Cedar Falls: McLeod Center

[DMRyan]

The $18 million McLeod Center arena is proposed for Cedar Falls and and the University of Northern Iowa. This would be a 6,100 seat medium-sized facility that would house UNI Panther Basketball, along with medium sized concerts and performances that have outgrown the current gynasium.

The arena will be a part of the west campus sports complex in Cedar Falls and will be attached via a walkway to the 16,000 seat UNI Dome Stadium.











Also being built in the complex is the $7 million dollar Athletic Training Center.




It looks like it'll be built similar to Carver Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City in that much of the arena will be below the surface. After seeing several concerts in Cedar Falls before, this facility was needed. Unfortunatley, it's another blow to downtown Waterloo. This will all but strip away many of the concerts that would've gone to the midsized Young Arena Complex/Five Sullivan Brother's Convention Center.

[ICGuy]

Has this already been approved by the BoR? For some reason, I thought it was all but built (meaning that it's approved, just waiting for construction to begin).

As far as shows, do many mid-sized shows hit Five Sullivan Bros.? All we hear about is what's happening at UNIDome.

[DMRyan]

I'm not sure if it's been approved or not. Virtually all the funding involved for construction is in place, so it's pretty much a definite thing.

I've never heard of any midsized shows hitting Five Sullivan Brothers (primarily a convention center) or the Young Arena (primarily a hockey arena).

The midsized shows that I've been to in Cedar Falls were held at the college gymnasium. Its actually kind of a cool venue for concerts, but not really approprate for a D-II college basketball program.

[Guest]

See what happens after you win a Missouri Valley Confrecne Tourney...

Anyways this is great news for UNI. I watched the local coverage in Omaha on KM3 where Creighton was playing at UNI and that setup was awful. Heck I know high school gyms bigger than that little setup in the middle of this HUGE dome! It was absolutely an awful basketball setup and I think this plan was LONG overdue.

[Better Life dude]

I grew up in Waterloo, and my opinion about the citizens of Waterloo - and this is a generalization - is that the rank and file voters there have no vision and are so anti public spending. They get the crumbling dowtown they deserve. They voted down their Vision Iowa money projects. They saw the gift horse and they said "Neayh!" That money then went to Dubuque and Sioux City.

Now, on the other hand, Cedar Falls is a great town. The university has come along so much since I went to school there in the early 80's. Housing is good, main street is bustling and the university arts scene is on par with that offered in Ames and Iowa City.

Waterloo & Cedar Falls - joined at the hip, but have not much in common with each other.

[DMRyan]

The two are night and day. One is a progressive yet quaint college town, the other a dirtier industrial city.

Didn't Waterloo accept the money for their version of a Cedar River riverwalk though? I thought portions of the project were already becoming implemented.

[RyDW]

That place looks awesome. Is the sun going to be a concern for afternoon games and such? I haven't seen too many arenas were the sun is that prominent and I think that it might have a tendency to get in players' eyes...but i dunno

[Ingersoll1978]

I would assume they would have a screen or curtain that could cover up the windows if there is direct sunlight.

[lunksmoo]

Watching WHO-TV's Soundoff on Sunday night, Andy Fales said the inside of the McLeod Center looks wonderful, but the outside looks like a 'Dentist's Office'.

[WaterlooDave]

The next step for the McLeod Center was announced a couple of weeks ago. The building was built to allow for the addition of suites on the upper levels. The first set of eight will be constructed this fall on the West side. See the article below.

Also, two concerts were recently announced for the fall. Jewel ($40) will be performing on November 1 and One Republic ($35 for non-students) will be performing November 3. Tickets are on sale for both shows.

Thursday, September 11, 2008 12:03 PM CDT
McLeod suites are Panthers' meow
By EMILY CHRISTENSEN, Courier Staff Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- A generous gift from a local business will give University of Northern Iowa Panther sports fans one more way to enjoy match-ups inside the McLeod Center this winter.

Peters Construction Corp. will begin developing eight suites in the McLeod Center's west side upper concourse this fall. Each suite will contain 12-16 theater-style seats as well as a hospitality area. The project is being funded through a gift from Peters Construction and is expected to be complete in time for the winter sports seasons.

"My wife, Cindy, and I have been huge fans of Panther athletics and we realized this was a way to give back and see UNI athletics continue to grow," said Dave Peters, president of Peters Construction. He is a 1978 graduate of UNI's industrial technology program and also served as an instructor in the early 1980s.

Troy Dannen, UNI athletic director, said the donation is unique because it will generate money that can be funneled back into the athletic department's general operating budget.

"This is the gift that keeps giving, if you will," he said. "We can't balance our budget on the backs of ticket holders. We can't keep raising ticket prices. We need to create and enhance the revenue streams that we haven't yet tapped, which is what these boxes will do."

The university is undertaking a similar, but unrelated project inside the UNI-Dome. Dannen said the upper west press box, which has most recently been used as a club box, is being converted into three hospitality suites that will seat 20 to 25 people. Those suites, funded through athletic dollars and foundation gifts, are expected to be completed before the football season ends.

Once the suites are leased --- Dannen expects companies or individuals will sign five-year contracts for each suite --- the rooms are expected to generate about $150,000 a year in new money. No contracts have been signed, but Dannen said there is already genuine interest in at least six of the McLeod suites.

"Today's venues demand amenities from the video board to the locker room upgrades," he said. "You don't build a building anymore without hospitality suites. This donation allows us to be even more competitive with another level of venues."

The McLeod Center master plans have always left room for suites, but that project was put on hold until an appropriate revenue source could be found.

The men's basketball season will get under way with a pair of exhibition games against Dubuque on Nov. 4 and Wayne State on Nov. 10. The regular season opener is set for Nov. 15 against Denver.

The women's team will host Winona State in an exhibition game Nov. 5, before playing its regular season home opener against Iowa State Nov. 20.

The Panther wrestling team will host its home-opening dual against Iowa Dec. 11 in the McLeod Center.

To purchase winter sports tickets, call UNItix at 273-4849.

Contact Emily Christensen

at (319) 291-1570 or

emily.christensen@wcfcourier.com.