If you were to ask residents of Perry, most of them would say the City is a great place. Now, they have state-recognized proof.

Perry was recently redesignated as an Iowa Great Place by the Department of Cultural Affairs. City Administrator Sven Peterson says the City held the distinction in the late 2000’s, and now a decade later they’ve been given the honor once again. Representatives of the Great Places group visited last month to assess Perry’s worthiness of the redesignation, and Peterson is happy to say they liked what they saw.

“A huge, huge thank you to everybody that helped out with that. The visioning committee that came together and really showed the Great Places folks what Perry is all about. And I think it’s a testament to all that’s been done with trails, private investment in buildings, and of course all the great public art. They were very impressed by all of those things put together. So it’s the whole community that came together to make this happen. It’s definitely a great honor for the community and we’re excited about it!”

After finding out they had received the Great Places redesignation, the City Council got to work by approving a grant pre-application to submit to the Department of Cultural Affairs. Peterson says it’s essentially a letter of intent, letting the organization know they intend to submit formal grant requests in the near future. If the City is pre-approved, the visioning committee will map out some potential projects to be submitted.

To learn more about Perry’s Great Places redesignation, listen to Tuesday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.