the Des Moines area. Subsequently, business and community leaders in the Des Moines area decided to concentrate their resources on the creation of a sports arena and expanded convention center. The focus has since shifted to the Cedar Rapids area.

With a detailed design and operating plan and a positive assessment of project feasibility, the Foundation has continued to work with experts in the fields of education and early child development, museum curators, architects, economic consultants, and others to discuss and refine plans for the project.

To assess the merits of the proposed programs and facilities, the Panel relied on consulting firms and experts to review, update, and critique the plans. These experts tended to focus on either the educational aspects of the proposal or the economic development aspects of the proposed project for a location in the Cedar Rapids area.

The Panel was able to discuss the Iowa CHILD proposal with educational experts from across Iowa and from other centers of educational practice and research in the country. Each expert had his or her own perspective, but consistently shared a concern with the current status of education and teacher preparation, particularly given the challenges now faced by American education.

“The educational and scientific potential of the Iowa CHILD project is vast. Call upon me to help wherever I can.” Dr. Dick Ryan, President, Des Moines University, Des Moines, Iowa

The challenges are myriad. The globalization of the economy and explosive growth in technology have radically changed the world of work in just a few years. By extension these changes will only accelerate the rate of change in the workplace of the future. Despite these upheavals, the U.S. Department of Labor found that the education system has barely begun to recognize these changes, much less prepare students for them. Ted Stillwell declared that Iowa elementary students have shown a steady decline in reading competence for many years, with competence in math among these youngest students seemingly ready to copy this trend. Traditional methods of change in schools are seen by many educators as incremental and simply incapable of responding to the scope and pace of change in the world that students enter after graduation. When the amount of knowledge increases at the current rapid pace and tomorrow’s workers will fill jobs that do not exist today, the fundamental purpose of education must be learning, not the mechanical absorbing of present knowledge.

“While achievement scores of today’s high-school students have remained high, without drastic intervention our current elementary students will not be as successful when they reach school. Fewer students will enjoy as bright a future and economic expansion will be limited.” Ted Stilwill, Director, Iowa Department of Education, Des Moines, Iowa

The educational leaders and experts shared a belief that teachers are the critical link in school and education reform. The ability to train and retain teachers who are thoughtful and innovative thus becomes a key to improving education. In response to the proposed center for training teachers and administrators—the first priority of the Iowa CHILD project, these experts felt that this aspect of the proposal was key. A roundtable of Iowa educational leaders found that “Iowa CHILD will offer a world-class professional teacher/administrator/community development center, located within a unique and powerful rainforest eco-system.” By preparing teachers and communities, this training center provides “the capacity to effect systemic change.”

The educational leaders and experts consulted by the Panel were concerned that education, particularly for pre-primary and primary students, was not taking advantage of new discoveries in brain research and neuroscience that shed light on effective teaching methods and programs. At the same time, they believed that the Iowa CHILD project was clearly driven by such research. These educational experts found the proposed project “ideal for teaching, researching, and supporting curriculum based on contemporary brain research.” A similar view was expressed by researchers at Project Zero, a consortium of innovative schools organized by Harvard University. Project Zero leaders found that the Iowa CHILD proposal was a “catalyst for reform” of education based on “improved educational curriculum that is founded upon contemporary brain research.”

Similarly, the educational experts who reviewed the Iowa CHILD education proposal endorsed the anticipated links between the teacher/administrator training center and demonstration school with other schools and organizations that are defining excellence in education. These include individual schools with national reputations (e.g., Downtown School, Des Moines; New City School, St. Louis; and Nueva School, Hillsborough, California). Research organizations are also helping to define the leading edge in elementary and secondary education (e.g., Harvard’s Project Zero; FAST Tracks, Seattle; Georgia State University Language Research Center of Atlanta).

The educational experts who reviewed the Iowa CHILD proposal further endorsed the project because of its ability to support two additional key reforms and changes in education. The first is the development of individual and customized learning environments for students, as opposed to “factory” environments where students passively absorb lectures. The Iowa CHILD project will promote learning based on problem solving by students individually and in teams encouraged by teachers who facilitate the students’ largely self-directed efforts. This is learning by doing, experientially in an unprecedented setting.

