When it comes to green gatherings, Eastern Iowa has fields of opportunities. According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, the state has nearly 30 million acres of farmland. From organic gardens to native prairies, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Iowa City offer sustainable spaces for meetings.
Host your next gathering in Eastern Iowa where there’s greener pastures, literally.
Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids is home to two sustainable spaces for meetings and events: Indian Creek Nature Center and Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center. Both venues are champions of nature, well-known for leading sustainability initiatives in their facilities.
Indian Creek Nature Center
Indian Creek Nature Center has been a part of the Cedar Rapids community since 1973 when an Iowa woman came across an old barn, Penningroth Barn site. The barn was a launching pad for the nature center and the “Amazing Space” that followed.
Amazing Space is the nature center’s headquarters, built in 2016. In 2019, the space was recognized with the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification.
“Their building is highly sustainable. They have solar panels out front, and they have a really cool system that tells them when it’s a good time to open windows for fresh air,” said Emily Kleitsch, director of marketing and communications for Cedar Rapids Tourism. “It’s got beautiful windows and lots of wood aspects [so] you feel like you’re in nature when you’re in the building.”
Groups can choose to host their meetings outdoors or in the nature-inspired indoor spaces. The nature center can accommodate groups of 500 in its largest space, the outdoor amphitheater.
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Kleitsch said one women’s group that the center hosts takes advantage of several spaces. They start inside then transition to an outdoor activity like yoga and end with a speaker in the outdoor amphitheater.
Also while onsite, groups can take advantage of the hiking and biking trails.
“Another sustainability factor is they actually repurposed an old historic bridge; it’s about a 150-year-old blue bridge that was coming into the property,” she said. “They decided [it] was no longer sustainable for cars, so they repurposed it and now use it on a hiking trail.”
Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center
Located just north of Cedar Rapids, Prairiewoods sits on 67 acres of preserved woodland and native prairie. The LEED Gold certified facility places emphasis on holistic wellness and mindfulness, giving planners and their attendees a chance to step out of the boardroom and become one with nature.
“Everything from the lighting systems to the paper towels that we use in the bathroom; everything is designed with sustainability in mind,” said Logan Pratt, communications coordinator at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center.
These sustainable amenities are located in “The Center,” Prairiewoods’ hub for indoor meeting spaces that can accommodate groups of 100. A guest house is also located on the property to provide guests with lodging. But what groups love about Prairiewoods is the unique ability to connect with nature.
“If you’re looking for something a little bit different than your standard hotel ballroom or conference room, we’re able to offer that,” he said.
This “urban oasis” offers groups a variety of mindful activities, including nature walks on its 2.5 miles of walking and hiking trails, yoga, Qi Gong—a practice similar to Tai Chi—nature and forest therapy, and healing sound baths.
Pratt said guests often remark that they feel very renewed and resilient when they exit Prairiewoods’ grounds.
F&B offerings at Prairiewoods are locally sourced from the venue’s organic garden located minutes away from where the guests are seated for dining experiences. Also, the head chef of the onsite food service team is vegetarian and vegan, and therefore is very conscious of allergies and food sensitivities.
“We’re always constantly improving and trying to make sure that our impact on the Earth is as minimal as can be, because that’s what we were founded to do,” Pratt said. “We call it care for creation; take care of the earth because it’s sacred.”
Dubuque
In Dubuque, groups start onsite at the 86,000-square-foot Grand River Convention Center, home to the Growing Sustainable Communities Conference, which originated in Dubuque in 2005. From there, groups have the opportunity to learn more about sustainable practices through workshops and educational sessions in offsite locations such as Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens or the Convivium Urban Farmstead.
Convivium Urban Farmstead
Convivium Urban Farmstead is an urban farm and education center located in an old greenhouse complex that was sustainably remodeled in 2013. The energy-efficient greenhouse features 99 solar panels on the roof as well as geothermal heating and cooling.
Leslie Shalabi, owner and co-founder at Convivium Urban Farmstead, said sustainability is one of its pillars.
“We believe in the pursuit of sustainability and beyond, using less. Every act of reusing, recycling and repurposing is heroic,” Shalabi said. “We try to reuse and reconfigure a lot of things in our place. So, if you come, you’re going to see some reclaimed lumber on the wall or on the ceiling, that sort of thing.”
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The farmstead grows about 5,000 pounds of produce each year, and each growing season, Shalabi said it hosts tours for around 2,000 people. Convivium Urban Farmstead is also an excursion on Dubuque’s riverboat cruises, offering a tour and lunch stop.
“I think people leave there with that story of being inspired,” said Julie Kronlage, vice president of sales at Travel Dubuque. “In a community of 60,000 people, we have this amazing garden and farm that is in the middle of our north end.”
The property also features an onsite restaurant, a training kitchen for cooking classes and private event space for up to 150 guests.
Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
This green space—Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens—brings in more than 83,000 visitors each year. Across its 56 acres, you can find rock gardens, native prairies and more.
“We do really push the arboretum for that outdoor experience in the city of Dubuque as being one of our main parks,” Kronlage said. “So, if people have an hour break, those are suggestions that we’ll provide for them to go out to explore the fresh air and beautiful gardens.”
The arboretum offers private event space for up to 200 guests, and for conference attendees, the property offers an event called pass, picnic and play.
