By Connor Trett
Published: Apr. 15, 2025 at 9:38 PM CDT
LE MARS, Iowa (KTIV) - The “Ice Cream Capital of the World” has set out on an ambitious development project; to make major developments over the next two decades. The city of Le Mars, Iowa, is a year into its 20-year development plan titled ‘Vision 2045.’
The idea for expansion came from Le Mars Mayor, Rob Bixenman, who spoke with citizens of Le Mars about what vision they had for the future of the community.
“Citizens wanted a more vibrant downtown, a thriving business community, improved parks and recreation opportunities, more daycare options, and our elementary schools were an issue as well,” said Mayor Bixenman. “That showed me it was evident we needed to grow our community. That plus our industry over the last 10 years, our largest employer has doubled in size which caused a huge shift. Ten years ago, 3/4 of their workforce lived in Le Mars, now the opposite is true. We saw our industry double in size but our community didn’t change in size, and in order to create that vibrant downtown, to provide those new restaurant opportunities, to enhance our parks and rec opportunities, and daycare opportunities, and schools, it all came back to growing our population base.”
In that plan, the city wants to double its population, double the amount of housing units in the city, and double its annual commercial sales to $350 million, and expand the city in all directions.
“We are expanding in every direction,” said Mark Gaul, the Community Development Director for the City of Le Mars. “On the housing side of this, we have plans to expand both on the North and West sides of the city toward the expressway that goes around Le Mars, we’ve got an additional residential expansion on the East and South end of the community where we’re naturally growing now.”
The growth isn’t just limited to residential areas; city planners also have plans for commercial expansion. “Of course we want to fill in the Business 75 Corridor, but we recently purchased 35 acres of land out near the Love’s Truck Stop, and we’re going to create a new commercial area there,” said Gaul. “And in our industrial park, you go South, and we’ve got 230 acres of land for future industrial growth where we’ve already put infrastructure into 60 acres of that.”
With new businesses coming in, and the town’s largest employer doubling their workforce, the need for housing and accommodations for young families was critical.
That included improving on the city’s daycare facility, which in January 2024 was at capacity with 36 children, the Le Mars Betterment Foundation worked to purchase an existing building in town to open a new daycare center. “In less than three months, the community stepped up to raise over $3 million in order to purchase that building,” said the President of the Le Mars Betterment Foundation, Dustin Wright. “Now we have over 150 [children enrolled], and the next steps for that is actually looking to double the size of that building. For us to be able to meet the need for growth in the community; and from an employer standpoint we have to understand that daycare is a huge part of the workforce.”
Developers held workshops, which were open to Le Mars citizens, to get community input and feedback on the plans before any ground was broken on new projects.
“Getting everybody on the same page, working towards a common goal, and just the sheer act of getting everybody’s opinions and thoughts about the direction of our city has been amazing,” said Mayor Bixenman.
Mayor Bixenman added that while the development project doesn’t necessarily have phases, it does have prioritized projects. In the first year, mayor Bixenman said that the city prioritized passing a new school bond, getting new housing built, and upgrading the city’s daycare facility; things that developers believe are all critical to attract new residents.
Developers have set year-by-year goals to ensure they’re on pace to double their population, available housing, and commercial sales by 2045.
“We’re reporting back to the community because those goals are measurable, and we want to make sure the community understands where we’re at and where we’re heading,” said Gaul.
In the project’s first year, Gaul says 130 housing units were built, with 220 on track to be completed by 2026.
The City of Le Mars has also pledged $5.5 million to begin improvement projects on the city’s 5 public parks; the money will be matched by the Le Mars Area Betterment Foundation for a grand total of $11 million to spend on renovations.
“If we want to have new families move here, raise their children, and support the existing community, we want to make sure that our Parks and Recreation was a first-class experience,” said Wright. “The work we’re doing is really exciting, we’re putting in a splash pad at one of our parks, it’ll have a new playground area, and we’ll doubling the size of our clubhouse at our golf course, really making that an ideal destination spot. We know that we’re losing people for those type of event spaces, so for us to be able to invest in that and help grow that part of the community which has a big part of tourism and keeping dollars local, we’re really excited to be working on those projects.”
Voters also approved a nearly $50 million bond to build a new, consolidated elementary school building in the Le Mars Community School District. Superintendent Steven Webner says the elementary school bond was one of only a few to pass in the state of Iowa last fall.
“This community truly understands the value of education and they also understand that as a piece of the economic development tool, a strong school system with good facilities is a major economic development driver,” said Superintendent Webner.
Superintendent Webner continued, “When you have families looking for a place to live, to put down roots that have young kids or are planning on having kids, one of the first things you do in the new community is drive by those schools. That is the first indicator of: does this community truly believe in education, believe in being progressive, believe in having a top-notch educational system. And there’s not a single parent out there that doesn’t want that for their children. And this community called for us to update our facilities with a new elementary building that would do that; that would be an indication of ‘Yes, we believe in our kids, our community, in education,’ and that will definitely drive families to live in our community.”
The city’s downtown area is also planning an expansion, hoping to bring in new businesses and developments while keeping the feel of historic, small town, Iowa.
“The importance of downtown really can’t be overstated, it really is the hub, it’s the central part of town,” said Mike Wells, President of the Le Mars Business Initiative Corporation. “Whether it’s the chicken and waffles restaurant that just opened up, the bike shop down the street, or the smash burger bar in our community, it’s those kinds of things that people come to and have such a great experience that they can’t wait to come back.”
As new businesses come in, the 150-year-old buildings in downtown Le Mars won’t be going anywhere.
“We are all about the restoration, which I can tell you, it’s a labor of love for a 150-year-old building that hasn’t been loved in quite a few years,” said Wells. “You go back to being that main street community, it was never about tearing a building down, it was about bringing it back to its historical value.”
Mayor Bixenman also noted the city of Le Mars will soon pose a bond vote for a new fire station as a part of the economic expansion.
Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.
Copyright 2025 KTIV. All rights reserved.
