Maps & Directions
The Central Gardens of North Iowa, home to North Iowa’s only public garden and green
space, is located in Cerro Gordo County, Clear Lake Iowa at 800 2nd Ave North.
Located on a former school site, this prime location provides a gateway to the Downtown
area and offers an attraction adjacent to and along the main county bike trail (which
circles the Lake and continues to connect Clear Lake and Mason City).
Area/Population Served: The project area was recently sited as one of the assets
of the community in the 2004 Clear Lake and Downtown Corridor Study. “The planned
garden project along 8th street will provide another signature feature. The Gateway
Campus and Central Gardens accounts for much of the 8th Street entrance corridor
between downtown and Highway 18. The Central Gardens reuse of the former school
site…combined with the Gateway Campus, brings a sequence of major amenities within
three blocks of Highway 18.”
This site is easy to access from I-35, The Avenue of the Saints, Highways 18, 107
and 106. It serves as a primary North Central Iowa population of 50,000; a regional
population of 150,000; and a central Iowa market of over 1,000,000 people.