Multipurpose arenas help mid-size cities recapture entertainment dollars being lost to larger metropolitan areas while tapping into the growing popularity of minor league sports.
In the Midwest alone, cities such as Des Moines, Council Bluffs, Omaha, Wichita, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Springfield, Mo., either have completed new facilities or have them on the drawing boards. Kansas City has four arena proposals, three of which are for venues of 10,000 seats or less located in the suburbs.
“I really feel this will change the focus of what happens in Sioux City, Councilman Tom Drake told the Sioux City Journal. “People in the tri-state area will have to think twice before going to Sioux Falls and Omaha for concerts and other events.”
Gateway Arena actually is part of the Tyson Events Center complex that also includes the city’s historic Municipal Auditorium now under renovation. “The proportion of the new building fits the old one,” said project manager Steve Duethman of design firm Ellerbe Becket. “One doesn’t overpower the other.”
Gateway is home to both the minor league hockey Musketeers and the arena football Bandits. A U-shaped seating bowl surrounds the full-size hockey rink. A stage for performances can be placed either at the open end of the seating bowl or in the center for “in-the-round” shows.
The auditorium is being transformed into the new Long Lines Family Center with the main auditorium space to be converted into a multi-court facility for community level athletic competitions in basketball, volleyball, wrestling, indoor soccer and other uses. A portion of the original seating is being retained, with other portions of the structure to become community recreation facilities as well as support space for the Gateway Arena operation.
State funds, private sector investments, tax credits, riverboat gaming revenue, sales taxes and bonds are financing the $53 million complex. Finishing touches on the arena will take another six weeks and the auditorium renovation is scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2004.
Here’s a closer look at Gateway Arena:
- 10,000 total center stage seating
- 6,089 seating for basketball
- 6,735 seating for hockey
- 27 suites
- 20’ x 40’ state-of-the-art video system for instant replays
- Five dressing rooms, one hospitality room
- Six ticket windows
- Outdoor fountain and tile mural highlight main entrance
Architects: Ellerbe Becket, one of the world’s leading designers of sports and entertainment facilities; and FEH Associates of Sioux City
Construction Manager: Mortenson-Klinger, M.A. Mortenson Co. of Minneapolis, W.A. Klinger of Sioux City
Contact: Stuart Smith, 1-816-360-4426