The second is the substantial role proposed for communities in the Iowa CHILD’s educational programming. By reinserting communities into the educational equation, the Iowa CHILD will facilitate that network of school-business-community that is considered vital to the ability of schools to respond to the rapidly evolving world of work. The educational leaders and experts found the Iowa CHILD’s proposals to exploit interactive technology such as Iowa’s fiber optic network and to work directly with community leaders to identify specific local needs were directly aimed at the need to involve communities more closely in school development and reform.

The educational experts contacted by the Panel underscored the value of the Iowa CHILD’s fundamental approach to educational change. There is a clear sense of urgency in the critiques of current educational systems and the problems education faces. Particularly given the historic preeminence of Iowa in education and the state’s current challenges in maintaining educational leadership, these experts support a quantum effort at change so that Iowa can regain and sustain that leadership.

“We believe that the project will be more than an economic engine for Cedar Rapids and Iowa. We believe Iowa CHILD will be a distinctive icon, a landmark statement worthy of recognition, locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.” Conceptual Re-Design & Site Evaluations: Iowa Child, Chermayeff, Sollugub and Poole, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts

In response to a proposed location in the Cedar Rapids area, the plans for the overall facility developed by Cambridge Seven Associates were updated and refined by Chermayeff, Sollugub and Poole, Inc. (CSP). CSP is a design and development firm started by the same principals who had done the initial Iowa CHILD work for Cambridge Seven Associates. These principals have been responsible for the design and development work at aquariums in Boston, Baltimore, and Chattanooga in this country and in Genoa, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; and Osaka, Japan. Without exception these projects have become well known symbols for their communities and have exceeded expectations as drivers of economic development and community change.

The design created by CSP envisions an unprecedented complex of facilities that replicates a complete rainforest ecosystem and includes an aquarium—all enclosed within a large glass pavilion. This pavilion also houses the project’s educational facilities. Finally, integrated with these major program elements in the pavilion are a large-format, mixed-media theater and related commercial space.

The rainforest ecosystem includes a five-acre forest reaching 150 feet in height and an aquarium comparable in size to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. The size, scope, and complexity of the proposed rainforest and aquarium exhibit are unequalled in the world and will present visitors with an extraordinary window on a rainforest—the most complex ecosystem known to man. The physical complex will encompass a diversity of animal and plant collections based on tropical rainforests and river basins, including primates, other mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and fish as well as the related array of plant life from grasses and flowers to main canopy trees.

“…the direct experience to be offered by the Iowa CHILD plan, full of fun and unexpected encounters, should be as unique as the structure itself.” Gerald Holton, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and Professor of the History of Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

According to CSP, this type of experience—immersion in the most vibrant part of the rainforest and in a complete rainforest-river ecosystem—is unavailable anywhere in the world outside of the rainforest itself. The complexity, unpredictability, and length of the typical visitor experience are designed to reinforce the economic development potential of the project by encouraging return visits. Longer visits also encourage greater spending by visitors as well as trips by those more distant from the facility.

Without recommending a specific site, CSP evaluated locations in downtown Cedar Rapids as well as along I-380 between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. The site selection criteria developed by CSP included the following.

According to CSP, of the sites surveyed, a location on the I-380 corridor in the southern section of Cedar Rapids will be best suited to these criteria. Such a location was seen as offering the project an extraordinary opportunity to serve the state and the Cedar Rapids region as an economic development engine, an educational resource and center, and an architectural landmark. This location will also serve as a gateway to Cedar Rapids, a stimulus to growth south of Cedar Rapids, and as the centerpiece of new development along the I-380 corridor between Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.

The work by CSP provided sufficient detail in architecture and engineering, exhibit and program development, total project operations, and the technical issues and technology required by the project to estimate capital and operating costs. These costs and the scale of the project’s major nonprofit components are shown in the following table. Estimated costs are also grounded in the almost four decades of related development experience of the CSP principals. Not included in the following table are the estimated areas and costs for the commercial space devoted to retail, office, and lodging activities.

Using the information developed by CSP, the Office of Thomas J. Martin (Martin) revised and updated its analysis of project feasibility. Based on its ability to attract visitors and revenues, Martin concluded that this project is feasible. Attendance will be substantial. And project revenues from these visitors and other sources were estimated to exceed operating costs in each of the first 10 years of the Iowa CHILD’s operations.

