Lt. Gov. Gregg visits heritage building project in Casey.

Lt. Gov. Gregg poses with Colleen Conrad and other local stakeholders inside Pioneers Pub and Grub.

Iowa Lieutenant Governor Adam Gregg visited the City of Casey Thursday to witness a project that received a state grant last year.

Gregg was led on a tour of buildings that have been rehabilitated with new businesses by Casey native Colleen Conrad, who owns the heritage building that received a $100,000 Community Catalyst grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Forty percent of these grants are given to cities with a population of less than 1,500 for redevelopment of buildings, and plans for the heritage building are to house local business Blush and Blue Wedding Designs with an upper level loft apartment, which Conrad says already has three people on a waiting list.

Gregg comments on his visits to the redeveloped Pioneers Pub & Grub, Revel Salon and Boutique, and Casey Creamery, “I’m very impressed, all of the places that we stopped (at) had a very high end, very classy feel, and I was just very impressed by their work. You can tell that there’s been a lot of investment that’s gone into making these older buildings feel very new inside and also there’s a community pride in having a nice restaurant and then having the nice salon and the nice coffee shop and ice cream shop. Those are all things that communities can rally around, and I’m glad to see the state be a small part of that in terms of this building project that we visited today.”

The catalyst project is estimated near $454,582, with hopes for completion in spring of 2021.