About Us

This project is designed to understand the community's needs in an effort to develop a reuse vision for this historic building.

In 2016, a group of partners and neighbors, informally known as the Walnut Neighborhood Development Coalition, began to meet and focus on housing, neighbor engagement, and holistic development of this vital neighborhood that sits next to Waterloo's downtown district.

Fearing the continued deterioration of the church, Habitat for Humanity, one of the Walnut Neighborhood Development Coalition partners, purchased the historic and vacant Walnut St. Baptist Church on behalf of the coalition. The sentiment of the coalition, echoed by so many voices across our community, is that the architecture of the Walnut St. Baptist Church is iconic to Waterloo and important to Iowa. It is a significant resource in the unique story and landscape of the city's history and its future.

A planning team was formed with representatives from the Walnut Neighborhood Development Coalition, the University of Northern Iowa, the Institute for Decision Making, a community consultant, and other active community members. This team is embarking on a process to develop an Adaptive Reuse Vision and Plan that engages multiple community stakeholders to

Understand the needs and desires of the neighborhood and surrounding community
Explore the feasibility of addressing needs and desires through the reuse of the Walnut Street Baptist Church.