Consistent with the experience of almost every similar facility in the U.S., this conclusion assumes that capital costs are not dependent on operating revenues. Rather, capital costs are paid from other sources, public and private, so that the facility opens without debt.

Martin’s analysis was also based on certain assumptions about the facility itself. The principal assumptions were that

In evaluating the tourism market for the Iowa CHILD, Martin described both resident and visitor markets. By 2004, the earliest date the project could open, the total resident market is estimated at 3.4 million residents with 34 percent of these residents in the primary resident market (i.e., within the 75 miles of the site) and the remaining 66 percent in the secondary market ( i.e., from 75 to 150 miles of the site). About one in five of these residents is a school-aged child, an important market for the project. This concentration of students as well as adults over 50 years of age—another important market—coupled with moderately high income levels indicated a strong market for the Iowa CHILD among regional residents.

The total tourism market for Iowa in 1998 was 18 million visitors, an 8.4 percent increase over the preceding two years. The Cedar Rapids region’s tourism industry has been growing with travel spending increasing 13 percent from 1994 to 1998 and travel-related employment growing 14 percent in the same period. The largest tourism destination in the region—Amana Colonies—draws an estimated 1 million visitors annually, and a number of other area attractions are increasing attendance.

To project attendance and revenues for the Iowa CHILD, Martin evaluated the experience of other large and similar facilities such as the Doorly Zoo in Omaha, the Cleveland zoo, aquariums in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Monterey, California, and Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas which includes an enclosed rainforest and separate aquarium. A second set of comparisons looked at similar facilities in smaller resident markets similar in size to the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area. These facilities provided information for Martin’s development of an array of Iowa CHILD ticket prices depending on the exhibits visited. Similarly, comparable experience provided the bases for estimating the percentage of residents who will visit the project annually and the ratio of resident visitors to tourist visitors.

Using comparable facilities and regions, Martin provided a low and high estimate of annual visitors. Because the opening of a new facility generates great local interest, Martin’s baseline estimate was for the fourth year of operations when attendance had stabilized after the initial surge in attendance. Martin’s range of attendance for that fourth year was 1,100,000 to 1,758,000 visitors with a mid-point estimate of 1,429,000 visitors. This is the lowest attendance over the first 10 years of operation according to Martin’s estimates.

Again, based on comparable facilities, Martin developed estimates of ticket and other revenues. Other revenues, which account for one-third of total revenues, are derived from the sale of memberships as well as the net proceeds from food and gift shop sales. Income for the project will also come from fees for the overnight education program, rental of the facility during off-hours to groups or companies, donations and gifts, corporate memberships, funded research, and other miscellaneous sources. The revenues estimated by Martin do not include any proceeds from the commercial, for-profit activities (i.e., retail, office, hotel) also envisioned as a part of the Iowa CHILD project.

Using operating expense data generated by CSP, Martin estimated net income annually for the first 10 years of the project. The pattern over that period is for attendance, revenues, and income to peak in the first year when curiosity among local residents and frequent visitors to the area is highest. Attendance, revenues, and income then decline until roughly the fourth year when operations stabilize. At this point attendance begins to slowly build again as the Iowa CHILD’s reputation and attractiveness extend farther out into the marketplace and as the facility becomes a destination in and of itself drawing new visitors to the area. By the tenth year of operation, visitation has slowly, but steadily grown as have revenues and net income. The table below captures the three points of the curve that define attendance, revenues, and net income in the first ten years—Year 1 when all three peak, Year 4 when attendance, revenues, and net income reach a low level, and Year 10 after a slow, but consistent period of growth.

It is important to emphasis that Martin’s projections show operating surpluses in each of the first 10 years of operations. After 10 years, the accumulated surpluses total $8.2 million. Martin presents all financial data in current year dollars reflecting the impacts of inflation over time and are not directly comparable to the estimates by the Harrison Price Company (HPC), which are in constant year 2000 dollars. HPC also evaluated the feasibility of the project on behalf of the Panel and its work is summarized later in this section of the report.

