(Spirit Lake)– A company that specializes in building arena-type facilities is eyeing Spirit Lake as a possible site for such a project.
Representatives of Global Entertainment were at Tuesday’s Dickinson county board of supervisors meeting saying they’re gauging support for such a project from the county and city, adding they’ve already done some preliminary studies on the area’s demographics and have researched existing venues in the region.
Representatives of Global Entertainment told the supervisors such a facility would have hard costs of 25 to 30 million dollars to build, adding it would likely be included as part of the Iowa Great Lakes Lifestyle Center, the golf course development proposed for the southwest side of Spirit Lake.
Company representatives said it would be up to local governmental entities to fund construction of such a facility, which they could then contract out for management, marketing, sales and other operations. They sited similar ventures the firm has constructed in other parts of the country, saying they like to put up two such facilities a year.
They added Global Entertainment would sign on an anchor for the facility prior to any construction getting underway. They said that most likely would be a semi-professional sports team, adding they’ve already had talks with arena football and hockey franchises interested in located teams in the region.
The supervisors didn’t give any indication as the level of their interest in such a venture. They did say they want more time to study it and to talk it over with the city. Spirit Lake City Administrator Mark Stevens was also on hand at Tuesday’s presentation. Stevens told the supervisors this is the first city officials have heard of such a proposal.
