The Oskaloosa Brand Leadership Team is proceeding with city rebranding efforts to make Oskaloosa a tourist destination and to draw more people downtown.

Brand Leadership Team members held a press conference Tuesday morning at the Oskaloosa Chamber and Development Group offices to allay concerns that some people have about the effort.

The Oskaloosa Brand Development team has been working with community development expert Roger Brooks and his team at Roger Brooks International on an action plan since September 2014.

Brooks made an action plan presentation at William Penn University in February that featured a make-over of the city square and the redevelopment of the downtown. Those ideas have stirred concerns with some people.

There is a Save the Osky Bandstand & Square page on Facebook that has been established by people who have been concerned that the city square bandstand would be removed.

“We are not tearing down the bandstand,” BLT member Beth Danowsky said.

“That was never an option,” Oskaloosa Main Street Director Karen Hafner said.

Brooks suggested that the bandstand be moved to the west side of the square to make space for a splash pad/ice skating area and a stage on the east side of the square for concerts.

Some feel the process has been done in secret.

“Throughout the process, we worked hard to get the word out,” BLT member Cathy Stahl said.

“Nothing has been decided,” Oskaloosa City Manager Michael Schrock Jr. said. Any sort of changes to the city square would be a decision for the city council, he added.

“Our job as a community is to bring ideas to policy makers,” Schrock said.

After Brooks’ Feb. 27 presentation, many people stepped forward to volunteer, Danowsky said.

Main Street President Josh Buckingham said that there is wide support for the rebranding effort. The effort has support from 40 different businesses as well as the city of Oskaloosa and Mahaska County. The $80,000 cost of the effort so far has been divided among those 40 businesses as well as a Main Street Challenge Grant, he said.

“It shows potential investors that we are investing in downtown,” Schrock said.

Redeveloping downtown Oskaloosa will take a private-public partnership, Schrock added.

“This has brought all of the community together,” Hafner said. There were more than 1,500 people who answered Brooks’ online survey at the beginning of the process — that is more than anywhere else Brooks has worked, she added.

“It was a true collaboration” between Oskaloosa residents and the Roger Brooks team, Stahl said of the action plan process.

The action plan is not just about redeveloping downtown, Stahl said. There were topics such as the need for signs around the community to direct people to places.

“We made sure it fits our community,” she said of the plan.

What’s next in the process?

The action plan will be reviewed and input will be sent back to Brooks’ organization. A final draft will be sent and people can review it.

Schrock encouraged people to read the plan and tell officials what they like and do not like about it.

“My door is open every day of the week,” Schrock said.

The Brand Leadership Team also is working on a way-finding signage system for the community.

Story by Duane Nollen