The final aspect of Martin’s assessment of the economics of the Iowa CHILD project is an estimate of the economic benefits that the project creates for the state and the Cedar Rapids region. These impacts derive from the one-time stimulus of the project’s construction and then from the ongoing operation of the facility. Both construction and operation bring spending to the region and the state that will otherwise not occur. These expenditures range from concrete for the building to office supplies and pencils for the teacher/administrator training center. As those who receive these expenditures spend and re-spend these monies in the region and the state, an economic multiplier effect unfolds that creates new spending on goods and services, new income for the state’s workers, and new jobs. The spending of wages creates further demand for goods and services locally and statewide.

The following table summarizes the initial direct spending for project construction and pre-opening activities as well as the total economic impacts and benefits created statewide in Iowa. Pre-opening activities cover a range of post-construction tasks as exhibits are developed and start-up activities are completed. The bulk of these impacts occur in Linn County and the Cedar Rapids area. All impacts occur during a period of about five years.

Once the project is operational, visitors begin to bring new spending to Iowa and the Cedar Rapids area. Some visitor expenditures would have been made in Iowa in the absence of the Iowa CHILD facility, but most would not. This spending occurs both at Iowa CHILD and elsewhere for food, lodging, and other goods and services. The table below summarizes the impacts in the fourth year of operation once conditions have stabilized for the state of Iowa. Unlike the one-time impacts from construction and pre-opening, these impacts occur each year. As these benefits are based on the year with lowest attendance, they represent the lower bound of ongoing economic benefits from the project.

Martin also estimated the generation of tax revenues that will flow from the project’s construction and operation. These estimates are shown in the following tables. The first provides estimates of the one-time tax revenue generated during the roughly five-year period of construction and pre-opening activities. The second table presents the annual tax revenue during operations; these benefits are ongoing.

In addition to the quantifiable benefits, Martin identifies a number of more qualitative benefits from the project. Given the scale of the project, it will have sufficient critical mass to encourage nearby development and economic activity. The Iowa CHILD thus becomes an anchor for a growing business/visitor location. Such patterns of private investment following this type of major facility are well established.

Moreover, the quality of life for Iowa and area residents and the image of Iowa and the Cedar Rapids area are dramatically improved by the Iowa CHILD project. This becomes a factor in long-term economic development as it improves the ability of Iowa and the Cedar Rapids area to retain and attract industry and business. Business is increasingly concerned with quality-of-life factors when recruiting workers and particularly senior executives.

“The proposed Iowa CHILD project has the strong promise of full financial self-sufficiency…should contribute measurably to the enrichment of youngsters and families throughout Iowa as well as visitors from around the country and abroad…pays a deserved tribute to Iowa’s leadership in education, and furnishes an outstanding showcase for the beauty and wonder of the natural world.” FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS OF THE IOWA CHILD PROJECT: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Harrison Price Company, San Pedro, California

As a check on the work done by CSP and Martin, the Panel engaged the Harrison Price Company (HPC) to prepare an analysis that reexamined the economic performance of the Iowa CHILD project and furnished basic physical capacity guidelines. In conducting this work, HPC had access to all work done on the project by CSP, Martin, and others.

By creating a replica of a tropical rainforest ecosystem, HPC found that the Iowa CHILD was a bold departure from typical cultural and entertainment facilities. This distinctiveness is reinforced by the project’s mission “to position Iowa in the vanguard of a new frontier of early childhood education that seeks to transcend conventional education with more direct, experiential learning that dissolves the barrier between the textbook and the real world.”

Based on the design concept and program activities described in the CSP reports, but using its own interpretation of comparable experience and its own professional judgment, HPC estimated that the project will most likely generate a somewhat lower level of attendance than that estimated by Martin. This estimated attendance, however, is still well within the range of feasibility. HPC estimated a substantially larger market within a 150-mile radius of Cedar Rapids—5.2 million people by 2004—than did Martin—3.4 million people. Conversely, HPC estimated a smaller pool of school age children within “reasonable field trip distance” of the project—257,000 students. For the tourist market, HPC estimated 3.5 million overnight visitors to east central Iowa by 2004. From these markets, HPC projected a most likely annual attendance of just over 1 million visitors at stabilization although under more optimistic assumptions, this attendance could rise to 1.25 million.

Because of the lower estimated attendance and different assumptions about parking needs, HPC projected a substantially smaller need for parking spaces—1540 car spaces for the most likely scenario compared to the 4000 car spaces and 100 bus spaces estimated by CSP and Martin. This reduced parking need would also reduce capital costs by $5.2 million.

