Downtown Revitalization the Details
Wilton’s downtown in its heyday was the hub of all activity in our community. It was a great place to shop, get medical attention and enjoy outdoor band concerts on a Saturday night. Many people have wonderful memories of past times and cherish them. WDC has been working toward bringing back our downtown and creating an improved and restored hub of activity. We began this journey in 2015 with the downtown plan of action. In 2016 we received a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to restore and renovate 11 building facades in our downtown and in 2018 these buildings were completed. Also in 2016 we were successful in getting the Wilton Downtown Business District listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Following up in 2017 the Nicolaus House and in 2020 the Leith House were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Historic Tourism is alive and well in Wilton as we continue to preserve our story and make new chapters for present and future generations!
70-00648 - Wilton Candy Kitchen NR.pdf
70-00649 - Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad--Wilton Depot NR.pdf
70-01622 - Wilton Commercial Historic District NR.pdf
70-01682 - Nicolaus House NR.pdf
Continuing to restore our heritage is very important to us so to that end, we became a Certified Local Government (CLG). A CLG qualifies us for special grants and supports us with our restoration projects as we move forward. We have partnered with Muscatine County Historic Preservation Commission to work on projects such as country schools and churches in our area as well as, historic neighborhoods. windshield survey
These initiatives have inspired several new businesses to come to Wilton. We continue our work to recruit and expand our commercial business district and improve our customer experience. In 2020, the Historic Wilton City Hall completed their renovations and the Wilton Development Corporation was honored to have a new office there. A special thank you to Community Bank & Trust for their generous offer of office space the past seven years!
Also in 2020 Muscatine County Freedom Rock was painted and the beautiful memorial to our veterans resides in front of the Historic Wilton Depot. This project was completed and dedicated in September 2020. We sold over 500 pavers honoring our veterans and we are now in the process of selling a second round of pavers to those veterans who didn’t get in under the first deadline. Two awesome murals were also painted by two local artists in our historic downtown area and we invite you come on down and take a look!
Next Month we will detail the WDC and City of Wilton’s Housing Project.