Residential and commercial growth continues to boom in Ely

One of Linn County's fastest-growing areas looks to sustain that growth for the foreseeable future.

Eldy Miller, the current mayor of Ely, said the goal is to stay ahead of the city's growth. That includes changes to housing, infrastructure, and business.

25 years ago, Ely had a population of around 500 people. It has undergone significant growth since then, quadrupling in size, at last count in the year 2014, to more 2,000 people.

Cal Corrin finished setting up his brew tanks on Monday afternoon. He is just weeks away from opening his new business, House Divided Brewery, which plays up the rivalry between the state's two major college athletics programs.

"Of course I'm the Cyclone side," Corrin said. "It's a Hawkeye-Cyclone house."

Corrin and his wife thought about starting a craft brewery a few years ago. Four years ago, they moved to Ely and that dream started to take shape.

"You know I was originally looking in Cedar Rapids and then I thought, 'No I need to do something in Ely, add to this town,'" Corrin said.

Other potential business owners are following the same thinking. Just down the street from the brewery, My Mom's Bakery opened in the last year.

Miller said there are plans to bring in other businesses and to other parts of town beside the downtown area, like the north side of town.

"We brought in about 100 acres, and the goal is additional housing and hopefully some businesses into town here," Miller said.

The city's continued annexation has allowed developers to add about 40 homes a year. Younger families are choosing Ely, which is in the College Community School District, in part because of its location between both Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. This has led to the town needing to make staffing changes to accommodate the changing demographics.

"We had to hire our own parks and recreation supervisor to keep track of all the different leagues for kids," Miller said.

New, younger residents are looking for new things to do. Corrin hopes his new business will fill that need. The concept is meant to be a sort of tailgating space with rotating craft beer taps.

"I don't like to be pinned down to one beer all the time," he said. "I do have a few favorites I go back to, there's a black IPA I go back to all the time. I got to have that on hand, it's one of my favorites."