Signs of growth in city
It appears that New Prague is getting another “growth spurt!”
In this week’s paper, we can read about a new Kwik Trip store that will be coming to New Prague in 2018, as well as a senior housing project to be located on land south of the State Bank of New Prague.
Other signs of growth include an uptick in housing construction, including a new residential area south of Coborn’s Superstore and an increase in building in existing developments that had been inactive for several years.
From 1995 to 2005, the city grew dramatically, with large numbers of new houses and developments appearing and an increae in commercial growth as well. All of that came to a halt due to two factors - The Parish Home debacle that saw one developer overbuilding using straw buyers hoping to make a quick buck and the economic downturn the nation experienced during that same time. A large commercial development that included a Wal-Mart never materialized on the west side of town, empty lots sat empty for years, not only in New Prague but in surrounding communities, waiting for home builders to make an investment and developers stopped planning new housing developments.
Now, with the nation’s economy on an upswing, it’s encouraging to see these signs of growth in the New Prague area. More building means more people to shop in local businesses and more people contributing to the betterment of the community. New Prague has always had a goal of making the community a desireable place to live, work and shop. With the renewed signs of growth, that goal remains achieveable.