Demographically, HPC found both regional and tourist markets to be solid, mainstream, affluent populations well suited to the proposed project. While not huge, HPC believes the markets to be of sufficient size and demographic quality to support the Iowa CHILD at its proposed scale and level of investment.

Because of the relatively small size of the market, HPC felt an aggressive marketing and promotion was imperative. Accordingly, HPC suggested a reallocation of the proposed operating budget to reduce certain administrative activities and greatly increase marketing expenditures. Overall, HPC projected a significantly lower operating budget than did CSP.

Using the ticket prices developed by Martin and its own judgment on other sources of revenue, HPC projected overall revenues for the project over the first 10 years of operation. HPC’s assumptions for non-ticket revenue are somewhat different from those used by Martin. Nonetheless, like Martin, HPC projects about one-third of revenues are derived from non-ticket revenues.

Putting together revenue and expenditure projections, HPC finds the Iowa CHILD generates a modest surplus in each year of its first 10 operating years. These surpluses are significantly smaller than those projected by Martin, yet still total $2.2 million over the first 10-year period of operations.

The table below combines HPC’s attendance, revenue, expenses, and net income estimates for the planning (i.e., most likely) scenario for three selected years. These years—Year 1, Year 3, and Year 10—define the trends of these factors over time. For HPC, Year 3 is the first stable year after the initial surge in attendance. After Year 3 attendance, revenues, expenses, and net income all rise consistently. HPC presents all financial data in constant year 2000 dollars. Thus, these estimates are not directly comparable to the data presented by Martin.

HPC concludes that Iowa CHILD “has the strong promise of full financial self-sufficiency” and “should contribute measurably to the enrichment of youngsters and families throughout Iowa as well as visitors from around the country and abroad.” HPC goes on to state that the Iowa CHILD project “represents a complementary and synergistic addition to the regional attractions inventory, pays a deserved tribute to Iowa’s leadership in education, and furnishes an outstanding showcase for the beauty and wonder of the natural world.”

4. The Panel’s Findings
As charged by the City of Cedar Rapids, the Panel was asked to identify the benefits associated with the project and to determine whether the Iowa CHILD project is feasible and whether its location in Cedar Rapids was advised. If feasible, the Panel was then asked to determine whether the merits of the project warranted the active support of the State of Iowa and the City of Cedar Rapids.

“Your plans for an Iowa CHILD exhibit are of great importance not only with respect to tropical forests but also as a general metaphor and stimulus for innovative education.” Thomas E. Lovejoy, Counselor to the Secretary for Biodiversity & Environmental Affairs, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

The Panel finds that the Iowa CHILD project will provide an array of educational, economic, and other benefits to Iowa and the Cedar Rapids area. These benefits are uniquely tied to the specific characteristics of the project and would not otherwise be available either to Iowa or Cedar Rapids.

The educational benefits derive from the ability of the project to respond to some of the most critical problems facing education today by applying leading edge concepts in educational and brain research. By placing the educational offerings in a rainforest ecosystem, the project creates unprecedented opportunities for students and educators throughout Iowa to learn in direct, experiential ways that will add dramatically to students ability to visualize what they are learning and retain this knowledge for the long term.

By concentrating on educational research and instructional methods that are tied to brain research and other innovations, the proposed teacher/administrator training center will place Iowa’s educators securely on the leading edge of education. The center will provide continuous skill improvement and professional development for the state’s educators already in the workforce as well as hone the clinical training of those students preparing for careers in education. The training center will also help Iowa retain its current educational workforce, stopping the export of critical educational resources from the state. As educational experts have identified teachers as the key to improving education and reaching students, this benefit is vital.

The Panel finds that the proposed demonstration school will provide an effective means of identifying, applying, testing, and refining the latest research in education and early childhood development. As this research seems to be providing revelations about the scientific basis of learning and child development at an astonishing rate, the school will play the vital role of applying this new knowledge to real world classrooms and of helping to determine how best to use these advances. As these applications move from the development stage and are demonstrated to be viable and valuable, they can be confidently used across the state. By connecting the Iowa CHILD demonstration school to the statewide fiber optic network, the Panel believes the benefits generated by the demonstration school can be effectively shared with schools throughout Iowa in an expeditious manner. By continuing Iowa’s focus upon natural resources and the environment, the Panel believes the learning process is enhanced in a manner highly consistent with the state’s heritage of commitment to its natural surroundings.

