News : Area residents encouraged to join IBSSS Expo

The public is encouraged to attend the Community Idea & Input Expo for Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School facilities and property on Wednesday, April 5 from 6pm to 9pm at the Vinton Shellsburg High School Gym. The Community Idea & Input Expo is an opportunity for all area residents to consider national examples of adaptive reuse of similar properties, provide feedback and share their own ideas on how the IBSSS could be repurposed for the benefit of Vinton. The expo will be an open house style event throughout the evening so residents may drop-in as they are available.

The Expo will be hosted by Vinton's IBSSS Visioning Committee and facilitated by the University of Northern Iowa's Institute for Decision Making (IDM).

Drew Conrad, IDM Director, is quick to point out the Community Idea and Input Expo is about considering possibilities and options for what the IBSSS could become for Vinton.

"Vinton is processing all of their options related to the property to explore paths the community could consider. At this point, community ownership still has yet to be determined and, to be clear, the Expo is not about coming to a final decision. It is about the public considering what other communities have done in similar circumstances, getting everyone's good ideas, leaving no stone unturned and equipping the Visioning Committee to undertake their work and make recommendations to the City Council," said Conrad.