Did covid kill the plans for the new entertainment district?

[clonedude]

I don't think JP's Entertainment District ever had much of a chance at happening before Covid hit. Now it's really nothing more than a dream that has a 1% of happening in the next 20 years IMO.

At this point, I think most AD's are just trying to find a way to survive at all. If we don't have football as we know it this fall (including fans in the stands), most athletic departments will be in big time trouble.

ISU is already cutting coaches salaries, etc.... do you really think we can build the Entertainment District? We may not even be able to pay for the new Football Facility that's going up at this point?

 

[WhoISthis]

I don't think JP's Entertainment District ever had much of a chance at happening before Covid hit. Now it's really nothing more than a dream that has a 1% of happening in the next 20 years IMO.

At this point, I think most AD's are just trying to find a way to survive at all. If we don't have football as we know it this fall (including fans in the stands), most athletic departments will be in big time trouble.

ISU is already cutting coaches salaries, etc.... do you really think we can build the Entertainment District? We may not even be able to pay for the new Football Facility that's going up at this point?

How much do you think ISU was planning on spending on this project?

 

[Cyched]

Boone at least has the Union Pacific as a major employer. Boone is around 12,500 people, and it would not be a third of that without the UPRR as an economic anchor.

Ames without ISU is Jefferson.

Without ISU, Ames is Nevada

I remember reading somewhere that Nevada had the choice of the college or the county seat, and they chose the latter. Can't find a source though.

 

[Cycsk]

Anyone familiar with the Pollard district, was it ever considered building it across the street overlooking the golf course? Using the foot bridge to access stadium from district and just leave existing lots where they are? Putting new lots across street looks like a heck of a walk to Hilton when the wind chill is 30 below.

There will be plenty of parking close to Hilton for higher levels of donors. B4 and C4 lots are never full. Parking for the higher levels of donors has priority over closeness of parking for the rest of us.

 

[Dr.bannedman]

Without ISU, Ames is Nevada

I remember reading somewhere that Nevada had the choice of the college or the county seat, and they chose the latter. Can't find a source though.

i've heard the same with cherokee. choice between mental hospital and isu

 

[ricochet]

Anyone familiar with the Pollard district, was it ever considered building it across the street overlooking the golf course? Using the foot bridge to access stadium from district and just leave existing lots where they are? Putting new lots across street looks like a heck of a walk to Hilton when the wind chill is 30 below.

I don't think they are allowed to build it there. It has something to do with how the two areas are defined regarding flooding.

 

[alarson]

I don't think JP's Entertainment District ever had much of a chance at happening before Covid hit. Now it's really nothing more than a dream that has a 1% of happening in the next 20 years IMO.

At this point, I think most AD's are just trying to find a way to survive at all. If we don't have football as we know it this fall (including fans in the stands), most athletic departments will be in big time trouble.

ISU is already cutting coaches salaries, etc.... do you really think we can build the Entertainment District? We may not even be able to pay for the new Football Facility that's going up at this point?

You seem to be missing that the point of this is to create an additional revenue stream. The studies were being done to do due diligence on the idea and to maximize its potential, but in all likelihood it would be a good revenue stream for the AD given it is a prime piece of commercial property in the middle of a city that doesnt have much open space for development except for out on the fringes now.

Now, this may get delayed due to broader economic conditions slowing commercial development, but i think its pretty likely this happens at some point in some form.

 

[Cyched]

Now, this may get delayed due to broader economic conditions slowing commercial development, but i think its pretty likely this happens at some point in some form.

That's where I'm at.

Delayed? Most likely. Killed? Eh.

 

[Doc]

Oh, I am well aware Iowa had a nice coal belt back in the day. Heck, it still has it... under our feet... we just do not mine it like we used to mine it.

And roughly 100 years ago really was the peak for coal Iowa...

...before the bottom dropped out.

And yes, the Iowa economy of a century ago was essentially the ultimate commodities economy, and the high agricultural and mineral prices stoked by the war made it quite a nice time economically for those regions. Of course, those prices tanked from the glut of high production in North America and the British Empire, European production coming back online, and the reduction in war demand in the 1920s, leading to something of an early onset Great Depression for many regions, but that is another story.

And no, my ancestors were definitely not of the baron class. They were the ones in the mines around Fraser and/or yeoman farmers in western Boone County not more than a generation or two removed from hoping off the ship from Stockholm.