Through other proposed educational programs that potentially link the Iowa CHILD project with all Iowa schools, educators, and students, the Panel finds that the proposal can be a catalyst for systemic change and improvement in Iowa educational systems. The proposed project holds the promise of becoming a substantial educational resource for all of Iowa and returning Iowa to national prominence in the field of education.

“As a former school board member, I know the many challenges that our young people are facing. I believe the Iowa CHILD would be a valuable resource for children and adults of all ages and backgrounds. I’m thrilled and excited this project is happening in Iowa.” Jacquie Easley, Former Board Member, Des Moines Independent Community School District, Des Moines, Iowa

The project’s economic benefits are compelling. On an ongoing basis, the Panel finds that the project will create over 2200 new jobs in Iowa and will generate $115 million in new spending on goods and services in the state. The project will also generate $4.6 million annually in tax revenues for state and local government.

During the roughly five years of construction and pre-opening activities, the Iowa CHILD will generate $540 million in new spending on Iowa goods and services including $166 million in new wages and salaries for Iowa workers. This spending will also create over 6600 person-years of full-time employment. During this construction and pre-opening period, the project will also generate $7.2 million in state and local tax revenues.

The scale and quality of the Iowa CHILD will also generate other less quantifiable benefits. The Panel believes the physical complex can become a recognized landmark associated with Iowa’s leadership in education and learning-based cultural facilities. As a major center for education and research, the Panel believes the Iowa CHILD can spark other, related private development that will exploit proximity to the project, its programs, and its faculty and staff. These qualities will enhance the reputation of Iowa and Cedar Rapids, making a more attractive environment for existing businesses as well as those looking for new locations.

Based on the review of the project by CSP, Martin, and HPC, the Panel finds that the Iowa CHILD is a feasible project with substantial potential to be financially self-sufficient. The Panel believes that the estimated attendance figures and projected operating finances are based on sound reasoning and the experience of other major projects and facilities that are similar to the proposed Iowa CHILD project.

The Panel believes the project should operate in the black, generating an operating surplus that can fund the kind of capital improvements that are critical to maintaining the freshness and appeal of public attractions like the Iowa CHILD. As a result, the Panel finds that the project should not require ongoing operating subsidies

A location along the I-380 corridor in the southern section of Cedar Rapids that meets the selection criteria set forth by CSP would support the project and is viable. The Panel believes there is a substantial market for visitors from the residents of east central Iowa and from tourists who currently come to and through this part of Iowa. The Panel believes this is a conservative judgment because it is based solely on current resident and visitor markets. Comparable facilities have shown an ability to draw new visitors and have changed the basic visitor market in their locations. The viability of the Cedar Rapids location is not based on an increase in the size of the existing tourism market.

This location would provide the necessary access for the wide variety of resident and tourists that the project will attract. The Panel also finds that the project could become a recognized landmark for Iowa’s commitment to educational excellence and for the Cedar Rapids area.

“To pass on this chance to put Iowa and Cedar Rapids at the very pinnacle of education research, teacher training, and early childhood development would be a grave mistake. I will not let our children grow up in a community that thinks small and looks to the past.” Lee R. Clancey, Mayor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The Panel has found that local government and civic leaders in the Cedar Rapids area are substantially committed to the project. This commitment has been evidenced in several ways.

First of all, the Mayor of the City of Cedar Rapids created this Panel and secured the funds to test the feasibility of the project. The Mayor has also stated publicly and clearly that if the Panel determines that the Iowa CHILD project is feasible and that Cedar Rapids is a viable location for the project, she will make the Iowa CHILD project her highest priority.

Local commitment has also been shown by the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber’s President has been an active participant at several Panel meetings and has led efforts to contact and bring together a nucleus of business leaders in Cedar Rapids to support the project. Acting on indications of interest and support, this group has begun to meet and plan how to take the project to its next phase and has begun a specific business plan to develop the Iowa CHILD project in the Cedar Rapids area. The Chamber jointly with the Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has also hired a lobbyist to facilitate the securing of state funding.

