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Gilbert’s southern boundary is only two miles north of the Ames boundary
that was extended when Ames developed the Ada Hayden Heritage Park. It is
not difficult to look south from Gilbert and see the Ames’ water towers or
the power plant and Design Center building at Iowa State.
The 2000 census reported that Gilbert had 987 residents. Considering the
influx of residents, it is most likely that there are now over 1,000 people
who live in the town. A large percentage of the workforce is employed at
Iowa State and other places outside of town.
Transportation
The main east-west road through Gilbert is county highway E23. It has only
one stop sign within the city limits. A Union Pacific rail line goes north
and south through the town. A long time ago, passengers could easily ride
the train to Ames and other places, but today the railroad is mainly for
hauling grain and other commercial uses. The train doesn't stop in Gilbert,
but its whistle loudly announces its passage through the town and triggers a
nostalgic feeling. The Heartland Senior Services of Story County provides
van transportation to older people and other persons who wish to use the
service.
Street map of Gilbert
Color gif file at
72 dpi resolution (91 kb) for screen viewing.
Black and white jpeg file
at 150 dpi resolution (1,335 KB) for printing.
The Schools
Generally speaking, people in the area are proud of the quality
of education that the Gilbert Community Schools provide. The
district covers 48 square miles. Enrollment in the district
increased by eight percent during the 2005-2006 school year and
more than 55% since 1990 with a record high of 1,066
students when the 2006-2007 school year began. The student
population includes 386 students in grades K-4, 322 in 5-8, and
359 in high school. Although some students are residents of the
town of Gilbert, many live in the northern part of Ames
or rural sub-divisions.
In April 2004, the district held an election on
a proposed $8,275,000 bond issue for a new middle school, vocational
education facility, and air-conditioning at the current junior-senior high
building. The voters overwhelmingly supported the project with 85 percent of
600 voters casting a "yes" ballot. The total cost was projected to be
$11,870,000. The middle school was opened for use in the fall of 2006.
The school board, anticipating that it will build another
elementary school within a few years if the district continues to grow at its
current pace, has obtained an option to buy 20 acres just west of Gilbert's
residential area and on the north side of the main highway
through town. If the current growth continues, the Gilbert schools will have
more than 1,500 students in the fall of 2016.
The Churches
There are two churches in Gilbert. One is the Lutheran congregation, which
celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2006. It is
part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of American. The other church is an
Evangelical Free congregation. Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church is a
couple of miles northwest of town on County Highway E18. The Gilbert
cemetery is a half mile north of town on 530th Avenue, a gravel road
maintained by the county.
Recreational Facilities
Gilbert has attractive parks. The largest is Upstill Park. It is being
developed by Gilbert Vision 2000, Inc. on behalf of the schools and city.
The park consists of rest room facility, concession stand, soccer fields, marsh, and a hard-surfaced
bicycle/walking trail surrounded by prairie patches and indigenous trees.
The town also has Lion's Park and Banford Park. Both have playground
equipment and picnic shelters. Lion's Park also has a tennis court and
basketball hoop. Soccer is one of the most popular organized activities in
the parks.
Gilbert residents are fortunate to have other great outdoor recreational
facilities located only a few minutes from town. The Ames Country Club and
Oaks Public Golf Course are within a couple of miles south of town. The Skunk River Green Belt,
east of Gilbert, is under the jurisdiction of Story County and has a canoe
trail with access to a 17-mile stretch of river at each bridge between Story
City and Ames, a distance of nine miles as the crow flies. The green belt
also includes Peterson Pits, where there is a beach for swimming and five
miles of looped trails for walking, bicycling, and horseback riding. Hayden
Park, two miles from Gilbert on the north edge of Ames, has 437 acres of
land that surround and include a former rock quarry with 120 acres of water
for non-motorized boating. There are hard-surfaced and crushed-rock trails
for walking and bicycling.
City Hall
The town of Gilbert is governed by a five-member city council
and mayor. Generally-speaking, they hold meetings at 7 pm on the
first and third Mondays of each month. There is also a parks and
recreation commission and a planning and zoning commission.
The current staffing configuration at city hall consists of a
clerk, deputy clerk, maintenance supervisor, and water
superintendent. On two occasions in the last decade, the council
has experimented with having a city manager.The tenure of one
was from the fall of 1999 to the spring of 2000, and the tenure
of the other was from the winter of 2004 through the spring of
2006.
Municipal elections are held in November of odd-numbered
years. The mayoral seat is on the ballot at each election. The
council positions are staggered. For instance, in 2003, three
council positions were on the ballot, and in 2005, two council
positions were on the ballot.
Urban Planning
Some residential sections of the community have an old-time, small town
feel. There is also a large, newer area on the south part of Gilbert,
consisting of homes built Rich Lepper Construction, Inc. during the last
decade. The company is currently developing a new addition that will extend
the residential area to the fence line that marks Gilbert’s southern
boundary line. The town has a few apartment buildings and rental homes.
