City Administrator Jacob Matthews said he’s very enthused that Dobson Pipe Organ Builders leaders decided to rebuild in downtown Lake City, after a prior building burned down. Dobson gets orders from all over the nation and internationally.

“Their organs are all over the world,” he said. “We are just thrilled that Dobson was able to rebuild. It is another of the gems of our town square. It is truly iconic.”

A town of almost 1,700 people with the wry motto of “Everything but a lake,” Lake City has a very distinctive downtown city square that is a big source of pride, Matthews said.

There is a city fountain that has splashes of international influence in its appearance, sidewalks that extend outward in four diagonals, a gazebo, and more. Around it on all four sides are a host of businesses, including the community-run Capri movie theater, and early 1900s Carnegie building that formerly was the library, plus city hall, the succeeding library and the Lake City Community Memorial Building that dates to 1920.

-Submitted photo
The Lake City Community Center has a grandeur that can’t be imagined until people step inside, with elegant crystal chandeliers and custom woodwork, said City Administrator Jacob Matthews.

Matthews is 41 and has lived in four other states all across the U.S. He said he quickly saw Lake City as distinctive.

“There is a special abundance of goodness and kindness that is unrivaled,” he said. “This is a vibrant community that is engaged in goodness and growth. We are preserving the past, but also growing.”

He pointed to the improvement projects that will come from two big bequests from the estate of a Lake City native who moved elsewhere and did well in investment businesses. The Marion and Carol Bradley Estate last year directed two bequests of $580,000 each, with one to update the library that’s about 20 years old and one to the Lake City Community Memorial Building.

“We are just so grateful to Marion and Carol Bradley,” Matthews said. “He thought so highly of Lake City. For a city our size to get this is incredible. This is a gift that ensures the community center and library can serve well into the future.”

Some of the Bradley money will be spent soon on improvements, while some will be maintained for later improvements in perpetuity. The community center has a grandeur that can’t be imagined until people step inside, with elegant crystal chandeliers and custom woodwork, Matthews said.

“This is like a palace to the people,” he said. “It is so gorgeous.”

Additionally, the water supply in Lake City will soon be improved. The two existing city wells have degrees of problems, with one pumping at only 35 percent of capacity, Matthews said.

The city worked with Mid Iowa Development Association Council of Governments to secure a $500,000 grant to pay toward the $1.7 million cost for new wells. Other good financial news was $600,000 in loan forgiveness for the project.

“The new test well, the water looks great,” Matthews said. “We are probably going to be done by fall 2025.”

In other pieces ahead for 2025, he pointed to a major sewer lagoon project that will take place, plus residential developments in a few places for affordable housing once the development agreements are worked out.