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SECTION B. PARKS, RECREATION, AND LIFESTYLES
STRENGTHS
- Mississippi River
- Des Moines & Skunk Rivers
- Boat Access Availability
- Local Fishing Groups (i.e. Lake Cooper Anglers)
- Great Location For Duck Hunting
- Hunting Clubs & Organizations (i.e. Pheasants Forever &
Ducks Unlimited)
- Shimek Forest (2nd Largest In State, 7800 Acres)
- Eagle Watching In Keokuk
- Local YMCA's In Ft. Madison And Keokuk New Development Of
Recreation Trails
- Bluff Rd. (Ft. Madison)
- Bluff Rd Connecting To Bypass (Ft. Madison)
- Keokuk To Montrose
- Lee County Fairgrounds
WEAKNESSES
- Lee County Has No
Place Similar To Burlington Rec-Plex
- Lack Of Programming
And Promotion In The County
- Lack Of Coordination
Among All City And County Groups
- Lack Of Support
Services For Tourism Activities
- The Loss Of The Bass
Tournaments In Ft. Madison
- Ft. Madison Swingspan
Bridge (Inconvenience Of Bridge Keeps People In
Illinois)
OPPORTUNITIES
- Development Of More
Camping On The Waterways
- Development Of A
Recreational Facility Between Ft. Madison And Keokuk That Is Similar To
The Rec-Plex In Burlington
- Development Of New
Events To Attract Visitors To Lee County From The Temple In Nauvoo, IL
- Ferry Service Between
Nauvoo And Montrose
- Ft. Madison YMCA
Expansion And Renovation
- Ft. Madison YMCA
Partnering Of Programs With Surrounding Communities
- Development Of
Quarterly Newsletter Promoting Upcoming Events In Lee County
- Possibility Of
Developing Hunting As A Revenue Generator
- Using The Lee County
Fairgrounds For More Events Than Just The Fair And Friday Night Racing
- Compiling A Complete
List Of Activities That Lee County Has To Offer. (Promotion)
- Bringing Back The
Bass Tournaments To Lee County That Ft. Madison City Officials Have
Allowed To Leave.
- Developing More
Events On The Ft. Madison Riverfront.
FOCUS AREAS
TOURISM
- $40,000,000 In
Expenditures In Tourism In Lee County For 2000.
- Before 9/11/01,
People Weren't As Interested In Visiting Smaller Markets. They wanted
International Trips And Trips To Big Locations. This May Have All
Changed After The 9/11/01 Terrorist Attacks. Therefore, We Need To Work
At Attracting These People To Lee County.
- Focus On Getting Our
Name Out More Locally. This Will Be Even More Important Once The Temple
Opens In Nauvoo.
- Events Bring People =
Money For Lee County. Therefore, Look At Developing Many More Events To
Draw People To Lee County
- Local Tourism Groups
Have Had Success Marketing To Mormon Population. Increase This Marketing
In Order To Expand Tourism In Lee County.
- Mormon Population Is
Very Family Oriented, Therefore Need To Take This Into Account When
Organizing Events.
- Look At The
Possibility Of Building A Convention Center In Lee County
- No Need To Be As Big
As The Oakley Lindsey Center In Quincy, IL, However Needs To Be Able To
Accommodate At Least 3,000 People.
- Need To Work With Local
Economic Development Organizations.
- Convention Center
Would Open Up Many Doors Not Only With Tourism, But Also With Economic
Development In The County.
- Note. Convention
Task Force Currently Looking At The Issue.
- Improvement Areas:
- Lee County Needs
More Unique Attractions To Bring People To Area
- Event Development
(i.e. Hunting Dog Events)
- Coordination Amongst
Groups In Lee County
- The Need For More
Quality Hotels And Restaurants (potentially Attached To Convention
Center)
- More Financial
Support Needed From The County And Especially The Cities.
RECREATIONAL
FACILITY
A recreational facility similar to the Rec-Plex
in Burlington is needed in Lee County. The city of Burlington has had
tremendous success with their Rec-Plex. They draw people to their facility
from many of the surrounding counties. We feel if done right, Lee County can
enjoy the same success. According to John Luna (Ft Madison Parks &
Recreation Director) the number of participants are dropping in each city's
youth leagues, therefore a county facility could be developed that would
bring kids together from throughout Lee County. The cities could still have
their local leagues, but this facility could open up the possibility to have
countywide leagues for competition also. The facility should have soccer
fields, youth baseball and softball diamonds, and adult softball fields to
begin with. Donnellson Mayor Alvin Krebill said that the city of Donnellson
is currently looking at developing a facility similar to this. He was very
open to the idea of the county becoming involved in the project. The facility
would bring people from all over Lee County to a centralized location to
compete in a variety of recreational activities. The county is in great need
of a facility similar to the one proposed in Donnellson. Therefore, we feel
the county should actively work with the city of Donnellson to develop this
project in order to improve the quality of life in Lee County.
MISSISSIPPI
RIVER
- This is a highly
underdeveloped recreational resource in Lee County. County should
develop many more events and attractions around the Mississippi River.
- Mississippi River is
the #1 Attraction for tourism in Lee County.
- Tourism offices find
that there is a great demand for the following that at the present time
are not available on the Mississippi River in Lee County.
- Boat Rentals
- Restaurants On The
River or Hotels On The River
- Dinner Cruise Ship
On The River (6 Times A Year Would Be Optimal)
- Ferry
- We need to work with
city governments and local fishing clubs to bring back the Bass
Tournaments to Lee County. These tournaments have a tremendous economic
impact on the county. The competitors spend their money on the following
and more when in town.
- Hotels
- Food & Drink
- Gas
- Fishing Supplies And
More
- Shopping At Local
Merchants
- We need to coordinate
events on the river with other events going on at the same time in
Keokuk and Ft. Madison. We feel with two events occurring simultaneously
that we would draw more people into the communities. For example:
- Taste of Ft. Madison
occurring at the same time as Dragon Boat Races.
- Once again in order
to gain maximum benefit from the Mississippi River we need to have
better coordination amongst all the groups in Lee County.
SHORT TERM
GOALS
1. Form a volunteer board representing all
aspects of parks, recreation, and life-styles in Lee County that would meet
quarterly to discuss the upcoming events throughout Lee County. Also, this
group could work at developing new countywide events. We feel this board
would help to improve the lack of coordination and communication that
currently exists in Lee County.
2. Develop a complete list of all the
activities, events, and opportunities that currently exist in Lee County.
Once this list is compiled work to do a better job of educating the citizens
of Lee County of all that is already here and available to them in Lee
County.
3. Work with the local governments and
volunteer fishing groups to bring back the Bass tournaments to Lee County.
These are great events and need to come back to Lee County.
4. Coordination and communication
improvements between county and city governments and between recreational
volunteer groups.
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