Giant Sports Complex in WDM Will Be How Big?

Central Iowa is about to get the biggest indoor sports facility it has ever seen. A 25 million dollar sports complex is coming to West Des Moines right across from the DMACC West campus and I spoke to the people leading the charge.

Hockey Woman

Joe Smith, the Iowa Ice Sports Foundation Director brought Jenny Wood, Marketing Communication with the Iowa Soccer Association and Jason Elliot of Des Moines Youth Hockey. They told me this 60 acre facility will include two sheets of ice 90,000 square foot field house. Hardcourt for basketball and outdoor soccer space too. 

For those in the know, this is extremely big. A professional soccer field is 64,000 square feet and a professional football field is 57,600 square feet, making this indoor space extremely big by comparison. Smith said one plan they are considering will be able to divide the field into 3 spaces for youth soccer and even lacrosse or rugby, giving these sports a year-round place to call home.

Wood told me the statewide soccer community has needed this desperately for quite some time and there is nothing like it in the metro. Over half their membership is within an hour of Des Moines which includes over 30,000 kids. Soccer comes to a halt in the winter months in central Iowa, so this project will satisfy an important need shared by many central Iowa youth sports fanatics. It's important to note the indoor soccer fields are regulation outdoor fields, not indoor fields with hockey-like side walls.

Elliot shares the same excitement for the ice portion. He stated the youth hockey community is struggling with space to grow in the metro especially since youth participation tripled this year. Currently, there's no location for them all to practice and play. Some adult teams are starting games at midnight because ice time is so limited.

There are also a few outdoor soccer fields as well, so at any given time this facility will be able to host an unbelievable number of visitors and youth sports parents from the entire state.

In order for this to push this forward Smith told me community support is needed. It will be paid for by an existing motel/hotel tax and I was told there are no new taxes being proposed, but it will still need to be voted on.

Does this excite you? As a soccer player myself, I'm thrilled. 

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