My hometown of Oskaloosa was pretty much built on coal mining.

 

[LowOverhead]

You mean where the brand new IM layout is? No.

Is there a site plan that shows IM and relocated parking spaces coexisting?

 

[Cycsk]

prime piece of commercial property in the middle of a city that doesnt have much open space for development except for out on the fringes now.

Pollard refers to the parking lots along University as our "beach front property" that we are only using for parking.

The fact that we already own this land is a good starting point for development.

 

[Rogue52]

I don’t know what the feasibility study will show, but I do think it’s a great vision and would make a great space.

 

[Psyclone]

Is there a site plan that shows IM and relocated parking spaces coexisting?

 

[Frak]

I don't think JP's Entertainment District ever had much of a chance at happening before Covid hit. Now it's really nothing more than a dream that has a 1% of happening in the next 20 years IMO.

At this point, I think most AD's are just trying to find a way to survive at all. If we don't have football as we know it this fall (including fans in the stands), most athletic departments will be in big time trouble.

ISU is already cutting coaches salaries, etc.... do you really think we can build the Entertainment District? We may not even be able to pay for the new Football Facility that's going up at this point?

I think that you're way wrong. Covid is going to be tough on the athletic department this year. Even if they have a FB season, there will be a lot of people that just won't buy tickets and attend. That said, it won't last forever. They'll have a vaccine out by next year at this time and the 2021 season should be close to normal. The money will start rolling in again.

The thing that would/could kill the entertainment district is if the feasibility study comes back not favorable. They are going to use that study to convince a developer to build. The part of the project that ISU is actually paying for is the bridge and parking lots and maybe some updates to Scheman. If the budget is back to normal in 2021, they are going to have no problem doing those projects. Then it comes down to what the feasibility study says.

 

[CYdTracked]

Unless they pave those areas or at least install some good drainage those are the same areas that were closed for most of the 2019 football season due to being too wet. Even putting in gravel is not going to solve the problems as those are just low lying areas that get very saturated and too soft to drive on when we get a lot of rain. You'd have to bring in a lot of dirt and install some kind of tile or storm drain system to even make replacing the grass with gravel make those areas stay dry enough to park during wet conditions.

I think they goofed when they renovated the intramural fields, they either should have moved them further east or somewhere else on campus and used that land to add to the RV and premium parking options with the proposed pedestrian bridge that will go across University. Especially if the entertainment district ever becomes a reality the parking that would be lost would at least be a little closer if you put parking east of the intersection of S 4th and University. About the only other way to make it work parking any further out from Jack Trice for a basketball game is building a shelter and offering bus shuttles from the parking lots.

 

[alarson]

Unless they pave those areas or at least install some good drainage those are the same areas that were closed for most of the 2019 football season due to being too wet.

I do believe i'd heard that those lots would be paved, that part indicating gravel was outdated. These would replace the commuter lots, which obviously can't just be gravel lots.

 

[Psyclone]

Unless they pave those areas or at least install some good drainage those are the same areas that were closed for most of the 2019 football season due to being too wet. Even putting in gravel is not going to solve the problems as those are just low lying areas that get very saturated and too soft to drive on when we get a lot of rain. You'd have to bring in a lot of dirt and install some kind of tile or storm drain system to even make replacing the grass with gravel make those areas stay dry enough to park during wet conditions.

I think they goofed when they renovated the intramural fields, they either should have moved them further east or somewhere else on campus and used that land to add to the RV and premium parking options with the proposed pedestrian bridge that will go across University. Especially if the entertainment district ever becomes a reality the parking that would be lost would at least be a little closer if you put parking east of the intersection of S 4th and University. About the only other way to make it work parking any further out from Jack Trice for a basketball game is building a shelter and offering bus shuttles from the parking lots.

My understanding is they will be paved.

 

[theshadow]

Unless they pave those areas or at least install some good drainage those are the same areas that were closed for most of the 2019 football season due to being too wet.

All 3,600 spots would be paved, according to the document that image is from.

 

[BCClone]

Guessing they would move donation levels around if they are paved. Those spots would be closer than those around Hilton and probably even the #1 lots.

 

[CYdTracked]

Concrete is not cheap but if they pave those areas that definitely adds to the value of those parking spots.