Will Iowa get a rain forest?
January 31st, 2008There is still no word on the Iowa rain forest that was supposed to be built by Pella. It was really supposed to increase central Iowa tourism but it can’t do that if it’s never built. I’m starting to think it was just a pipe dream conjured up by someone who wanted to rip off the tax payers and anyone else he could find. There was sixty million dollars of federal monies that was pledged to the project but it seems the developer couldn’t meet the timeline of the goal he had to accomplish. I think most Iowans didn’t want to take the chance of investing because they didn’t believe the place would have the draw to keep it afloat. The original plan was to build it somewhere along interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. If they could have found a place in that location the chances of survival would have been much greater. Thousands of people travel across Iowa on I80 and there would have been a significant amount of draw with the proper signage. It would have been right along the route of many vacationers also, so it would be an easy stop along the way. I guess the developer just needs to get his act together.