The core downtown area consists mostly of corporate businesses. There are relatively few shops or restaurants, and most of those are only open during regular working hours.
Performance venues include the U.S. Cellular Center, host to a variety of public events such as music concerts and craft fairs; the Cedar Rapids Paramount Theatre, which has in recent years offered performances ranging from Russian ballet to local talent to Bill Cosby; and Theatre Cedar Rapids, specializing in local productions of plays.
Downtown Cedar Rapids is also home to the Quaker Oats factory. Public tours are no longer offered, but you can drive by the plant with your car window rolled down and smell an odor suspiciously not unlike that of fried chicken.
Just across Interstate 380 from the Quaker Oats plant is the Tree of Five Seasons Statue. Cedar Rapids has long been known as the City of Five Seasons, with the fifth seasons being time to enjoy the other four seasons. Some citizens disagree, suggesting that the fifth season is an additional season of winter. Either way, in the 1990′s the Tree of Five Seasons monument was built to commemorate the notion.
I was once downtown photographing the monument and the surrounding area when a man walked up to me and started a conversation. Among other things, he opined that the final cost of $3.5 million was way too much to spend on the monument. I can’t say that I disagree with him.
The downtown area is also home to several museums, including the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, the Cedar Rapids History Center, and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library. The NCSML is located in historic Czech Village along 16th Avenue SW, one of the city’s more renowned tourism spots, especially for Czech and Slovak people visiting from Europe.