Both the Mayor and the Chamber have made a commitment to secure the land for the project. They have stated that a mechanism has been established to proceed with purchase of the host parcel of land, once a final decision on a site consistent with the Panel's selection criteria has been made.

The Panel finds that these actions are consistent with its basic charge to determine project feasibility and the viability of a location in the Cedar Rapids area. It is not within the scope of the Panel’s charge nor does it have the means nor the time to identify a local constituency and or create a business plan. The grant creating this panel declared that the intentions of the City of Cedar Rapids were to look to the Panel for an initial evaluation, which if favorable would then trigger the subsequent implementation plan activities by the city.

The Iowa CHILD Study Panel concludes that Iowa wants to regain its status as America’s leader in education and believes that reestablishing this preeminence will require bold action. The Panel has found that the challenges facing this state’s educators are daunting as globalization and technology transform every aspect of daily life. The rate of change is accelerating now and shows no signs of moderating in the foreseeable or distant future.

As a result, the Panel believes the costs of inaction are forbidding and unacceptable. With inaction, Iowa’s high school graduates will lose the chance to obtain more of the fundamental skills they will need to succeed in the rapidly changing world after graduation. At the same time, states with more vision and drive will advance, serving citizens better and proving more attractive to the teachers Iowa trains and the business Iowa wishes to retain and attract.

The Panel concludes that the Iowa CHILD project offers this state a bold vision and response to these challenges. The integration of the project’s educational programs with the rainforest ecosystem provide an extraordinary learning environment and will create an exceptional center for educational research and innovation. This will propel the state to the front ranks of education and attract the attention and collaboration of leading educators from across the country.

The Panel concludes that the Iowa CHILD will add substantially to the tourism economy of the state as a whole and the Cedar Rapids region. The project has the potential to transform the recreational industry in Iowa by creating an unprecedented attraction. Because of its size, the project can create a critical mass of activity that becomes not only a destination in and of itself, but also an impetus for additional, related development.

Overall, the Panel believes the merits of this vision are excellent and offer the students, educators, and citizens of Iowa the opportunity to make a quantum leap forward. This progress will help Iowa regain and sustain the lead in education and redefine the state as a tourist attraction

The Panel believes that the Cedar Rapids area has offered clear and significant evidence of commitments to active support of the Iowa CHILD. This can be readily seen in Mayor Lee R. Clancey’s public statements supporting the project and indicating its priority within her administration. A prime example of this is the commitment Cedar Rapids has made to secure a site for the project. The city has been working with a third party that can acquire a site on the city’s behalf. The Chamber and other key business leaders have expressed support and interest and have begun to plan for project implementation. Moreover, the Chamber and key business leaders have made a substantial commitment to work with state legislators to secure funding for the project.

Accordingly, the Panel endorses the Cedar Rapids area as the project’s location and believes this location will promote the creation of the project, help assure its success, and increase its beneficial impacts for all of Iowa. It is beyond the scope and resources of the Panel to generate local commitment or a business plan for project implementation. Nonetheless, the Panel strongly encourages the city leadership to act affirmatively and decisively in support of the Iowa CHILD or lose this very attractive project to others through reticence.

Given the merits of the project for both the State of Iowa and the City of Cedar Rapids, the Panel concludes that the Iowa CHILD merits the active and substantial support of these governments. This public support should be directed at the capital costs of the project.

The Panel believes it imperative that a public-private partnership be created to provide capital financing. The Panel sees merit in following a financing formula of 50 percent state resources and 50 percent local and private resources. The Panel urges state and local decision-makers to give full and fair consideration to adequate and timely funding determinations for the project so that the Iowa CHILD can move forward.

This report has been based in part on a series of reports commissioned by the Panel and summarized below.

· Conceptual Re-Design & Site Evaluations: Iowa Child, December 1999, and Operation Cost Analysis & Concept Design Cost Estimate: Iowa Child, 8 December 1999, Chermayeff, Sollogub, and Poole, Inc.

Chermayeff, Sollogub, and Poole (CSP) is a design and development firm specializing in aquariums and other facilities that maintain biological collections. The principals of CSP have designed three of the most successful U.S. aquariums—Boston, Baltimore, and Tennessee—and others equally or more successful in Japan and Europe. Peter Cermayeff is likely the leading world authority on these types of facilities.

