Hometown Perry, Iowa Museum and Iowa State Partner to Establish Center to Aid Communities

New Tow/Craft Center in Perry, Iowa, established by ISU's College of Design and Hometown Perry, Iowa museum will offer tools to communities to aid in their development.

Perry, IA (PRWEB) November 22, 2006 -- Hometown Perry, Iowa (HPI), a museum that focuses on the historical impact of small town life, has formed a partnership with Iowa State University's College of Design and Iowa State University Extension to stimulate development of small towns and neighborhoods in the Midwest. Headquartered in Perry, Iowa, the new Center for Town/Craft established by HPI and ISU will serve as a hub for creating and delivering innovative approaches to community development and revitalization.
   
"Our goal at the Center for Town/Craft is to blend traditional and creative ideas and offer the tools to help communities enhance their future development," said Bill Clark, HPI president.

Hometown Perry, Iowa (HPI), the museum that celebrates small-town life, has formed a unique partnership with Iowa State University's College of Design and Iowa State University Extension to benefit small towns and neighborhoods throughout the Midwest.
   
The new Center for Town/Craft is a joint effort between HPI and ISU to help small towns and neighborhoods build a sustainable future. Headquartered in Perry, the Center will be a hub for creating and delivering innovative approaches to community development and revitalization.
   
"Our goal at the Center for Town/Craft is to blend traditional and creative ideas and offer the tools to help communities make a genuine impact on their future," said Bill Clark, president of Hometown Perry, Iowa. "We want to bring people to the table who aren't routinely associated with economic development, but have a specialty that can enhance a community."
   
Town/Craft program plans include symposia featuring experts on small-town sustainability; design forums for local planners, urban designers and policymakers, and community history seminars to help towns build a future based on their past.
   
The Center's storefront approach invites "walk-in" traffic and offers information and tools for planning and revitalization. Here, for example, small-town decision-makers can plug their town into Community Viz, a sophisticated software program and get a 360 degree look at its future.
   
The Center draws on the expertise of each of its collaborative partners. With its focus on small towns and the immigrants who settled them, Hometown Perry, Iowa brings a vast body of social research to the project, along with a model for communities to use their histories to create their future.
   
The ISU College of Design plays an important role in helping communities address quality of life factors such as land and streetscapes, amenities, and aesthetics. ISU Extension publishes and distributes information and provides practical applications to communities throughout its network.
   
The Center for Town/Craft is a unique venue for visiting faculty from ISU to conduct research on a variety of topics including community capacity-building, community leadership, minority populations, and housing design for small towns. In addition, the Center will be home to a studio and exhibition space.
   
The Center will be housed in the historic First National Bank Building across the street from the Carnegie Library Museum. The building is currently being renovated and will open in June 2007.

For more information, call Bill Clark at (515) 465-2518 or email.

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