Shellsburg has been selected as one of seven Iowa communities to participate in the Iowa’s Living Roadways Community Visioning Program in 2013. The award-winning program integrates technical landscape planning and design techniques with sustainable community action to assist community leaders and volunteers in making sound and meaningful decisions about the local landscape.

The 2013 visioning communities are Fonda, Gilmore City, Keota, Lake City, Mapleton, Ossian and Shellsburg. The seven villages in the Amana Colonies are also participating in the 2013 program. The program is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation in partnership with Iowa State University Landscape Architecture Extension and Trees Forever, an Iowa-based nonprofit organization. In addition, professional landscape architects offer expertise in creating conceptual design plans for the communities.

To qualify for the visioning program, a community must have a population of fewer than 10,000, existing transportation-related issues and a committee of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and talent to the visioning process. The Shellsburg Area Community Group (SACG), a nonprofit group initiated in 2011, submitted the application to gain acceptance into this program. This group has also set aside $2,000 to be used on a future project developed through the community visioning program. This is a great opportunity for Shellsburg to obtain professional guidance in developing long range plans for the future of the town.

Since 1996, 192 Iowa communities have benefited from the Visioning Program.