Malloy said they will now have the funds to restore the passanger train depot at Howard Park bringing it into the street scape project “where we couldn’t before.”

DuBois said the next step for the city will be to sign a “memorandum of understanding” in January. It will be a formal agreement between the city and the Great Places board.

Executive Director of the Cultural Affairs department Anita Walker will organize a formal presentation in Fairfield in the near future.

The other five cities enjoying a Great Place designation include Dubuque, Guttenburg, Mason City, Adams County and Jackson County.

“What we went through last year was a collection of spontaneous bursts of ideas. This year, all of that became integrated into a larger vision for our community as a whole, allowing Fairfield to rise above the rest,” said DuBois.