DES MOINES, Iowa — The Polk County Board of Supervisors is more than doubling its funding contributions for a project to bring a professional soccer stadium and entertainment plaza to Downtown Des Moines, following a Tuesday vote.
The board voted 3 to 2 to add $10 million in funding towards the project. The board had previously approved $7 million for the project already.
It has been about a five-year process to replace the old Dico Superfund site, and now the project is one step closer.
The approval of the additional funds was a last-minute addition to the agenda at the Polk County Board of Supervisor's meeting Tuesday. The board says it was waiting until the Iowa Economic Development Authority approved the maximum amount of funding for the project from the state, which was $23.5 million.
"There are certain time milestones that the project has to meet," said Polk County Administrator John Norris. "So we wanted to make sure that they got the approval from Polk County as quickly behind that state award as they could, just to better enable them to meet those time deadlines for eligibility."
According to USL Pro Iowa, the next steps for this project include finishing the Dico site agreement with the City of Des Moines, approval of the Polk County Board of Supervisors and fundraising to finalize the rest of a $19.85 million gap in the capital stack.
Stakeholders, like the board of supervisors, are working to help bring in that final funding.
"This is a game changer for our region, not just the city, but truly for our region. It drives economic development," said Angela Connolly, Chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors.
At Tuesday's meeting, some supervisors questioned if this was the right way to use these funds.
"We continue to need additional supportive housing and granted; we can continue to do initiatives that support those endeavors but is this really where we need to be putting the next 10 million dollars," asked board member Matt McCoy.
Two of the three members on the board who voted yes for the additional funding will be replaced in the November election.
However, this vote puts the now $95 million project on a path forward for the years to come.
The stadium will be located near 15th St. and E M.L.K. Jr. Pkwy.