“When they get here, they hit the pass, they go out on the grounds, they do their tour, they visit the gardens and then they have lunch in our screened porch area,” said Jenna Hirtz, executive director of the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. “For play, we usually do some type of educational event with them, or some type of workshop. I know last time we did a press flower frame workshop.”
Grand River Convention Center
In 2023, Grand River Convention Center committed to its sustainability initiatives.
“We host anything from 20 people to 3,000 people, so what does that look like for food waste?” asked Rachel Clisch, director of sales and marketing at Grand River Convention Center.
This led to a composting initiative as well as food donations when possible.
When it comes to food, the center has a microgreens garden onsite where it harvests its own garnishes and herbs. Clisch said the center also makes an effort to choose local food options when they can. In an effort to reduce plastic, the convention center offers agave straws and water refill stations.
“When you’re hosting this many people for this many days, it’s not the easier route to go the sustainable way,” she said. “Servers have to use the compost bin, not just the trash. We’re going to harvest these microgreens instead of just ordering them from our food person. It’s an extra effort, so we hear ‘thank you’ a lot. ‘Thank you for putting that thought into it.’”
Iowa City
Located in Johnson County, Iowa City has a growing agritourism sector—a practice that connects attracting visitors with agricultural production. Emphasis on agriculture and sustainability in the city’s meeting and event spaces range anywhere from water management to recycled materials and farm-to-table dining experiences.
Big Grove Brewery
Big Grove Brewery is a microbrewery by name, but its presence is expanding all over the Midwest with new locations in Omaha, Nebraska, and a location pending in Kansas City.
Big Grove Brewery originated in Solon, Iowa, about 13 miles down the road from the Iowa City Taproom.
For private events, Big Grove’s “Hopcorn Room” seats 120 guests. Guests also have access to a private patio for additional space. The brewery also offers full buyouts for up to 500. And according to its website, Big Grove catering is coming soon! For now, guests who rent the space are able to curate an exclusive catering menu.
As someone who attended college in Iowa City, I can share some of my personal favorites from their American-style menu: fried cauliflower, taphouse burger, fried chicken sandwich, mac and cheese and stir-fry noodle bowl.
But the brewery’s best-quality product is more than its craft brews and good food; it’s the establishment’s charitable nature and the team’s efforts to give back to their communities. Big Grove For Good is the brewery’s “good giving” mission, which is categorized by three pillars. One pillar—trees, trails and water—works to improve green spaces and promote sustainability.
An initiative that supports this mission is their “Good Beer for a Good Cause” product line. The proceeds of Wade Wisely—a coffee oatmeal stout—support organizations working to protect and restore freshwater ecosystems and promote environmental conservation across the Midwest.
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“They have a platinum green status certification from the Iowa Waste Reduction Center,” said Stacey Houseman, vice president of sales at Think Iowa City. “And that has to do with their efforts of water diversion and water quality and trying to make sure that they’re being really sustainable in the amount of water that they use.
“They also are known for having technology to recycle CO2 and compost in their kitchen,” she added. “They have a carbon capture system, which I don’t know if a lot of breweries do that. So, they’re a really green brewery in general.”
Cedar Ridge
This distillery located in Johnson County prides itself on being “authentic by nature,” as its grain-to-glass whiskey is “perfectly crafted from America’s heartland.” The brand is dedicated to using Iowa corn, more specifically the corn grown from the owner’s family farm in Winthrop, Iowa.
Cedar Ridge has an event center for 200 guests seated comfortably with the ability to utilize the outdoor terrace on nice days. The outdoor terrace offers views of the distillery vineyard. The venue also offers its catering services for in-house or offsite meetings.
Walker Homestead
Walker Homestead is picturesque, perfectly encapsulating Iowa with its sunsets over rolling hills. The 85-acre farm offers 3,000 square feet of space.
This winery, eatery and private events venue is suitable for 240 guests. Houseman said she promotes this venue to a lot of bigger groups as an offsite option; it’s the destination’s “bread and butter.”
The F&B offerings at Walker Homestead are farm-to-table, offering a rotating seasonal menu and a wood-fired oven for pizzas.
“A majority of the items are going to be grown right there on their farm,” Houseman said.
The dining ware at the venue features a variety of different patterns, and the old china utilized in the space is made from recycled materials the venue has repurposed.
“When it comes to everything there between the views and the culinary, people absolutely love it,” she said.
Xtream Arena
Xtream Arena is a new venue—opened in 2021—in Coralville, Iowa City’s neighboring town, which is home to some of the destination’s full-service hotels for meetings.
Since the venue is a newer build, it has built-in energy efficiencies, including updated LED lighting, a green roof with succulents that is open to the public and a cistern to store rainwater and recycle it.
“It’s also a great offsite venue. We’ve had groups that have used it for their receptions; their smaller social networking happy hours,” she said. “We’ve had groups that have done casino nights there.”
“There’s a field house [Green State Family Fieldhouse] building that’s fixed to Xtream Arena and has five basketball courts, and we had another company that did their actual Expo in that building. So, it’s very malleable,” Houseman added.
Xtream arena has 5,000 fixed seats.
Connections
Cedar Rapids Tourism
Meet Prairiewoods
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