Waterloo Bowl-Inn operated along a key gateway into downtown Waterloo for nearly 40 years. The alley closed in the early 1990s remaining vacant for a decade until being demolished in 2002. The underutilized lot has since served as temporary overflow parking for hockey games during winter months. Numerous issues, including environmental uncertainties, stymied any efforts to redevelop the property into a higher and better use.
Project Funding Sources
$1,000,000
Black Hawk County Gaming Association
Project Timeline
04.2016 | ARTICLE
HCC Board approves purchase of former Waterloo Bowl-In site.
02.2017 | ARTICLE
Plans for new urban campus progress.
02.2017 | ARTICLE
Project receives a $1 million grant from BHGC.
09.2017 | ARTICLE
Adult Learning Center ceremony.
09.2018 | ARTICLE
New building to open in January 2019.
09.2018 | ARTICLE
Adult Learning Center will be named after Van G. Miller.
01.2019 | ARTICLE
HCC building nearing completion.
Project Success Story
Phase I and II ESAs completed under the City’s EPA Brownfields Assessment Grants cleared the property for re-use. Local voters approved a $25 million bond referendum in February 2015 that partially funded construction of Hawkeye Community College’s (HCC) three-story Adult Learning Center. The $12.96 million facility features 45,000-square-feet dedicated to individuals earning high school equivalency diplomas, learning English or building employment skills. This is double the amount of space formerly dedicated to servicing students at HCC’s Metro and Martin Luther King Jr. centers. The Adult Learning Center also incorporates community event space and an art gallery. HCC’s urban campus further strengthens an emerging downtown Waterloo. The investment coincides with several nearby projects including the Cedar Valley SportsPlex, Courtyard by Marriott at Cedar Valley TechWorks , SingleSpeed Brewery, and Grand Crossings. The Adult Learning Center opened in 2019.