The CSP reports describe in detail the program plan and activities for the proposed Iowa CHILD complex encompassing a five-acre enclosed rainforest integrated with a major aquarium, a multi-media theater, office and retail space, and a hotel. At the center of the program and the physical complex is a demonstration school for K-5 and a teacher/administrator training center. A multi-faceted education, training, and research program is planned to meet statewide needs of students, teachers, and administrators.

The reports provide an architectural, engineering, and operational plan for the complex along with the associated operational and capital costs. Details on the school operation are not included. A location in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls/Cedar Rapids/Iowa City I-380 corridor in the southern section of Cedar Rapids is recommended.

CSP concludes that the project “holds great promise for long-term success.” In addition, CSP states that the project not only “will be more than an economic engine for Cedar Rapids and Iowa,” but also a landmark of national and international stature while making important contributions to education, economic development, and the environment.

· Iowa CHILD Feasibility Evaluation, December 1999, Office of Thomas J. Martin

A frequent collaborator with CSP, the Office of Thomas J. Martin (Martin) is an economic and management consulting firm specializing in cultural and entertainment projects.

Martin addresses attendance and operational finances of the project described in the CSP reports. Martin concludes that the proposed complex will “create a high-quality, stimulating attraction with broad-based appeal” and will be unique in the Nation. Based on a professionally managed facility, Martin estimates stabilized attendance at 1,100,000 to 1,758,000 annual visitors. The mid-range projection is for 1,429,000 visitors once attendance has stabilized. Based on comparable experience and using the mid-range level of visitors, Martin estimates that the facility will generate yearly revenues of $21.8 million to $25.8 million and associated surpluses of $0.5 million to $1.3 million over the first 10 years of operation. Surpluses occur each year.

Harrison Price Company (HPC) and its principals have been engaged in over 3000 market, feasibility, and economic assessments of large cultural and entertainment complexes in the U.S. and abroad. Their work includes all of the site location and economic feasibility studies for Disneyland and Disney World. This work has been conducted for a range of local nonprofit organizations that operate museums, entertainment centers, science centers, and other cultural institutions.

HPC critiqued the work of CSP and Martin for the Iowa CHILD Study Panel and conducted its own assessment of project feasibility. HPC estimated a market of 1.0 million to 1.3 million annual visitors once attendance is stabilized and operating surpluses of $0.2 million each year on annual revenues of $17.1 million to $21.5 million over the first 10 years of operation, based on 1.0 million annual visitors. While disagreeing on some details in the CSP and Martin reports, HPC concluded that the Iowa CHILD project has the “strong promise of full financial self-sufficiency…pays a deserved tribute to Iowa’s leadership in education and furnishes an outstanding showcase for the beauty and wonder of the natural world.”

This report has been based in part on presentations made to the Panel by experts in education, cultural facilities, and other fields. Listed below are those providing testimony to the Panel and others providing information upon which the Panel relied.

Component	Area (square feet)	Cost
Nonprofit components: rainforest, aquarium, science exhibits, large-format theater	577,500	$270,270,000
Surface parking: 4,000 cars & 100 buses	1,480,000	8,880,000
Total capital budget for nonprofit components	2,057,500	$279,150,000

	Year 1	Year 3	Year 10
Attendance	1,203,000	1,046,000	1,121,000
Net revenues	$17.7 million	$15.4 million	$19.3 million
Total expenses	17.5 million	15.2 million	19.1 million
Net income	$0.2 million	$0.2 million	$0.2 million

Activity	One-time impact
Construction/development: direct expenditures in Iowa	$232.3 million
Full-time equivalent jobs: direct construction/development activities	2,291
Pre-opening expenditures in Iowa	$27.0 million
Total direct, indirect, and induced impacts (total multiplier effect)
Expenditures on goods and services	$539.9 million
Full-time equivalent jobs	6,634

Activity	Annual impact
On-site and off-site estimated net new spending	$58.9 million
Total direct, indirect, and induced impacts in Iowa
· Expenditures on goods and services	$115.2 million
· Employment in person-years	2,237

Type of tax	Revenues
One-time tax revenue during construction/pre-opening	$7.2 million
Annual revenue ongoing during nonprofit operations	$4.6 million