The historic Kemper Arena received a $39 million makeover that included 12 full-sized hardwood courts, 350m track, fitness, training, shopping, dining, gaming, and recovery all under one roof!
pondering the event floor. Maxed out, it could fit four basketball courts. Then he considered, what if that lower half of the stadium was filled up with dirt, all the way up to the bottom of the suites? Well, that would give you a longer and wider floor that would fit eight basketball courts. He continued to run calculations on the costs of building a second floor, and the return on investment for increasing the usable space. The final numbers were daunting, but to Foutch they made sense. The second floor would cost $6 million to construct, but it would also be the only venue of its kind anywhere in the area. It would make the Hy-Vee Arena an attractive venue for big youth tournaments. When Foutch first explained the second-floor concept to Woody Carter, a retired Harlem Globetrotter who now serves as sales and marketing manager for Hy-Vee Arena, Carter was in disbelief. “How in the world?” he asked Foutch. Foutch just laughed. “He told me, you’ll just have to see it to believe it,” said Carter. “And that’s become part of my sales pitch to
prospective events. I tell people, I can try to explain it and paint a picture over the phone, but until you stand in the middle of that floor and look around, you just won’t get the full effect.” A SMALL CITY On the surface, you would think the big headline for the Hy-Vee Arena is all that floorspace. Twelve basketball games can be run simultaneously. That space can accommodate 24 pickleball courts. Or it can be set up for wrestling, futsol, cheerleading, dance, and gymnastics. The two floors may be the heart of the building, but what makes it truly unique is the utilization of the space around the floors. The old concourse and suites have been transformed into more than 40 vendor spaces, featuring dining, entertainment, retail, and services. The floor is there to give big tournaments a place to play, of course. But those amenities surrounding the two playing floors are there for the people who come to watch the tournaments—the parents and siblings. “There’s no more boring 10-hour tournament sessions with parents sitting on the ground, maybe getting
REIMAGINING THE SPACE
Steve Foutch built his career on bringing a business approach to architecture. He looks at the timeline, the engineering, the building’s original purpose and its potential for new uses. When he drives by an old school or warehouse, Foutch runs mental calculations for how many apartment units he could fit inside. He’s interested in the process and the economics of using a space to its full potential. That approach has made Foutch Brothers successful developers, and it came in handy the first few times he toured Kemper Arena in 2012. “I’d been into the building before for events, but I was always there as a spectator,” said Foutch. “But then I came into it with totally different eyes— as a business, as a physical structure, what can we do with this?” One day, while studying photos he’d taken of the building, Foutch started
19 REC-MIDWEST.COM
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter