Brucemore gets $10,000 grant to help with derecho damage to landscape

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - Brucemore in Cedar Rapids will lose 70% of the trees on its 26-acre property due to the derecho.

Many of the trees that weren’t completely taken out by the August storm will have to come out this spring due to the damage they sustained.

Officials estimated the total cost of the damage to Brucemore’s structures and landscape is $2.5 million. They said insurance won’t cover a lot of the landscape elements. Brucemore is working with FEMA to help fill the gap

Fortunately, a recent grant from the The Garden Club of America is providing $10,000 to help. Members of the Cedar Rapids Garden Club applied for the grant to assist with restoration of the landscape.

David Janssen, the executive director at Brucemore, vividly remembers the day the storm hit the property. He said the money will be a significant help to their restoration efforts.

“Most of the staff was trapped here, all of the driveways were blocked by multiple downed trees so the staff beginning at you know 1 or 2 in the afternoon had to begin cutting their way out,” Janssen said.

Janssen said the grant will help with repairing the garden which has been a vibrant part of their history.

One of the original Brucemore families helped found the Cedar Rapids Garden Club. Their first garden show was hosted on the property in 1928.

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