MidAmerican Energy RecPlex project wins $500,000 CAT grant

0
3064
The proposed 60-acre site of the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex is situated along the south side of Grand Avenue and east of Jordan Creek Parkway in West Des Moines. Source: MidAmerican Energy RecPlex

The proposed 60-acre site of the MidAmerican Energy RecPlex is situated along the south side of Grand Avenue and east of Jordan Creek Parkway in West Des Moines. Source: MidAmerican Energy RecPlex

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Enhance Iowa Board announced Wednesday its award of a $500,000 Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant toward the MidAmerican Energy Co. RecPlex project in West Des Moines.

The $33.5 million RecPlex project includes construction of a 294,000-square-foot facility focused on youth athletics. The facility will house two sheets of ice, one full-sized turf soccer field, a convertible hardcourt that will accommodate four basketball or eight volleyball courts and five full-sized outdoor soccer, lacrosse and football fields.

On Tuesday, Dallas County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Mark Hanson shared with the board a June 25 letter from Alaina Santizo, the Enhance Iowa program manager, about the MidAmerican Energy Co. REC Plex Application.

In her letter to the supervisors, Santizo said the Enhance Iowa Board “is charged with assessing the broad public support of each project that applies for state assistance. To demonstrate this, the Board requires each project to have cash contributions from the city and the county in which the project will be located, as well as business and individual donations.”

Santizo said the Enhance Iowa Board was prepared to award $500,000 to the RecPlex project, “contingent on the receipt of a county contribution.”

Earlier in June, the supervisors approved a one-time payment of $50,000 to the project, contingent upon approval of the CAT grant. In light of the Enhance Iowa letter, Supervisor Brad Golightly observed that if the project was not worthy of a $1 million grant from the state, then it was not worthy of a $50,000 payment from Dallas County.

With that, Golightly moved and Supervisor Kim Chapman seconded a resolution that Dallas County commit to a one-time payment of $25,000 toward the RecPlex project, contingent upon final grant approval from the state. The motion carried unanimously.

The West Des Moines project was one of four sharing about $1.5 million in CAT grants for the 2020 fiscal year. Other CAT grant awardees were a sports complex in Council Bluffs, a swimming pool in Cascade and a cinema in Iowa City.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.