From department store to multiuse arena
How an email set in motion a proposal to transform empty department store space into an arena for hockey, concerts and other uses
Friday, December 18, 2020 6:00 AM
Next step: Applying for state money
Before the proposed 3,500-seat multipurpose arena at Merle Hay Mall can move forward, the project needs financing, part of which backers hope comes from the Iowa Reinvestment Act.
The program, overseen by Iowa Economic Development, allows cities to create special districts where money from sales and hotel-motel taxes can be set aside to help pay for projects that spur economic development.
In place since 2013, the reinvestment act has provided key financing to several high-profile Iowa projects, including the $101 million convention hotel in downtown Des Moines. That hotel received $36 million from the act, the largest amount provided for any project. A Mason City project that included converting empty department store space into an arena where hockey is played received about $7.1 million from the act.