Iowa West Foundation Announces New Indoor Sports Plex for Council Bluffs

Council Bluffs Soccer Club to Manage Turf Facility

(Council Bluffs, IA) – A new indoor turf facility for southwest Iowa athletes of all ages will be built in Council Bluffs thanks to an Iowa West Foundation initiative. Pending January approvals from the City of Council Bluffs Planning Committee and City Council, the 75,000 square foot building will be located along 23rd Avenue in the Mid-America Center entertainment district to the west of the Iowa West Field House. The multi-sport complex is estimated to cost $7 million, with funding coming from IWF and other grant sources.

The artificial turf will be the size of one regulation youth soccer field with the ability to be separated into multiple smaller fields. The fields can be used for youth baseball, softball, flag football, and other sports in addition to soccer as well as adult leagues. Dubbed the Iowa West Sports Plex, the facility will be operated and managed by the Council Bluffs Soccer Club.

“Similar to what we’ve witnessed with the Iowa West Field House, the Iowa West Sports Plex will provide a much-needed home for our young athletes to be able to play the sports they love all year round and not have to travel outside of our community to do so,” said Pete Tulipana, President and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation. “The placement of the facility within the Mid-America Center entertainment district will only continue to add to the synergy happening in that area, Our secondary goal is to stimulate more private development in the surrounding area.”

Treasurer of the Council Bluffs Soccer Club and volunteer coach Shane Hoss grew up playing sports in Council Bluffs. He is grateful his hometown will soon be home to a multi-sport complex that the community so desperately needed and will be able to afford.

“There’s been a need in the soccer community for quite some time. Baseball needs it just as much, and so do the softball and flag football teams,” he said. “This is a great opportunity for all kids to play in a state-of-the-art facility and we couldn’t have done it on our own. This IWF initiative will insure that the facility is built with no debt and therefore local teams and kids won’t have to pay premium prices to practice or play.”

Council Bluffs resident and parent of multi-sport athletes, Stacy Nelson, noted the similarities between the success of the Iowa West Field House and the potential for the Iowa West Sports Plex.

“We want our kids to be involved in Council Bluffs clubs, but if we don’t have the facilities to practice and play year-round, it limits our options,” she said. “The Field House has given us something we can be proud of, and it brings in so many additional people to the area. It will be great to have this new facility not only as something to be proud of, but to attract other clubs from around the metro, who then eat here, stay here and shop here.”

If approved, construction is set to begin in the spring with the goal to open as early as Dec. 2019.