Gilbert's planning and zoning commission and the city council worked for
more than four years to create a comprehensive land use plan that was
approved in December 2003. The consultants for the plan surveyed residents
and concluded the people of Gilbert, generally speaking, place a high value
on being able to live in an autonomous small town near Ames and Iowa State
University with all the urban amenities that those places have to offer. In
part, the comprehensive plan is an attempt to ensure that Gilbert’s growth
and development is based on a vision of the community and not driven by
outside forces. The plan is also an attempt to ensure that Gilbert maintains
its small town character.
The council also worked for several years with the City of
Ames and Story County to develop an urban fringe plan for
greater cooperation between the jurisdictions as they face
development pressure in the area between Ames and Gilbert. That
plan was completed and approved in July 2006 except for a
provision for an agricultural preserve area between Ames and
Gilbert. The three governmental bodies will study the preserve
further with the intention of reaching a final decision about it
in January 2007.
Contracted Municipal Services
The City of Gilbert has contracts with outside agencies to
provide some of the standard municipal services required and/or
expected of a town: the Story County Sheriff's Department, the
Story County Animal and Control, Westory Fire Department, and
Ames Public Library.
Communications Services
Gilbert has its own post office that provides prompt, personalized service.
There is hardly ever a waiting line. The town also has high speed Internet
service provided by the Complete Communications Systems (a cable company)
and Prairie iNet (a wireless Internet company). The Gilbert Gazette, an
unofficial web site, also serves the community.
Local Businesses
There are two restaurants in downtown Gilbert. The Open Flame Steakhouse is
on Main Street and serves Iowa cuisine and has a full service bar. People
can even grill their own steaks and other meat. There is also Daisychains and Laughs, a coffeebar
and gift shop that opened on Main Street in the fall of 2003. During that
same time, the Left Bank Studio opened in the historic brick bank building
at the corner of Main and 1st Streets.
The Consignment Gallery for gently-used furniture is the third new
business in town. It opened on Main Street on July 1, 2004. Two more
businesses joined Main Street in November of 2005. Signature Style, a
full-service hair salon is owned and operated by Julie Spear. JB
Knacker moved from "the barn", previously located a mile southeast of town,
to the store front just south of The Left Bank Studio. Their
specialties include antiques, vintage pieces and funky finds. Other local
businesses include the well-known Companion Animal Clinic, where people from
miles around bring their pets for veterinary attention (now located at the
corner of 2nd and Dunn Streets), the Heart of Iowa
Coop, Dairyland Seed Research, Gilbert Mini-Storage, Mike’s Custom Cabinets,
The Gilbert Car Wash and Mullenbach Construction and Self-Storage.
Gilbert has neither a grocery store nor a gas station, but there is a
Casey's convenience store one mile east of town on Highway 69. The
other businesses at the corner of Highway 69 and E23 include: All-American
Turf Beauty, Jerry's Country Store, Redling Repair (for vehicles), Risco
Self-Storage, the Suburban Café, and the
Suburban office complex. Many local farmers gather for morning coffee and
conversation either at the coop or the Suburban.
The DeMoss Pumpkin Farm is a half mile west of town. It sells seasonal
garden produce and baked goods at farmer's markets and on the farm.
Community Involvement
The Gilbert fire department's firefighters, first responders and EMT's were
awarded The President's Volunteer Service Award for Community Service from
the President's Council on Civic and Service Participation in May 2004.
Gilbert has an active Lion’s Club that organizes hamburger fries, the
Spring-time city-wide cleanup day, and an occasional pancake breakfast. The
proceeds support screening programs for preschool youth to discover
potential vision problems and projects that aid seeing-impaired persons.
There are three chapters of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority that organize
Gilbert’s annual Easter egg hunt, provide clothing for needy Gilbert
students, sponsor scholarships for Gilbert High School graduates, and donate
monies to the teacher discretionary fund.
Gilbert and area residents are also active in the community via the
Vision 2000 organization to develop the Upstill Park, the Heart of Iowa
Soccer Club, baseball and softball teams, 4-H and scouting programs, the
Triple G Square Dance Club, TOPS Club, Fifty Plus Club, the Gilbert tractor
club, and the Fabricators
quilting club.
The Gilbert Quasquicentennial
The town celebrated its 125th anniversary on July 30-31, 2004. An
amorphous group of more than a dozen volunteers began meeting in March of
2003 to organize the festivities. It was known simply as the
G125 Group, and
the theme was "Knowing the past, growing the future." Part of the goal for
the weekend was to honor the town’s heritage and have the largest and most
festive celebration that the community had known since its centennial in
1979 and the Gilbert Days tradition that included an annual rodeo and ended
in the mid-1980s.
The G125 Group hoped the celebration would foster a greater sense of
Gilbert identity and community spirit and leave a legacy for future
generations. As the G125 fund-raising brochure said, "We want memories of it
to live long and fondly in the hearts and minds of people of all ages. It’s
for Gilbert residents, whether newcomers, old-timers or those who are
someplace in between. And it’s for people from the greater Gilbert community
as well as visitors from near and far." Time will tell the impact of the
celebration on the community; however, it appears that the committee rose to
the occasion and met its expectations. |
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