Return to Nicholas Johnson's Main Web Site www.nicholasjohnson.org

Return to Nicholas Johnson's Coralville Rain Forest Web Site
 
 

Average Folks Made It a Memorable Year

John Carlson

Des Moines Register

December 30, 2005

[Note: This material is copyright by the Des Moines Register, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of the Des Moines Register.]


The year began with such high hopes.

Word came that a spectacular development was being planned for Court Avenue in Des Moines - it's hard to remember exactly what, because there have been so many breathless proposals - and once again, the optimists believed it might actually come off.

Nothing's changed there, of course. No movie theater complex. No downtown grocery store.

The gazillion-dollar-rain-forest- jungle thing that's supposed to attract 1 million - yes, 1 million visitors a year - was all set for Coralville. It fizzled. Now they're trying to kick-start the thing in Des Moines or Dubuque.

* * *