We all need to prepare to be let down by the original concept art.. It's not going to be anything close to that... This has been scaled back given the massive challenges with new construction real estate.
I agree with
@cyfan92 . It doesn't make one a pessimistic doomer to see it. It will be cool 3 evenings per year. The rest of the time an awkward "Why is this here?" ghost town. Of course the renderings always have better/ideal lighting, etc., but the updated renderings are always a clue too. It was never going to be a cozy college town ped mall, weathered over the years from a bunch of old buildings and brick. But with each update the windows get smaller, trim is removed, materials get cheaper, everything becomes a shade of winter-salt gray concrete based on tilt-up walls and randomly located flat windows, landscaping reduced to some sad "street trees" that will be replaced on warranty 3 times in first 7 years before the tree grate just gets paved over...
It is going to feel like a cross between 'new' DMCACC buildings - e.g. the blander parts of the Ankeny Trail Point student center/rec center and the automotive center - and the Kingland monstrosity of Lincoln Way...
Prepare to be let down, then you can only be pleasantly surprised. #RealityBites! Gird your loins for disappointment!
(...some may say that is exactly what they've been imagining from the renderings - hats off to them, but I think most have higher expectations and should be prepared)
12/2023
DMACC Ankeny Automotive Technology Center
DMACC Ankeny Trail Point Rec Center
Kingland Lincoln Way & Welch
2019 fly though (along Univ Blvd)
2022 fly through (current N/S axis)