CEDAR RAPIDS - Usher’s Ferry will reopen this summer, but not without some major spring cleaning.

Usher’s Ferry is supposed to be a beautiful look into yesteryear. But so far this year, it’s a mess as thousands of bricks wait to get planted into walkways.

“And I think that it will go fairly smoothly, it’s just a pattern and they’re going to need eight different sections,” says Usher’s Ferry’s Teresa White.

The flood waters mangled the bricks, making the more than 4,000 square feet of walkways unsafe.

“And the group we had this week tore up all those bricks, 50 kids from St. Louis who gave up their spring break and come up here to do the volunteer work.”

Americorps organizers are in town, and they are hoping Eastern Iowa volunteers will give up their Saturday to finish the work.

They’re not just looking for bricklayers, there are a lot of leaves out here to get picked up.

Loren Finazzo of Americorps says, “And with a lot of volunteers, it helps, the positive attitude puts out a good message that things can be fixed.”

The buildings out here still need a lot of work. But, if the grounds are cleaned this weekend, the educational old town will have programs running all summer long.

“The trees start blooming and they’re flowering trees. If we get this all cleaned up, get the gazebo stripped, the whole area in a months time could be really pretty.”

But first, there’s a lot of work.

Organizers of the usher’s Ferry Clean-up want volunteers to show up as early as 8:45 a.m.

If you have a rake, bring one. But, they say they do have plenty of supplies if you don’t.